Publisher's Synopsis
"Is the 'Meteor' a fast boat?" "Very fast, indeed." "But can she beat anything along this coast? That's what I want to know." "Judge for yourself. On her trial trip she made within a small fraction of twenty-eight miles an hour." "Whew! That's tremendous speed, even for a fast and costly boat such as the rich build to-day. But how long has she been in the water?" "Since last March." "She may have fouled a good deal since then, or her machinery may be a good deal below the mark by this time." "Humph! For that matter, something could be made to happen to the boat, I suppose." Of the two men carrying on this conversation in a day-coach seat on a railway train, one was five-foot-seven, florid and somewhat stout, with a bull neck and keen, twinkling eyes. His whole appearance hinted that he had spent most of his forty years of life on the open sea. The other man, who was short, slim and swarthy, with narrow, piercing black eyes, might have been a few years older. His every motion betokened great activity. One might have guessed him to be a Spaniard. His general attire, though it was somewhat careless, would place him in the business-man class.
