"Oh, I'll just say I'm your agent," promised Ned with a grin. "You can't object to that."
"No, I s'pose not. Well, do the best you can. She is certainly a nice girl."
"Yes, but you do seem to turn up at most opportune times. Luck is certainly with you where she is concerned. First you save her in a runaway—"
"After I start the runaway," interrupted Tom.
"Then you take her for a ride in your motor-boat, and, lastly, you come to her relief when she is stalled in the middle of the lake. Oh, you certainly are a lucky dog!"
"Never mind, I'm giving you a show. Now let's get to bed early, as I want to get a good start."
Tom awoke to find a nasty, drizzling rainstorm in progress, and the lake was almost hidden from view by a swirling fog. Still he was not to be daunted from his trip to Shopton by the weather, and, after a substantial breakfast, he bade his father and Ned good-by and started off in the Arrow.
The canopy he had provided was an efficient protection against the rain, a celluloid window in the forward hanging curtains affording him a view so that he could steer.
Through the mist puffed the boat, the motor
