Joe had been having a fine time with his engine. He was getting on terms of real familiarity with it now, having lost some of the awe with which he had regarded it yesterday. Today he called it "She" almost patronisingly and even dared lay his hand on the cylinders with a knowing cock of his head. Perry, looking on, asked sarcastically if he was feeling the engine's pulse, and Joe haughtily replied that he wanted to make sure the cylinders weren't overheating. Ossie, emerging from the cabin, wiping his hands on his khaki trousers after wringing out his dish cloths, gave it as his opinion that if there was any overeating done it would not be done by the engine, accompanying the statement with a meaning glance at Perry. About this time the _Follow Me_ left her position astern and began to creep alongside. Steve supposed she wanted to send a message across and told the others on the deck to keep still a minute. But the _Follow Me_ kept on her way, the fellows sprawling around her deck and cockpit looking across the few fathoms of water in silence. "Well, what do you know about that?" gasped Neil. "She's trying to pass us!" Steve grunted, smiled and advanced his throttle. The click-click from under the engine hatches became hurried and louder. Joe wrinkled his forehead anxiously. The _Adventurer_ stopped going astern of the other boat and for a little distance they hung bow to bow. They saw Harry Corwin, at the wheel of the _Follow Me_, lower his head to speak to his brother in the engine room. The _Follow Me_ began to forge ahead again, slowly but certainly. "Give her more gas, Steve," begged Perry. "We can't have a little old 'puffing pig' of a boat like that walking away from us. Look at those idiots grin!" "And watch them change their faces," laughed Steve as he drew the throttle forward another two or three notches. Under the hatches the engine uttered a new note and a quick jarring became felt. Joe's anxiety increased to uneasiness. "Say, Steve, do you think--is it all right--I mean--" "She's only doing about seventeen," replied Steve calmly. "The throttle isn't nearly open yet. But I guess that's enough," he added as he glanced across the water. Perry, leaning across the gunwale, beckoned insultingly. "Come on!" he called. "What are you stopping there for?" The _Follow Me_ replied to the taunt, but what the reply was they didn't know on the _Adventurer_, for the latter was ahead now by its full length and gaining perceptibly every moment. Tom Corwin's head appeared over the cabin roof, he took a look at the rival craft and popped from sight again. The _Follow Me_ stopped going back and hung with her nose abreast the _Adventurer's_ stern. Phil, who had been writing a letter in the cabin, emerged and joined the group outside. "How fast is she going, Steve?" he asked.