"Well, now, I live over in Jersey, near Bridgeport," said the man; "but I was goin' across to Lamokin in Pennsylvania, on a chance to get work.

So if you'll put me ash.o.r.e anywhere below here, I can walk up the railroad track to the junction."

Jack immediately headed sh.o.r.eward.

"Take things easy, fellows, and we'll catch up with you before you've gone many miles," he called out to those in the other boats, since there seemed no necessity for all of them to leave the middle of the river just to land one man.

It was no trouble to get close in on the Pennsylvania sh.o.r.e; the case might have been different over in Jersey, where they could see that marshland abounded at this point.

"Here you are; just step ash.o.r.e on that rock; and good luck with you, friend!" Jack sang out, as Jimmy piloted the boat alongside a section of the sh.o.r.e, using his favorite boat-hook in so doing.

"Shake hands first, please, young sir," said the other, who appeared to be a decent working man, for his palms were calloused with toil. "You sure done me a mighty good turn this day. I might a-died out there, only for the way you come to the rescue. I won't forget it in a hurry, I tell you."

"Well, pa.s.s it along then," laughed Jack, grasping the other's hand at the same time. "Perhaps you'll run across some poor chap who's worse off than you are. Give him a helping hand, and we'll call the thing squared."

"I will, just as sure as I live, I will, that. It's a good idea, too.

And after gettin' me this money, I reckon ye saved it for me, by takin'

me ash.o.r.e. That tugboat captain looked like he'd a-made me fork over agin, once he had me aboard his craft."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were right," a.s.sented Jack. "Shake hands with Jimmy too, while you're about it, friend. He yanked you in like a good fellow. If your life was saved, Jimmy had a hand in it."

After this ceremony had been carried out, the man managed to get ash.o.r.e. Then the boathook was brought into use again to push off; and a minute or two later they were chugging along down-stream, heading once more toward the middle of the broadening river.

Jimmy waved to the man several times, until finally they lost sight of him as he gained the railroad track, and started north.

"Anyway, that was a good beginning, Jimmy," remarked Jack, in a satisfied tone.

"It sure was, for that bog-trotter," chuckled the other. "His ould boat wasn't worth more'n five dollars, as the tug captain sez, an' here he sells it for three toimes the sum. His clothes'll be dry on his back before an hour, in this warm sun; an' he has a noice tin dollars to buy new garments wid. It's the luckiest day av his life, so it is."

"Well, I rather think that adventure did net him a cool twenty,"

laughed Jack. "Not so bad for a dip in the river."

"He naded a bath, too, so he did," declared Jimmy. "An, mark my word, he'd be willing to kape it up all the blissed day at the same price, so he would. Now we're safe out from the rocks along the sh.o.r.e, why not hit her up, an' overhaul the rist av the bunch, Jack?"

"Right you are, and here goes," sang out the other. "Take the wheel, Jimmy, and look out for anything in the way. I want to watch how the engine works. You know, George wasn't the only one who overhauled his motor after our fun this last summer."

"She is makin' better toime than she iver did in her whole blissed life!" cried the delighted Jimmy, presently, after Jack had been working at the engine a spell. "Be the powers! I do belave we kin give George a race for his money nixt toime he challenges us, so I do.

Hurroo! we're flyin' over the wather, Jack!"

"Less talk, and keep your eyes in front of you!" called the other. "If you get as careless as that tugboat man, we'll be smas.h.i.+ng into something, too. And then good-bye to all our hopes for a jolly voyage down the coast."

"Aw! 'tis me that is boring the wather with me eyes all the toime, Jack dear; and never a thing as could escape me aigle vision. I'm a broth of bhoy when it comes to steering a boat, do ye mind."

The stream was wide, and there were far less vessels moving up or down than had been the case above, so that, just as Jimmy declared, it was an easy job to keep clear of obstructions.

Jack had become intensely interested in the splendid working of his reconstructed motor. He was watching its pulsations, and experimenting in many little ways, in order to find out just how to get the maximum of speed from it.

