"What are we going to do, Ross?" inquired Kinky nervously.
"You're going up on the bank and cast off the painter," returned Ross. "I don't think you're any too steady on your feet, so be careful."
"What do you want me to cast off the painter for? We've got a boat of our own, and we don't need this."
"I'm engineerin' this deal, Kinky," said Ross sharply. "Do as I say, or else take to the woods and let me do it alone."
Kinky got up and staggered ashore. Although he worked awkwardly, yet he finally succeeded in releasing the painter and throwing the rope aboard. Then he scrambled back into the boat himself.
Ross, meanwhile, had been starting the engine. He proceeded in a way that proved he had some knowledge of motors.
Turning the _Sprite_, Ross sent her slowly toward the mouth of the creek, peering sharply ahead as they moved through the water.
"There she is," muttered Ross, shutting off the power.
As the _Sprite_ came to a halt, Ross reached over the side and caught the gunwale of another boat.
"We'll tow our boat behind, Kinky," announced Ross. "Climb into her and make sure the oars are safe inboard, then fasten her painter to the stern of the _Sprite_."
This rather difficult operation was safely accomplished, and then, with the rowboat in tow, the launch glided out of the creek into the Catfish, and down the Catfish toward Fourth Lake.
How was that voyage to end for Motor Matt?
Matt's position in the boat enabled him to watch one dark bank of the river as they glided down toward the lake. He was listening and looking for some sign of life on the bank. Had he seen any one, a shout would quickly have apprised the person of the prisoner's predicament.
But Matt saw no one. Steadily the _Sprite_ glided onward--steadily, but covering so crooked a course that Matt wondered they did not drive into the bank on one side or the other.
The lake was reached. The storm promised by the late afternoon was slow in coming. The wind was no higher than it had been, two or three hours before, but the waves were beating sullenly on the rocks as if in warning of what was to come.
Far across the lake Matt could see the glare of city lights. Because of his position in the boat, the other shore of the lake was not visible to him.