"No, none at all, to speak of," replied Tom. "I can easily put a
new block under the tank. In fact, I don't really need all I
have. But why should any one take one out, and who did it?
That's what I want to know."

The two lads looked carefully about the dock and boat for a sign
of the missing block or any clews that might show who had been
tampering with the ARROW, but they could find nothing.

"Maybe the block fell out," suggested Ned.

"It couldn't," replied Tom. "It was one of the new ones I put in
myself and it was nailed fast. You can see where it's been pried
loose. I can't, understand it," and Tom thought rapidly of
several mysterious occurrences of late in which the strange man at
the auction and the person he had surprised one night in the
boathouse had a part.

"Well, it needn't delay our trip," resumed the young inventor.
"Maybe there's a hoodoo around here, and it will do us good to get
away a few days. Come on, we'll have breakfast, get dad and
start."

A little later the ARROW was puffing away up the lake in the
direction of Sandport.


CHAPTER IX