Page:A Wild-Goose Chase - Balmer - 1915.djvu/103

Rh stopped to save fuel as the sails alone promised progress.

"What would you give for a shower-bath, hot, and a rub at the club afterward?" Geoff suggested incautiously on one of these occasions.

"You idiot!" Latham burst out at him almost savagely. "Got that carbon cut out of the first cylinder?"

"Pretty well. I say, Price, what's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter. Look here, young fellow, you be mighty careful not to say anything's the matter. Do you understand?"

"Oh; I understand," Geoff said queerly. He was worn out, but just then he preferred the deck to the cabin. He had been understanding for himself for some time that there were infinite differences between racing a two-hundred-horsepower boat one hundred miles in three hours over smooth water, and then turning the craft over to mechanicians for cleaning, carbon scraping, overhauling and repairs while you lunched triumphantly at a club, and running a twenty-horsepower engine an indefinite