Now,
if they've got so much staked they wouldn't feel so very bad,
would they, if anything happened to the Growler? It seems she's
the only boat they are afraid of anyway, and if she isn't in the
race why the Varmint II will just walk away with the cup."
"And do you really think," inquired Fred, "that they will try to
damage our boat so that she can't be in the race?"
"I'm not saying THEY will," answered Sam, "but somebody might.
Perhaps they wouldn't know anything about it."
"Do you think those men who were here to-night came to do that?"
"I'm suspicious," said Sam, "but I don't know yet how much damage
they did. I called you because I thought I might need your help.
There isn't anything more you can do now and you might as well go
back to bed."
With the coming of the day most of the fears and anxieties of the
boys departed. The alarm of Sam the preceding night appeared very
differently now and they even were inclined to laugh at him for
his fears. Sam, however, had fallen once more into one of his
periods of silence and made no comment on the remarks of the Go
Ahead boys.
"I'm going over to the Bay now," said Sam when the boys after
breakfast approached the dock.
"Are you going in the motor-boat?" inquired Fred.
"Yes, sir."
"How long will you be there?"
"I don't know. Probably an hour."
"Then we'll go over with you," answered Fred.
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