CHAPTER V
LOOKING FOR THE LOST FLYING MACHINE
It was the foot brake that had given away. The hand brake was still fitfor use, but each of the Rover boys remembered with dismay that thisbrake had been loose for some time. They had thought to tighten it up,but other matters had claimed their attention, and they had not deemedit absolutely necessary before taking the short trip to Rayville, sinceon starting the other brake had seemed to be in good order.
"Can you do it, Tom?" asked Dick, quickly, as the big car gatheredheadway on the steep hill.
"I'll try!" was Tom's reply. "But it's some hill."
"If only we don't meet anything," put in Sam. "Blow the horn, Dick!"
The oldest Rover boy did as requested, leaning over from the back seatto do so, and thus leaving Tom free to manipulate the steering wheel.Dick also set the hand brake a notch tighter, but this did little good,since it was the bands that were worn.
On and on bounded the touring car, down the long hill. On both sides theroad was bound by rocks and trees, with nasty gullies in several spots.Here and there were "resting spots" for teams, and over theseindentations flew the automobile with jolts that threatened to break allthe springs at once.
"The turn! Beware of the turn!" cried Sam and Dick together, when aboutthree-quarters of the hill had been passed.
Tom nodded but said not a word. He had thrown the motive power to thelow gear, and thus the engine was doing something towards holding thecar back.
Suddenly Dick uttered a cry, and the next minute Sam saw him dive downto the bottom of the tonneau and bring up several long ropes to whichwere attached a number of hooks. He had placed these in the automobilefor possible use in getting the _Dartaway_ out of the woods or fromamong the rocks.
With care Dick took the hooks and threw them out of the machine. At thesame time he leaned over and allowed the ends of the ropes to catch onthe swiftly-revolving wheels of the machine.
"Maybe they'll hold something--anyway I hope so," he said.
They had now reached the turn. Tom was running as closely as possibleto the inner side and Dick had commenced to toot the horn again. With aslipping and sliding, the touring car went over the dirt and stones,rushing nearer and nearer to the gully on the outer edge of the highway.
"Look! Look!" screamed Sam, a second later. "A carriage, and threeladies in it!"
He was right, and the carriage was less than a hundred yards ahead. Butjust now Tom could think of nothing but the turn, for the machine wasrunning closer than ever to the gully. If they went down in that thetouring car would most likely turn turtle, and they might all be killed.
But they did not go down into the gully. By sheer good luck Tom managedto throw the automobile back into the roadway, two wheels for a secondspinning in midair. Then he had to reckon with the other danger--that ofhitting the carriage with the three ladies.
The ladies had heard the tooting of the auto horn and had tried to drawup to the side of the road. But the incline was still steep and the twohorses evidently did not like the looks of that gully.
"You can't pass them!" groaned Sam, and just then came a grinding fromunderneath the touring car. This was followed by a series of jerks, andthen came one final jerk that brought the automobile to a standstill andall but sent the Rover boys flying over the engine hood.
"Well, we've stopped!" panted Tom, when he could catch his breath. "Iguess the brake held somehow."
"No, it didn't," answered Sam. "It's another brake, one that Dick heavedoverboard." And he pointed to the ropes and hooks. One hook, thebiggest, had caught in a rock lining the gully, and the ropes were in amess around the wheels and the rear axle.
"Good for you!" murmured Tom. "It saved us from running into thatcarriage."
"Are you men going on?" cried one of the ladies, noticing that theautomobile had come to a stop.
"Not just yet!" sang out Dick. "You can go ahead if you wish. We'll waituntil you get down to the bottom of the hill--and maybe we'll waitlonger," he added in an undertone.
"You scared us nearly to death," said another of the ladies, tartly; andthen the carriage went on and was soon lost to sight on a side road.
The three youths alighted, and after blocking the wheels with stones, sothat it might not get away unexpectedly, commenced an inspection of thecar.
"The ropes wouldn't do much damage but the hooks might," said Dick. "ButI couldn't think of anything else to do."
"It was grand of you to do that," answered Tom, warmly. "I was a fool tolet her out as I did," he added bluntly. "I'll know better next time."
That was Tom, often headstrong but quick to acknowledge a fault.
Not without much difficulty did the three youths manage to get the ropesdisentangled from the rear wheels and the back axle. It was found thatone of the hooks had gone into a tire, causing a blow-out that, in thegeneral excitement, nobody had noticed. But otherwise everything seemedto be all right, apart, of course, from the broken brake rod, and theboys were thankful.
"I guess we can manage to run to the nearest blacksmith shop," saidDick, "and there we can get the rod mended."
"What a lucky thing that big hook caught in the rock!" cried Sam.
"It's the one thing that saved us from going into the carriage,"returned Tom, and his face was very sober as he spoke. For a time beinghe did not feel like running the car further and readily agreed to letSam take hold, after another tire had been adjusted. To keep theautomobile from going down the remainder of the hill too rapidly, theyallowed one of the ropes to remain on the rear axle, and to this tied asmall fallen tree, that made an excellent drag.
