neral view of the situation, so
that they might get their bearings. Then all but one lantern were
extinguished, and the engine was started up and they got aboard the
craft, Dick taking the wheel.

"Now, Sam, it is up to you to give me the points of the compass," said
Dick. "And, Tom you keep your eyes open for the lights of Sherodburg and
Fremville."

Into the sky with its twinkling stars swept the _Dartaway_, and Sam gave
the direction to be taken by consulting the tiny pocket compass he
carried. Of course these directions were crude, but they were better
than nothing, and soon Tom cried out that he could make out the lights
of a settlement in the dim distance.

"That must be Sherodburg," said Dick.

"Why stop there?" asked Tom. "I don't think the touring car did. More
than likely they streaked through for all they were worth. Why not go on
straight to Fremville? That is a much larger town, and we'll be sure to
find a telephone there, or a telegraph office."

"Just what I was thinking," replied his big brother.

They swept over Sherodburg five minutes later, dipping down so low that
they could see every house and every store. They looked along the main
street for the touring car, but only carriages and farm wagons were in
view.

"I wish we had a searchlight," said Dick, with a sigh. "If we had one we
could easily keep that highway in view all the way to Fremville."

"Well, we haven't one, so we'll have to make out without it," answered
Tom. "Fly as low as you can and we'll try to keep the highway in sight.
Most of the farmhouses have lights in 'em, and that will help a little."

Dick flew as low as seemed advisable, and by straining their eyes the
boys managed to make out the winding road, lined on either side with
farms and patches of woods. Occasionally they swept over small
collections of houses,--hamlets located between the town they had left
behind and the one they were approaching.

The breeze had died down utterly, so Dick had little trouble in
manipulating the biplane. He sent the _Dartaway_ onward at a good rate
of speed, the engine making a noise like a battery of gatling guns. More
than likely many a farmer and his family were astonished at the sounds
and wondered what they meant. If any saw the biplane the Rovers did not
know it.

"I guess we are coming up to Fremville now," said Sam, when the distant
lights of a town showed on the horizon. "We'll have to look for some
safe place to land, and