"What have you to do with it, young man?"
"I drove one car and my brother here drove the other. We didn"t hurt the machines and you ought to be glad we brought them back in good condition."
"Humph! You hadn"t any license to run them."
"We took the liberty of doing so," said d.i.c.k. "If you want to get angry about it, I"ll get angry myself. You had no right to place those cars in the hands of unreliable men. You risked our lives by so doing."
"Those men are reliable enough. One of them telephoned to me you had run away with the autos."
"The folks at the Dardell Hotel will tell you how reliable they were. I warned them not to drink, but they did, and they were in no condition to run any automobile."
"I don"t allow just anybody to run my machines," stormed the man. "They are expensive pieces of property."
"Well, they are not worth as much as our necks, not by a good deal,"
said Tom.
"Don"t you get impudent, young fellow!"
"He is not impudent," said d.i.c.k. "Your machines are all right--we didn"t hurt them in the least. But I can tell you one thing," he proceeded earnestly. "We don"t propose to pay for the hire of the chauffeurs."
"That"s the talk," broke in Fred. "Pay him for the use of the cars only."
"You"ll pay the whole bill!" growled the automobile owner.
"Not a cent more than the hire of the two cars," said Tom.
The man began to storm, and threatened to have them locked up for running the cars without a license. But in the end he accepted the money d.i.c.k offered him.
"Maybe you haven"t heard the end of this," he muttered.
"If you make trouble, perhaps I"ll do the same," answered d.i.c.k, and then he and the others went aboard the yacht, where a late supper awaited them. Mr. Rover had heard of the unreliable chauffeurs and he was even more indignant than his sons.
"I don"t think that owner will show himself again," he said. "If he does I"ll take care of him." The man was never heard of; and that ended the affair.
"We had a splendid time anyway," declared Grace, and the other girls agreed with her.
Tom had not forgotten about his fireworks, and after supper he invited the crowd to the deck and gave them quite an exhibition.
"Here, Hans, you can set off this Roman candle," he said, presently.
"Show the ladies how nicely you can do it. But take off your coat and roll up your shirt sleeve before you begin," he added, with a dig into Sam"s ribs, which meant, "watch for fun."
Quite innocently the German lad took off his coat and rolled his shirt sleeve up over his elbow. Then he took the big Roman candle and lit it.
"Now swing it around lively," cried Tom, and Hans began to describe little circles with the Roman candle. Soon the sparks began to pour forth, and not a few came down on the bare wrist and forearm.
"Ouch! ouch!" yelled Hans, dancing around. "_Ach du meine zeit!_ Say, somepody sthop dot! I vos purn mineselluf ub alretty!"
"Swing it around quicker!" cried d.i.c.k.
"Turn it in the shape of a figure eight!" suggested Fred.
"Loop the loop with it," came from Sam.
Around and around went the Roman candle and then bang! out shot a ball, hitting one of the masts of the steam yacht. Then bang! went another ball, hitting the top of the cabin.
"Hold it up straighter, Hans!" said Songbird. "Don"t shoot somebody."
"If I hold him ub I burn mineselluf worser!" groaned the German youth.
"Here, you dake him, Sam, I got enough."
"No, no, Hans, I won"t deprive you of the pleasure of shooting it off,"
answered the youngest Rover, and skipped out of the way.
[Ill.u.s.tration: HANS WAS HOPPING AROUND LIKE A MADMAN.]
One after another the b.a.l.l.s, red, white and blue, poured from the Roman candle. It was a pretty sight, but Hans" aim was more than bad, and one hit the bow and another the stern, while a third whizzed past d.i.c.k"s ear. In the meantime Hans was hopping around like a madman, trying to keep the sparks from his skin.
"Throw it overboard!" cried Mr. Rover, who was enjoying the fun, but who was afraid somebody might get a fire ball in the face.
"Only a few more b.a.l.l.s left," said Tom. "Hans, try to hit the top of the mast--don"t point it downward."
The German youth was too excited to listen to the advice. He continued to dance around. Bang! went another ball and entered the cabin of the steam yacht. Bang! came the final one and that too disappeared into the interior of the craft Then the Roman candle went out, and Hans breathed a sigh of relief.
"I vos glat dot is ofer," he said. "No more firevorks for me, not on your kollarb.u.t.tons, no!"
"I hope they didn"t do any damage in the cabin----" began Mrs. Stanhope anxiously, when there came a cry from Aleck Pop.
"Stop dat fire from comin" down!" yelled the colored man. "De hull cabin"s in a blaze!"
CHAPTER XV
THE SAILING OF THE STEAM YACHT
The announcement made by Aleck Pop filled all on board the steam yacht with consternation, and while Hans still nursed his arm and wrist the other boys, with Anderson Rover and Captain Barforth, rushed down the companionway.
A glance showed them what was the matter. One of the b.a.l.l.s of fire had struck a curtain and ignited the flimsy material. The fire was now dropping down on some fireworks Tom had left on a chair. Just as they entered a pinwheel, lying flat, began to fizz, sending a shower of sparks across the other pieces.
"Quick! out with that stuff!" cried Anderson Rover and sent the pinwheel flying into a corner with his hand. Then he stepped on it, putting out the fire.
In the meantime, d.i.c.k and Sam pulled down the burning curtain and stamped on that. The others scattered the fireworks and saw to it that not a spark remained in the cabin.
"A close call!" murmured Captain Barforth, when the excitement was over. "It is lucky we got down here so soon."
"I was thinkin" de hull ship was gwine ter bust up!" said Aleck, with a shiver. "Dis chile knows jess how quick fireworks kin go off. I see a big combustication of dem one summer in a hotel where I was waiting. Da had to call de fire department to put dem out an" da shot out moah dan a dozen winders, too!"