til,
reaching the thick screen where the car had crashed through, they came
unexpectedly to a low embankment. At the bottom was the dry bed of a
small brooklet, with a further shore that sloped gradually up into
second-growth timber again.

But this was not all. Right below the two boys was the Big Six; not
upright, but lying on its side, two wheels in the air, yet apparently
uninjured. Uttering a shout of joy at sight of the beloved car, Dave
jumped down the declivity, the irregular projections of which had
doubtless caused the Six to turn over under the reckless driving it had
been subjected to ever since it had been seized.

CHAPTER XIV

UNDER THE CAR

Reassured as to the fate of the car, Phil was about to turn back to
where Paul and Billy were still picking up the things, when Dave's voice
was heard:

"Oh, Phil! Here's trouble! Come on down here--quick!"

Shouting back to the two lads behind that the car was found, Phil jumped
down and ran round to where Dave was staring at something on the ground.
Meantime catching the meaning of Phil's words, Paul and Billy hurried
forward with the loads they already had.

"Geemineddy!" This was of course by Paul, always emphatic and
exclamatory. "If I ever get my hands on that old Six again, I bet she
don't go out of my reckoning soon!"

"I know just how you feel, Paul. I was to blame, but--oh, don't I wish
we had the chaps that did it!"

The two, their hands filled with sundry belongings, were hastening after
Phil who had vanished from their view. Down the slope, over the jagged
embankment they hurried, giving a yell as they saw the Big Six upturned,
but apparently safe. The tops of Dave's and Phil's heads bobbed up and
down on the further side of the car.

Reaching the spot, what was their surprise to see the body of a man
lying prone on the ground, his legs and part of his body fairly under
the car. Billy, after one look, gave a gasp of amazement. The man was
bareheaded, his face half turned under and pressed against the ground.

"Here, boys," began Phil. "Drop everything and let's turn the car off
his body!"

By the united efforts of all the Big Six was lifted at the forward end
so that the weight of the car no longer rested on the dead or insensible
man.

"Boys," said Billy, "that's the man in gray who wore the visored cap we
found back yonder. I'll swear to that. Is he dead?"

Phil and Dave, stooping closely, examined the man, and in so doing
tur