"In as big a hurry as I ever was to get anywhere," breathed Halstead fervently. The elderly man smiled, though he evidently was not curious, for he asked no further questions. Halstead sat there delightedly watching the distance fade. Even to his anxious mind the trip seemed a brief, speedy one. As the car ran in by the railway station Halstead saw the late afternoon train slowly backing down the track. It had been in, then, for three or four minutes.

"Thank you, thank you!" breathed Tom fervently, as he threw open the door to leap out, then closing it behind him. "You haven't any idea what a huge favor you've done me."

"I'm glad I've been able to be of some use in the world to-day," laughed the old gentleman pleasantly.

But Tom, bounding across the tracks and over the ground, hardly heard him. The young skipper had but one thought at this moment-to get aboard and have his craft under way at the earliest possible second.

As Halstead neared the pier he saw Joe and Jed seated on the deckhouse, while Mr. Crane, the Dunstan lawyer, arrived on the train, was walking along over the boards.

"Joe, get the engine started on a hustle!" bellowed Tom, using both hands to form a trumpet. "Jed, on the pier with you and stand by the stern-line, ready to cast off!"

Both boys leaped to obey such crisp commands. Lawyer Crane, having reached the boat, turned on the pier to look inquiringly at the racing young skipper.

"Get aboard, sir, as quickly as you can, if you please," requested the young skipper all but breathlessly.

"May I inquire--" began the lawyer slowly.

"Yes, sir; when we're under way. But we haven't a second to lose in starting. Get aboard, sir, if you please."

In his eagerness Tom almost shoved the legal gentleman over the side.

Mr. Crane, not a little astonished at the hasty procedure, looked as though about to resent such treatment, but fortunately changed his mind.

Tom himself seized the bowline and threw off. He and Jed sprang aboard, fore and aft, at about the same instant. The "Meteor's" engine was already chugging merrily.

"Slow speed ahead, Joe," bellowed down Captain Tom, and the "Meteor"

swung gracefully out. "Now work her up to good speed," he called, a few moments later. "We're on the grand old chase!"

CHAPTER X-OVERHAULING THE MYSTERY

"And now," demanded Lawyer Crane, in his calm, heavy voice, "may I ask what all this chaos and confusion is about?"

"In just a minute or two, sir, I'll be hugely delighted to have you listen," Halstead answered. "But I want to get out of this cove and clear of coast shoals and ledges first."

Joe had already begun to make the engine "kick" somewhat, and the boat was moving fast, leaving behind her a graceful swirl of water. Jed, after coiling the stern-line, had come forward, and, though he asked no questions, that youth was whistling a ditty of fast movement, the surest sign of all that he shared in the unknown excitement.

"There she is!" cried Halstead, suddenly, taking his right hand from the wheel to point out over the water.

"She?" repeated Mr. Crane. "Who?"

"That boat! Don't you see the steam launch with the yellow hull?"

The launch was some two or more miles away, heading over the waters in a direction that would carry her past the northern end of Martha's Vineyard. Mr. Crane adjusted his gla.s.ses, staring hard. At last he made out the low-lying hull.

"I see some sort of a craft out there," he replied slowly. "But I must congratulate you on having very good eyes, Captain Halstead, if you can make out the fact that she is painted yellow. However, what have we to do with that boat?"

"We're going after her," responded Tom, briefly. He was wondering just how to begin the wonderful story of his late adventure.

"Going after her?" repeated Mr. Crane, in slow astonishment. "Why, I was under the impression that your present task related to carrying me over to Mr. Dunstan's home."

"That comes next," replied Tom. "Mr. Crane, hardly twenty minutes ago I was aboard yonder boat, and was talking with Master Ted Dunstan."

The lawyer gasped, then rejoined, slowly:

"That's a most remarkable statement, to say the least."

But Joe Dawson and Jed Prentiss, who knew Halstead better, were staring at him with eyes wide open and mouths almost agape.

"I saw Ted Dunstan," repeated Tom, firmly. "Moreover, he gave me the jolt of my life."

"Did he incidentally throw you overboard?" asked the lawyer, eyeing Tom's wet garments. The sun and wind had dried the first great surplus of water out of them, but they were still undeniably more than damp.

"That was all part of the experience," Halstead answered, annoyed by the impression that the lawyer thought him trying to spin a mere sailor's yarn. "Do you care to hear what happened, sir?"

"Why, yes, a.s.suredly, captain."

Tom reeled the story off rapidly. The lawyer gasped once or twice, but certainly the young skipper's wet clothing gave much of an appearance of truth to the "yarn."

"And now, sir, what do you think of Master Ted's claim that he was having the time of his life, and was hiding by his father's orders?" Tom wound up, inquiringly.

"Really, I shall have to think it all over," replied the lawyer cautiously. "And I shall be much interested in hearing what Mr. Dunstan has to say about it all."

"Say, that's queer," broke in Joe, suddenly, staring hard at the launch, now not much more than half a mile distant.

"What is?" asked Halstead, who had kept his mind on what he was telling the lawyer.

"That launch is following an almost straight course. Yet I don't see a soul at the wheel, nor a sign of a human being aboard," Joe replied.

"Say, there isn't anyone in sight, is there?" demanded Jed, stopping his whistling and staring the harder.

"It will certainly complicate the adventure," commented Lawyer Crane, "if we overhaul a craft navigated by unseen hands."

Halstead didn't say any more. He didn't like the half-skepticism of the legal gentleman. The young skipper held straight on until they were astern of the yellow-hulled launch and coming up on the windward quarter.

"Get out on the deck forward, Jed," directed, Halstead. "Stand up as straight as you can, and get the best look possible as I run up close.

See if you can spot anyone hiding in the boat."

"Look out," cautioned Joe Dawson, dryly, as Jed Prentiss started to obey. "Someone on the other craft may open fire."

Jed halted, rather uneasily, at that sinister suggestion. Then, meeting Tom's firm glance, the boy got well forward and stood up, while Joe dropped down into the engine room to meet any order that might come about stopping speed.

"I hardly fancy anyone aboard that boat would dare threaten us with firearms," said the lawyer, slowly. "There are too many witnesses here to risk such a serious breach of the law."

"Mm!" chuckled Captain Tom grimly, to himself. "I wonder if this learned gentleman imagines that everyone has the wholesome respect for the law that possesses him?"

He leaned forward, to reach the bell-grip, steering, after the "Meteor's" headway had been all but stopped, so that they would pa.s.s within a dozen feet of this mysterious craft.