ome clogged, and
it was soon in working order again.

"Well, now that you have a boat ', I don't suppose you will be riding
about the country so much," commented Mr. Damon as he got into his car.
"Bless my spark-plug! But if you ever get over to Waterfield, where I
live, come and see me. It's handy to get to by water."

"I'll come some day," promised the lad.

"Bless my hat band, but I hope so," went on the eccentric individual as
he prepared to start his car.

Tom completed the remainder of the trip to his house without incident
and his father came down to the dock to see the motor-boat. He agreed
with his son that it was a bargain and that it could easily be put in
fine shape.

The youth spent all the next day and part of the following working on
the craft. He overhauled the ignition system, which was the jump-spark
style, cleaned the magneto and adjusted the gasoline and compression
taps so that they fitted better. Then he readjusted the rudder lines,
tightening them on the steering wheel, and looked over the piping from
the gasoline tank.

The tank was in the forward compartment, and, upon inspecting this, the
lad concluded to change the plan by which the big galvanized iron box
was held in place. He took out the old wooden braces and set them
closer together, putting in a few new ones.

"The tank will not vibrate so when I'm going at full speed," he
explained to his father.

"Is that where the strange man was tampering with the lock the day of
the auction?" asked Mr. Swift.

"Yes, but I don't see what he could want in this compartment, do you
dad?"

The inventor got into the boat and looked carefully into the rather
dark space where the tank fitted. He went over every inch of it, and,
pointing to one of the thick wooden blocks that supported the tank,
asked:

"Did you bore that hole in there, Tom?"

"No, it was there before I touched the braces. But it isn't a hole, or
rather, someone bored it and stopped it up again. It doesn't weaken
the brace any."

"No, I suppose not. I was just wondering whether that was one of the
new blocks or an old one."

"Oh, an old one. I'm going to paint them, too, so in case the water
leaks in or the gasoline leaks out the wood won't be affected. A
gasoline tank should vibrate as little as possible, if you don't want
it to leak. I guess I'll paint the whole interior of this compartment
white, then I can see away into the far corners of it."

"I think t