il, yet for the moment
they were powerless to do anything to help themselves. Dick put out his
hand to stop the engine of the biplane, then concluded that it might be
more advantageous to keep the propellers moving.

Around and around spun the flying machine, tossed like a chip on an
angry ocean. All grew dark about the three boys and each gave himself up
for lost. It was useless to attempt to steer, so Dick held the craft as
she was, so far as the wheel was concerned.

Then came a sudden, sickening drop and a tilting to one side. Sam let
out a wild yell, but what he said was drowned out in the roaring of the
wind and the noise of the engine. Then, of a sudden, the _Dartaway_ dove
forward and the gust of air was left behind. They came into a "hole," as
it is termed by aviators, and again they sank. But now Dick was gaining
control once more and he tilted the front rudder and up they went for a
hundred feet, but in something of a circle, because of the broken plane.

"Can't you land?" gasped Tom. "We can't--can't--stand--this!"

"I'll do what I can," replied Dick, between his set teeth. He knew that
their very lives depended on how he handled the biplane.

Slowly and with great caution Dick allowed the _Dartaway_ to get closer
to the earth. Each of the boys strained his eyes, to catch sight of what
might be below. Then came another gust, and this was followed by a
strange rattling on the biplane. Small, white objects were bouncing in
all directions.

"It's hail!" cried Sam. "We've struck a hail squall!"

He was right, and the hail continued to come down all around them,
driven by a sweeping wind that carried the _Dartaway_ hither and
thither. But it was one of those sudden squalls that do not last long,
and soon they were sailing in the clear air again, and now within view
of the ground below.

"There is a fine field--to the right," cried Tom.

Dick nodded and, not without an effort, brought the biplane around. Then
he shut off the motor, and they slid to earth quicker than they had
anticipated. The _Dartaway_ struck the ground and bounced up and down
several times on its rubber-tired wheels and then came to a standstill
in the midst of some brushwood. Poor Sam was thrown out heels over head
into the bushes.

"Are you hurt?" sang out Dick, anxiously. It was so dark he could not
see what had become of his youngest brother.

"I--I guess not!" came back from Sam, and he started to scramble out of
the bushes. "S