When the level roadway was gained once more they made good time toCarwood, and there called on the blacksmith to repair the broken brakerod. While waiting they ran into Tom Bender, and the boy was veryanxious to know all about the lost aeroplane.
"Say, but you fellows have a cinch!" he said, in admiration. "You getwhat you please. Wish I was in your shoes!"
"You'd not want to be in our shoes when that brake rod broke," answeredSam bluntly. "Eh, Tom?"
"Not much!" replied his brother.
At last they were on the way again. They had telephoned to Peter Marley,so that the farmer would know the cause of the delay. Sam did thedriving and now the machine went along well, and almost before they knewit they were at Rayville and asking the way to the Marley farm. This wason a back road, but the way was good and they reached the farm withouttrouble, excepting that they had to slow down to let a herd of cows passthem.
"Got here at last, have ye!" cried Peter Marley, as he came out togreet them. "You kin put that 'mobile under the wagon shed if ye wantto," he added.
"Can't we use it to go after the biplane?" questioned Dick.
"No, there hain't no fit road. If ye say so, we can go on hosses--if yewant to pay fer ridin'," added the farmer shrewdly. He was a good man,but close, and never allowed a chance to make an honest cent slip by.
"All right, we'll ride," said Dick. "The horses may come in handy forhauling the biplane,--and besides, we can't carry these ropes and hooksif we walk."
So it was arranged; and a little later the party of four set off onhorseback, the farmer and Tom carrying the ropes and hooks, and Samkeeping beside Dick, who looked a trifle pale in spite of his efforts toappear all right. The knock-down blow from the flying machine had beenharder than the eldest Rover boy was willing to admit.
Rocker's Woods proved to be a large patch of scrub timber, all the largetrees having been cut down to feed the old saw-mill, which still stoodon the bank of a good-sized stream. The saw-mill had not been used fornine years and the timber was gradually coming up once more.
"This is exactly the way thet airship tuk," said Peter Marley, as heled the way. "An' as she wasn't runnin' very fast I guess she musta-come down not very fur off."
"I hope so," answered Dick. "And I hope, too, she came down gently."
"Huh! How could she come down any other way? Ain't much to 'em, isthere, 'ceptin
' sticks an' cloth."
"The engine weighs several hundred pounds."
"Gee shoo! Several hundred pounds! Say, if thet's so, it's great howthey kin stay up!" burst out the farmer in admiration. "Ain't no bird asweighs as much as thet!"
As they advanced through the woods, all of the party looked to the rightand the left for some sign of the missing biplane.
"Here's a tree top down!" cried Tom, when they were close to the riveron which the old saw mill was located. "This looks as if it might havebeen done by the machine."
"Gracious, I wonder if the airship went into the river!" burst out Sam.
"That might be a good thing, if it did," answered Dick. "It might saveit from being wrecked, and we might be able to tow it ashore."
In a moment more they came to a halt at the edge of the river, which wasbroad and smooth at this point. In the middle the stream was ten totwelve feet deep, and the bottom was of sand and smooth rocks.
"I don't see anything that looks like a flying machine," said Sam aftera long look around.
"Maybe after all it went over into the woods on the other side,"returned Dick.
"That must be it," said Peter Marley. "I'm afraid we'll have to go upthe stream a bit to get across. We can't ford here."
"How far to a good ford?" asked Dick.
"About quarter o' a mile tudder side o' the old mill."
"Say, look over there!" cried Tom at this moment. "What does that looklike to you, Sam?"
He pointed with his hand, and all in the party gazed in the directionindicated, a point close to the opposite shore, where some brushwoodoverhung the river.
"Why that looks to me like one of the planes of the flying machine!"cried the youngest Rover.
"Just what I thought," exclaimed Tom. "What do you say, Dick?"
"It certainly does look like one of the planes," answered the olderbrother. "But don't be too sure, or we may be disappointed."
"Too bad we can't get over here," murmured Sam. "Supposing I swim it?"he continued.
"No, don't bother, Sam," replied Dick. "We'll all go around by way ofthe ford. You can't do anything alone anyway."
"But I might make sure if it was the machine," insisted Sam.
"Never mind; we want to get over there anyway--to continue thesearch--if that isn't the machine."
Again Peter Marley led the way, along a trail that ran past the oldmill. The boys came close at his heels, and as they advanced Tomquestioned the farmer concerning the place.
"It belongs to a lumber company, but it's been closed up fer years,"said Peter Marley. "Once in a while tramps hang out there, but thet'sall."
Presently they found themselves close to the mill, which was almostready to fall down from disuse and neglect. As they rode up Tom chancedto glance towards a side window and was surprised to catch sight of aman looking curiously at them. As soon as he saw that he was discoveredthe man stepped out of sight.
"Well, I never!" gasped Tom. "Did you see him?"
"See who?" asked his brothers.
"That man at the window of the mill! Unless I am greatly mistaken it wasJosiah Crabtree!"