And then, all at once, he heard Jimmy give utterance to an exclamation that might be freighted with either curiosity or alarm--perhaps both.

Hardly knowing what to expect, the skipper of the little _Tramp_ struggled to his knees, and then drew himself erect, to make a discovery that thrilled him through and through.

CHAPTER III.

JACK TAKES A HYDRO-AEROPLANE MESSAGE.

"Oh! murder! what a big birrd!" Jimmy was crying out.

A shadow had fallen upon the water close by, and the distant cries of the other young motor boat boys could be faintly heard. Jack, looking hastily up, saw a strange thing that had extended wings like a monster bird, apparently swooping down toward the surface of the wide river.

Of course he knew that it was an up-to-date flying machine, and the presence of aluminum pontoons under the body of the contrivance also told him that for the first time in his life he was looking at a hydro-aeroplane, capable of alighting on the water and starting up again, after the manner of a wild duck.

Even as the two in the _Tramp_ stared, the queer contrivance skipped along the surface of the Delaware, sending the water in spray on either side. Then it seemed to settle contentedly there, not ten feet away from the motor boat.

There was a young fellow squatted in the seat where the various levers could be controlled. He was dressed after some odd fancy of his own, calculated to serve in the cool air of the upper strata. To Jimmy the vision was very startling.

"Why, say, it's a real birdman after all, Jack!" he cried, as though he had only discovered this remarkable fact after the machine had come to a stop close by.

The aviator laughed aloud.

"What did you think it was, young fellow, an old-time roc come back to life?" he called out; waving a hand at them cheerfully.

Jack had shut off the engine at the time he heard the first exclamation from his teammate, and at this time they were hardly more than moving with the ebb tide, so that in reality the boat drew closer to the hydro-aeroplane with each pa.s.sing second.

"You gave us a little start, that's all," laughed Jack. "Of course, I knew what it was as soon as I saw the pontoons underneath. They seem to do the trick first rate, too. Seems to me I'd like to sail in one of those things, if I ever had the chance."

"It's a great experience, all right," replied the aviator; "but the way things are going right now, only a very few fellows are fitted for the work. But are you in company with those other two jolly little boats way off yonder?"

"That's right," sang out Jimmy, determined to have his little say with the bold navigator of the upper currents; "we're all chums, an' it's the Motor Boat Club we do be represinting. Along the coast we're bound, on a long cruise, by the same token."

The young fellow appeared interested at once.

"Say, that's nice," he remarked. "I bet you'll have a bully good time of it, too. Headed up or down, may I ask?"

He sat there, as much at his ease as though on an ocean steamer, instead of a frail little machine that sprawled upon the heaving waves very much as Jack had seen a big "darning needle," known also as a "mosquito hawk," do on occasion.

"Florida, by the inside route, and then perhaps along the gulf to New Orleans," replied the skipper of the _Tramp_, in as careless a voice as he could command, just as though a voyage that might cover a thousand or two miles was hardly worth mentioning.

The owner of the hydro-aeroplane whistled, to indicate his surprise.

His whole manner showed the keen interest he immediately took in such a glorious prospect; and Jack guessed instantly from this that he possessed the true love for outdoor life and sport.

"That's simply immense," remarked the other, with what might seem like an envious sigh. "I can see where your little crowd have a mighty fine time ahead. Wish I could get off to accompany you; but even if I had an invite, my contracts with the company would not allow me. But later on I am to give some exhibitions in the South; and wouldn't it be strange now if we happened to meet up with each other again?"

Jack rather liked his looks, and of course immediately expressed the hope that circ.u.mstances might throw them together again some fine day.

"I'd be glad to see more of you, and learn something about your experiences, for ten to one you've seen some rough times in your air journeys," he remarked, as he leaned on the side of the _Tramp's_ cabin, and let his wondering eyes travel over the peculiar mechanism of the queer air and water craft combined.

"Well, rather," smiled the other, nodding his head in a friendly way, as though possibly he had been taken just as much by the frank and fearless face of the motor boat skipper as Jack was by his countenance and bearing. "Might I ask what your names are, in case we ever do run together again?"