There could be no doubt as to
the outcome of the race. It was only a question of time. The thieves had
staked all on the attempt to elude the _Adventurer_ in the shallows, and
now they were doomed to open water, for Plum Island ran straight and
unbroken for seven miles, and not until the entrance to Newburyport
Harbour was reached was there the smallest chance to slip out of sight.
Ossie announced that dinner would be ready in a few minutes, but no one
paid any attention. Every eye was fixed on the _Follow Me_, which, dead
ahead, was scurrying along at a rate which Tom, who had thought he knew
the engine thoroughly, marvelled at. But the distance was shortening
between pursued and pursuer. Off the life-saving station the fleeing
craft was scarcely a hundred yards in advance, and it became more and
more certain that the boats would be on even terms long before the
seven-mile stretch was half traversed.
Wink went below and summoned Harry Corwin down from his perch, much to
the relief of Ossie, whose preparations for dinner had not been made
easier by having to dive under the table every time he sought the
ice-chest, and posted him at a port in the forward cabin. "If they won't
give up," he explained, "we'll have to go on plugging them.
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