ons."

Frank gave Tommy a quick nudge in the side.

"I can run the boat," he whispered, "shall I?"

"If he'd let you, yes!" replied Tommy.

"Where shall I take her?"

"To Cordova, of course, but perhaps you'd better wait until the men get
a little bit drunker. Jamison will become frightened for the safety of
his boat before long, and then he won't object to your taking charge of
her. He's beginning to look sick already."

"If I ever get hold of that wheel," Frank whispered to Tommy, "I'll send
her flying toward Cordova! I hope the members of the crew will be too
drunk to know which, way I'm taking them."

Directly the boat gave another tremendous lurch, soaking the boys with
cold salt water. Jamison rose to his feet with an oath and, steadying
himself by clinging to the top of the cabin, shook a fist angrily at the
man at the wheel. The man frowned back.

"What are you doing, you drunken hobo?" shouted Jamison.

The man grinned foolishly but said not a word.

"I wish I knew how to operate a motor boat as well as he does when he's
sober," gritted Jamison.

"The owner of a boat ought to know how to run her!" suggested Frank.

"I bought the boat only a few days ago," replied Jamison.

"Look here," Frank said, as the boat gave another sickening whirl, "I
can run a boat all right. Shall I take hold?"

"No," replied Jamison sourly, "we've got to land!"

"But there is no place to land," urged Sam.

"There is a place on the point where the doctor lives," answered
Jamison, "where we can land in a rowboat. I'm glad now that I brought
the dinghy along with us. We can anchor the motor boat under the point
and take refuge in the doctor's cabin until this storm blows over."

The boys were greatly disappointed at this decision on the part of
Jamison, but they dare not argue the point with him for fear that he
would suspect that they were watching his every movement.

In a few moments a dark bulk showed directly in front of the racing
motor boat, and only the quick action of the man at the wheel prevented
a collision with a bold headland which showed dimly under the light of
the few stars which looked down from the cloudy sky.

In a moment the boys saw a light, and then Sam whispered to Frank:

"That's not a coast point," he said. "It's one of the Barren islands. I
don't believe there's any doctor there, as he said! What shall we do if
he asks us to go ashore?"

"We'll have to go, I suppose," returned Tommy, "b