reaching than any of which they could have dreamed. In advance, this
winter trip to Spruce Beach promised to be little more than a pleasant
relaxation for the youngsters. What it really turned out to be will
soon be made clear in the pages of this volume.

"It seems a very risky plan that you're trying, Jack," remarked Jacob
Farnum, at last.

"Don't you want me to do it, sir?" asked the young skipper, looking up
instantly from his chart.

"Why, er--"

But here David Pollard, the inventor of these boats broke in, eagerly:

"Of course we ought to do it, Farnum. Jack is wholly right. If we enter
the harbor at Spruce Beach in this fashion, and carry through our entire
plan successfully, what on earth can there be left for opponents of our
class of boats to say?"

"Not _if_ we succeed, of course," smiled Farnum. "It's only the pesky
little 'if' that's bothering me at all. I don't want any of you to
think me a coward--"

"We know, very well, you're not, sir," Captain Jack interposed, very
quietly.

"But if we make any slip in our calculations," continued Jacob Farnum,
"the first bad thing about it is that we'll smash a fine boat which,
otherwise, the United States Government is likely to want at a price