Tossing the lad another quarter, Tom led his friends toward his car and they were soon off again on the wild chase. They had a definite object now, for the lad had given them such a description of the other auto as to make it easy for them to inquire about it along the way. Their inquiries were fruitful to the extent that at several garages and hot-dog stands along the highway the pursuers learned that the machine in question, containing three men and one who appeared to be ill or injured had passed not long before. “We’re catching up to them!” Tom exulted, when they had covered half the distance to Lake Carlopa. This was evident by the information given at different garages. Whereas at first the fleeing car had been half an hour ahead, it was now but ten minutes. “We’ll get them!” cried the young inventor. Though Tom got every inch of speed possible out of his crippled runabout, when Lake Carlopa was reached they found the kidnappers’ car abandoned on the shore of the lake. “Just too late again!” sighed Mr. Damon. “We’ll never get Ned!” “We may!” shouted Tom. “Look!” He pointed across the lake, and about half a mile out was discerned a motorboat containing three men. “There they are—I’m sure of it!” cried Tom. “Now if we only had another boat to chase them!” “There’s a feller a little farther on who rents motorboats,” volunteered Bill Tagg. “Good!” cried Tom. “We’ll chase them in their own way. Where’s that motorboat chap?” The tramp pointed out the dock, and in a short time, leaving his runabout in charge of the boat proprietor, Tom and his friends were in a sturdy gasoline craft giving chase to the other, which was now but a speck amid the blue waters of Lake Carlopa. “Do you think they have Ned with them?” asked Mr. Damon while Tom hastily adjusted the motor so as to get the maximum speed from the boat. “I hope so,” was the reply. “We’ll soon find out, if this old tub can stand the pace.” “Have we a chance?” asked Bill, who was taking quite an interest in this pursuit. Tom looked at the fleeing boat. Then he calculated the speed of the craft he had hired. A few minutes of observation caused him to make this remark: “We’re gaining on them—slowly. Whether we catch up to them before they get to the other side is a question. We’ll do our best to catch ’em, however.” He made a slight adjustment in the carburetor to get a few more revolutions per minute from the flywheel and then the four settled back for the chase. Tom’s statement about their speed proved true. In a short time it was discerned that his craft was overhauling the other. The three men could be plainly seen now, and a muffled object could be made out in the bottom of the boat. “Bless my cranberry sauce, there’s Ned!” cried Mr. Damon. “I hope so,” murmured Tom. The chase was now becoming exciting. Every moment they were drawing nearer the fleeing boat. “Hold on there, you fellows!” shouted Tom. “We want to speak to you!”