One was jammed; one had a broken wire. Whether
the jammed brake had been so or not before the accident they could not
tell. As far as they could judge, the broken wire had left the rider
helpless on the steep slope. They looked up the hill. The track came
down fairly straight, until it was within a few yards of the bed of
weeds. Then it swerved sharply aside. A yard from the angle of the
swerve lay a large stone. Deduction: The front wheel had struck the
stone, driven it a yard to the left, and itself had swerved violently
to the right, and dashed on to a heap of stones hidden under the growth
of weeds. The shock had been tremendous. How discovered? The frame
was badly twisted and broken, and the machine was an excellent one; the
transfer bore the name of a first-rate maker.

Now, what had happened to the rider? He had been pitched flying from
his machine, and Dick found where he had fallen. Three yards from the
spot where the broken bicycle lay, the weeds were flattened, as if a
heavy body had dropped there. Then Dick gave a long, low whistle.

'By Jove, Chippy! look here!' he cried, and pointed with his staff.
The Raven hastened up, and whistled too, when he saw a patch of blood
lying around a sharp-edged stone. The blood was quite fresh, and that
proved the accident was recent.

'Poor chap dropped with his head on the stone, and cut himself pretty
badly,' said Dick; and Chippy nodded.

'It ain't a big machine,' he remarked.

'It's just about the size of mine,' returned Dick. 'It may be a fellow
about our age, Chippy, by the look of the bike.'

Now arose the vital question: Had the unlucky rider received help or
not? How had he left the place--on his own feet, or with assistance?
The scouts settled that in a minute's close search. They had taken
care not to potter about and confuse the spoor with their own markings.
They soon came to the conclusion that such marks as they could find
were made by the rider when he had dragged himself to his feet.

'Has anyone passed here since the accident?' said Dick.

'Soon find that out,' cried Chippy; and the two scouts turned their
trained eyes on the dusty road, which gave up instantly the knowledge
its surface held.

Two tracks only were recent. One was made by a pair of wheels and the
feet of a horse; the other by a pair of large, hobnailed shoes. The
wheel-tracks were narrow, and the horse had trotted till it was some
distance up the hill, then fal