“See it? Do you think we are blind?” roared Hank. “What kind of bungling is this? Didn’t you get the lever? How did they come to start?”
“Just what I’d like to know,” said Sam with equal heat. “I did my part of the work all right. I detached the lever and hid it in an old well. They must have had another one some place and put it on at the last moment.”
“I guess that’s it,” said Miles pacifically, but Hank refused to calm down. It galled his bitter nature to the quick to see the Electric Monarch in successful flight when he had hoped and schemed for a failure.
“I wonder what’s become of the Dutchman,” he snarled. “He’s ten times brighter than you are, Hinkley,” which, as we know, was perfectly correct, though not in just the way Hank meant it.
“How do I know where your Dutchman is,” growled Sam, “I tell you I’m through with you. I risked a lot to steal that lever and this is all the thanks I get for it. Gimme my money.”
Hank affected great surprise. So did Miles. They both stared at Sam as if they thought he had suddenly taken leave of his senses.
“Why, the money for crippling the machine.”
“Yes, the money for crippling the machine!” he sneered, “but you see, my young friend, you didn’t do any such thing. In fact, for all we know, you never went near it.”
“So you’re going to cheat me out of it, eh?” roared Sam. “But you won’t. I’ll see the police, I’ll----”
But he stopped short as Miles burst into a roar of ironical laughter.
“See the police and tell them you didn’t get money for doing some crooked work! You’re considerable of a fool, Sam Hinkley, but I guess you aren’t fool enough for that.”
As this was so beyond doubt, Sam had to content himself with slinking off, muttering threats about “getting even” which the two conspirators did not much trouble themselves about. In fact they were beginning to worry about young Dill. It was past the hour when he had said he would meet them, and they began to feel uneasy.
It was as well for their peace of mind that they did not know the true state of affairs, otherwise they would have suffered still more perturbation of spirit.
With a feeling of anxiety such as he had never before known, Tom leaned out over the stern framework. He had hazarded a guess that Ned might have been rash enough to have attempted to gain the stern propeller bearings.