"Then somebody else would have to go with Purt, for he could never run that motor alone. Oh, look!"
As Dorothy spoke there was a big puff of smoke from the middle of the launch and they heard the boys shouting excitedly.
[Illustration: AS DOROTHY SPOKE THERE WAS A BIG PUFF OF SMOKE FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE LAUNCH.]
"Now you've done it, Purt!" was an exclamation the twins heard.
Then flames shot up where the smoke had been and the twins both cried out.
"Their gasoline's afire! It's the tank!" exclaimed Dora.
She had scarcely spoken when there came a muffled report, another great balloon of smoke, and the launch seemed to be afire from end to end. Out of the smoke and flames three figures, one after the other, leaped into the lake, while the burning launch darted on across the path of the girls' canoe.
"Oh! Oh!" cried Dora. "I hope they're not burned."
"But they'll be drowned!" gasped her sister.
"Chetwood Belding and Lance Darby won't drown, that's sure," returned Dora, but driving in her paddle vigorously.
"And they won't let Prettyman Sweet drown, either."
The girls swept on at a splendid pace, paying no attention to the runaway and burning launch. They were anxious to reach the struggling boys.
"We can't take them aboard, Dora!" cried her sister.
"Of course not; but they can cling to the gun-wales----"
"They'll tip us over. I don't want to get all wet," panted Dorothy.
Out of a neighboring inlet shot a second cedar boat, also paddled by two girls.
"Goody! now we can get the boys to shore all right," said Dora, with satisfaction. "Laura will know what to do. She always does."
Laura Belding, who was Chetwood Belding's sister, and who rejoiced in the nickname at school of "Mother Wit," was a girl who possessed a very quick mind. Her mates expected a good deal of her, therefore, and it was not surprising that Dora and Dorothy Lockwood should consider that the rescue of the three boys in the lake was a simple matter now that Laura had appeared upon the scene.
In the first volume of this series, entitled "The Girls of Central High; Or, Rivals for All Honors," Laura Belding's quick wit was displayed on several occasions--notably in her solving the problem of a fire that was discovered in the office of the principal of Central High School, Franklin Sharp.