as the older lad turned the craft to make the trip through the inlet. 

 Ned crouched to keep as much as possible out of the way of the flying spray, and also to bring his weight low-down in the craft and thus make her more seaworthy. For though it was not likely that the dory would capsize, it was not wise to offer too many chances to the sea. 

 “Can you make it?” shouted Ned. 

 Frank nodded his head. It was no time for talk now. 

 The stanch craft rose and fell on the waves. She tumbled and tossed about, but dories are made for rough weather and heavy seas, and the boat of the two boys was no exception. 

 Once again Ned lifted off the cover of the engine box 10 to see that the oil was being properly fed to the machinery, for the gasoline motor was under a severe strain now, forcing the boat through the inlet against the power of the out-rushing tide. 

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 “All right?” asked Frank, snapping out the words, but never taking his eyes from the course ahead. 

 “All right,” Ned answered. 

 On through the storm, through the driving rain and the stinging salt spume, labored the dory, until she was in the more quiet waters of Great South Bay, and then, for the first time since they realized that they were caught in a bad storm, our two heroes breathed with comparative freedom. 

 “Whew!” exclaimed Frank, with a sigh of relief as he allowed his tired legs to stretch a bit, for he had sat in a braced position to manage the wheel. “Whew! That was some storm!” 

 “It was great!” declared Ned, laughing now. “I love a good blow!” 

 “So do I, and now that we have tried out the Ellen and know what she can do, we’ll not have to worry so much. It sure is some great little boat!” and Frank patted the wheel affectionately, as one might caress a favorite horse or dog. The motor boat really seemed a thing of life to the boys. 

 Their hard work was not yet over, however, for Great South Bay is very shallow, and it does not take much wind to roughen the water there. 11 But, of course, the waves were nothing like those out on the open sea, and, as Ned remarked, “it was pie”; meaning, in his own way, that it was easy navigating. 

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