the water.
His own boat's bows seemed to be cutting the water at a fast gait. The
young skipper, knowing what he knew about both boats, could not
understand this losing to the other craft.

"The Navy men must know a few tricks with engines that we haven't
guessed," he observed, anxiously, to young Hastings.

"I don't know what it can be, then," murmured Hal, uneasily. "There
aren't so confusingly many parts to a six-cylinder gasoline motor.
They aren't hard engines to run. More depends on the engine itself
than on the engineer."

"But look over there," returned Captain Jack Benson. "You see the
'Pollard' taking the wind out of our teeth, don't you?"

"Yes," Hal admitted, looking more puzzled. "Do you think our engines
are doing the topnotch of their best?" asked Benson.

"Yes; for Williamson is a crackerjack machinist. He knows our engines
as well as any man alive could do."

"Do you think it would do any good for you to go below, Hal?"

"I will, if you say so," offered Hastings. "Yet there's another side
to it."

"What?"

"Williamson might get it into his head that I went below because I
thought he was making a muddle of the speed. As a matter of fact, he
knows every blessed thing I do about our motors, and Williamson is
loyal to the core."

"I know," nodded Captain Jack. "I'd hate to hurt a fine fellow's
feelings. Yet--confound it, I do want to win this burst of speed.
It means, perhaps, the quick sale of this boat to the Navy. If we're
beaten it means, to the Secretary of the Navy, that he already has our
best boat, and he might not see the need of buying the 'Farnum' at all."

"Give Williamson two or three minutes more," begged Hal. "You might
tell Eph, though, to repeat, and repeat, the signal for top speed.
That'll show Williamson we're losing."

Jack Benson walked to the conning tower, instructing Eph Somers in a
low tone.

"I've signaled twice, since the first time," Eph replied. "But here
goes some more."

"I wonder what's going wrong with our engines, then," muttered Captain
Jack, uneasily.

"It ain't in careless steering, anyway," grumbled Eph. "I'm going
as straight as a chalk line."

"I noticed that," Captain Jack admitted.

He continued to look worried, for, by this time, the "Pollard" was at
least a good two hundred and fifty yards to the good in the lead.

"I'm afraid," muttered Hal, rejoining Benson, "that I'll simply have
to go below."

"I'm afraid so," nodded