ock and a fair-sized tree.
Apparently the car was not hurt, and no one seemed to be injured.

"How did it happen, Ben?" sang out Dave, when he saw that the accident
was not a serious one.

"Funniest thing you ever heard of," returned his chum. "You couldn't
possibly guess it."

"Didn't you slip on the rocks?" queried Phil.

"It was a cow put us here," said Mr. Basswood, gravely. "Just a plain,
every day, red cow." And in spite of the accident his eyes had a twinkle
in them.

"A cow!" came from several of the others, in wonder.

"Yes, a cow!" answered Ben, and his tone showed his deep disgust. "I was
going down the hill just as nicely as you please when along came a cow.
A man was driving her, and when he saw us coming he did his best to get
the cow out of our way. But that mooly didn't budge from the middle of
the road, so I had to turn to one side--and this is the consequence."

"But I am so thankful that no one was hurt," broke in Mrs. Basswood.
"Think of what might have happened if the car had turned over!" and she
shuddered.

"But where is the cow?" questioned Roger.

"Oh, as soon as she had put us in this hole she turned tail and ran down
the hill as fast as she could, and the man went after her," explained
Mr. Basswood.

"I guess the man ran away because he was afraid we might hold him
responsible for damages," remarked Shadow. "Say! this puts me in mind
of a story," he added. "One time a cow got on the front piazza of a
house, and----"

"For gracious sake, Shadow! I guess you'd want to tell stories at a
funeral," burst out Ben. "Never mind your yarn now. Let us see if we can
get this machine out from between this rock and that tree."

"You didn't break the steering-gear, did you?" asked Dave, anxiously, as
he allowed the flashlight to play over and around the touring-car.

"I don't believe I hurt anything, Dave. But of course I can't be sure
until I try to run the car," answered Ben. "What's worrying me is: How
am I going to get out of this fix? I don't believe I can back out--in
fact it wouldn't be safe."

"Looks to me as if we'd have to chop the tree down to get out of here,"
commented Luke, who had come back from where he had signaled the other
car.

"I think I see a way of aiding you," said Dunston Porter, who was
examining the rock that held the wheel to the tree. "I think if we dig
under the edge of this rock, we can loosen it and roll it down the hill.
Then we'll be able to lift the fro