Obviously, I couldn't prevent Hawkins testing his motor, but my heart
quaked at the idea of accompanying him.

On the other hand, it quaked quite as much before the prospect of
returning to his wife and admitting that I had allowed Hawkins to sail
away alone with his accursed motor.

If I went with him, a relatively easy death by drowning was about the
best I could expect. If I didn't, his wife----

I stepped down into the launch.

"Coming, are you?" observed Hawkins. "Quite the sensible thing to do,
Griggs. You'll never regret it."

"God knows, I hope not," I sighed.

"Now, in the first place, I may as well call your attention again to the
motor. The A. P. stands for 'almost perpetual'--good name, isn't it? You
don't know much about chemistry, Griggs, or I could make the whole
proposition clear to you."

"The great point about my motor, however, is that she's run by a fluid
somewhat similar to gasolene--another of the distillation products of
petroleum, in fact--which, having been exploded, passes into my new and
absolutely unique catalytic condensers, where it is returned to its
original molecular structure and run back into the reservoir."

"Hence," finished Hawkins, dramatically, "the fuel retains its chemical