THE BROKEN SPRING
Away from the small dock shot the motor boat. Jerry and Bob had
called on the hermit, at the request of Dr. Brown, to leave word
about the physician’s horse. Dr. Brown had also written a note to a
fellow practitioner, asking him to take charge of the patients, who,
otherwise, would be left without medical attention.
“And now for a fast run!” exclaimed Jerry, as he stood at the wheel.
“Is everything ready for to-night, Bob?”
“Yes, I’ve got the grub all laid out, and I’ll make a pot of coffee and
put it in the vacuum bottle to keep hot. I’ll have some sandwiches,
and----”
“Say, do you think I mean nothing but grub?” cried Jerry, but he could
not help smiling at his chum.
“Well, we’ve got to eat; haven’t we?”
“Sure! But what I meant was to have some extra oil in readiness, a
spare spark plug or two, and things like that. We’re going to run all
night, you know, and it won’t be so easy to pick things up in the
dark, even if we are pretty well lighted up aboard here.”
“Oh, all right,” assented Bob. “I’ll look after things. But the grub’s
ready, too.”
“Trust you not to forget that,” laughed Jerry. “Well, we’ll need that,
too.”
They kept on down the lake. As Jerry had said, their trip on it, and
their progress on Silver River had made them fairly familiar with the
peculiarities of the waterway. Aside from having run on the submerged
log, they had had no accidents, if we except the fire, which did them
no damage. And, as there would be a moon, and they could keep in the
center of the lake, there was really little danger to be apprehended
from the night trip.
Still Jerry and Bob were not a little nervous as darkness settled down.
They had gone through much in the last few hours, and to their natural
anxiety regarding Professor Snodgrass there was added, in Jerry’s case,
the feeling that if the scientist died without revealing what he knew
about Mrs. Hopkins’s land, it might mean financial ruin for her.
“I must get help back to him in time!” thought Jerry, desperately. “Dr.
Wright simply must come and perform that operation. But it won’t be an
easy thing to do--up there in the wilderness.”
Fortunately for Bob he was of a less nervous temperament than was
Jerry. He was not so anxious, and, to be sure, he did not have so much
at stake.
So Bob kept himself busy arranging matters for the night, seeing that
the electric bulbs were working, and that the emergency oil lamps were
in readiness.
“Grub’s ready, Jerry,” finally announced the stout lad, emerging from
the galley, where he had been busy over the gasoline stove. “Come on
down and eat, Jerry. I’ll steer while you stow away some grub.”
“Much obliged, Chunky,” was the answer. “But I’m in no hurry. I’m not a
bit hungry. You eat first, and then you can relieve me.”
“Really?” asked Bob.
“Sure. I don’t want to eat now.”
Jerry fancied he heard a sigh of relief from the stout lad, and he
smiled as he shifted the helm. Truly Bob did like to eat!
“All right now; I’ve had enough. I’m through, but there’s plenty left,”
Bob announced a little later. “Come on, Jerry.”
“All right. You can take the wheel.”
“How are you heading her?” asked Bob.
“Oh, no special course. The lake’s deep enough, except close to shore,
to go almost anywhere. Just keep her as near the center as you can. We
ought to fetch the river at this rate, about morning.”
“It’s going to be quite a trip,” observed Bob, with a sigh.
“Yes, and the hardest part will be bringing back the doctor,” remarked
Jerry. “That will be the last lap.”
He relinquished the wheel to Bob, and went into the cabin. Jerry’s chum
had spread out a substantial repast. It was simple enough, for not a
great variety could be carried on the _Scud_. But Jerry was not very
hungry. His anxiety had taken away his appetite in a great measure.
Still, he managed to make a fairly good meal.
Jerry arranged to take the first watch that night, and, after Bob had
sat up with his chum for some time, while the boat glided past the
distant villages on the shores of the lake, the stout youth began to
yawn.
“Better turn in,” suggested Jerry. “I can manage until one o’clock, and
then I’ll call you.”
“Will you--sure?” asked Bob.
“Sure. Go to bed.”
And Bob was glad enough to crowd into his bunk.
It was nearer two o’clock than one, as Bob learned by looking at his
watch under his pillow, when he roused. Jerry had not called him;
Bob had awakened by himself, and, to his surprise, the boat was not
moving. Or, rather, she was not moving under the power of her engine.
She was merely drifting.
Bob sat up, and peered into the motor compartment. He saw Jerry bending
over the machinery.
“What’s up?” cried the stout lad, sliding out of his berth.
“Oh, you’re awake; are you?” asked the tall lad. “A little accident,
that’s all.”
“Accident! Why didn’t you call me?” demanded Bob.
“Oh, I thought I’d let you sleep. I didn’t feel a bit like turning in,
and I didn’t need you.”
“Yes, but the accident. What is it?”
“A valve spring has broken. We can’t very well go on without one, and I
can’t seem to find an extra part. I thought we had some, but I haven’t
come across them.” He was rummaging in a tool box. Meanwhile the _Scud_
was drifting under the influence of a little wind and a slight current
in the lake.
“What are we going to do?” asked Bob, helplessly.
“I’m trying to fix it,” said Jerry, “but I haven’t had much success.
I can’t make this makeshift spring stay in place. It needs someone to
hold it.”
“Would the motor work if that spring was held tight--I mean that one
you’ve put in?” asked Bob.
“Yes. She’d go all right then. I’ve tried to rig up some way to tie the
spring with a cord, and fasten it to some part of the engine, but that
makes it too stiff. It needs a hand to hold it--someone who could ease
down just at the right time.”
“I’ll do it,” said Bob quickly, as he saw where Jerry had used part
of a spring from another spare part of the motor, and a cord to give
the necessary tension. But, as the tall lad had said, it needed a
human hand to hold it, to make just the right pull, to provide for the
automatic opening and closing of the valve.
“You can’t hold it,” objected Jerry. “It will mean hours of remaining
in one position, and your hand’ll ache like the mischief.”
“I’ll do it,” responded Bob quietly. “We’ve got to make this trip as
fast as we can, and we haven’t any time to lay up for repairs. I’ll
hold the broken spring.”
“Good!” cried Jerry. “Then we’ll take turns at it. It’ll be hard work,
and no fun having to stay so close to the hot motor. But if we can do
it----”
“We’ll do it!” interrupted Bob grimly. “You take the wheel!”