e windshield closed."

The rumblings of thunder had increased, and now from over a distant hill
came various streaks of lightning. The sky was much darker, and in order
to see better, Dave turned on the electric lights. Looking back, those
in the tonneau of the forward car saw that the Basswood machine was
also lighted. By the time the top of the next hill was gained, a
distance of fully a mile, the thunderstorm was on them in all its fury.
The wind tore through the woods, sending leaves and small branches
flying in all directions. From the north and the west came vivid flashes
of lightning, followed by sharp claps of thunder, which rolled and
rumbled across the hills and mountains.

"O dear, if we only had some place to stop!" cried Jessie, timorously.

"There isn't any sort of a building in sight," replied Dunston Porter,
who had been looking on all sides for some time. "If there was I'd have
Dave head for it pretty quick."

"According to the map we ought to be within a few miles of Simpson's
Corners," said Roger. "How about it, Dave?"

"Just what I was thinking," answered our hero. "I was wondering if it
wasn't on the other side of the next rise."

They were running along another small valley, at the end of which was a
sharp turn to the left and a rise of several hundred feet. Here the
downfall of rain had flooded the road for a considerable distance.
Coming to this place Dave had to slow down, but he still kept on some
power, not wishing to get stuck.

"Can you make it, Dave?" asked his uncle, anxiously, as the chains of
the automobile ground deeply into the mud and loose stones.

"We've got to make it, Uncle Dunston!" cried the boy, grimly.

The car proceeded more and more slowly even with the power turned on.
Dave had been running in second gear, but now he came down to low. Mud
and stones flew in all directions, while the water was splashed out on
both sides as if coming from geysers. Then, with one last effort, the
automobile left the level roadway and started up the hill beyond.

The Wadsworth car was almost at the top of the rise when a turn in the
road enabled its occupants to see the second car.

"Look!" burst out Roger. "I do believe they're stuck!"

"Stuck! Do you mean in that wet place?" asked Dave, quickly.

"That's it," put in Phil. "They are stuck just as sure as you're born!"
he added, a second later.

The forward car had now reached a spot on the side of the hill which was
comparative