CAUGHT IN A HAILSTORM
All of the Rover boys realized their extreme peril, 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. "Say, that was some sail, wasn't it?" he continued.
"No more like that for me!" returned Tom, panting like a race horse.
"Are you O. K., Dick?"
"Yes, although that bumping shook me up. But come, fasten the _Dartaway_
down before the wind comes up again and blows it to kingdom come!"
This warning was necessary for the wind was still fitful and there was
no telling how strong it might become. All sprang forward to do what
they could to save the biplane from destruction.
"If there was a barn handy we might use that," said Sam.
They looked around, but the only building nearby was a small cottage,
evidently one used by a farmer's hired hands.
"Run her around between the bushes," directed Dick. "They will protect
her a little, for the bushes are quite high."
They found a spot between the undergrowth and into it forced the
biplane, until the air craft was completely surrounded. The bushes broke
the force of the wind and the lads had little difficulty in tying the
machine fast with the ropes they always carried. It was hailing again,
although not so heavily as before. The wind was gradually going down,
but the sky was as dark and threatening as ever.
"I think it will turn into rain before very long," said Dick, after a
look around. "Too bad it couldn't have held off half an hour longer.
Then we'd have been safe at Brill."
"I'm thankful we got down safely, Dick," said Sam.
"Oh, so am I!"
"It was a narrow escape," was Tom's comment. "Great hambones! Who would
have thought we'd run into such weather as this!"
"Oh, hailstorms like this are not uncommon, even in midsummer," answered
Dick. "Don't you remember the one that came and cut down our corn some
years ago?"
"Yes, and broke all the glass in the hothouse," added Sam. "Say, is the
machine hurt much?" he went on.
"We'll have to make an examination."
They looked the biplane over as best they could in the semi-darkness.
One of the bamboo poles had been split and two of the canvas stretches
were slit from end to end.
"Not as bad as it might be," said Dick. "We can easily mend the canvas.
But I guess we had better get a new pole in place of that one. I'd not
care to trust it, even if it were wired."
"Perhaps we can wire it good enough to get back to Brill with," returned
Tom. "We can't stay here."
"I've had enough sailing for to-day!" cried Sam. "Let us walk back, or
get a carriage, and leave the biplane here until some fine day when
there is no wind."
"Yes, we can't use her any more to-day," said Dick. "Let us cover the
engine and walk to that cottage and find out just where we are, and how
we can get to Brill."
Having arranged everything as well as the means at hand permitted, the
three Rover boys left the vicinity of the brushwood and walked over to
where the small cottage was located. The ground was covered with
hailstones and Tom could not resist the temptation to gather up a
handful and pelt his brothers.
"Stop it!" cried Sam, and then, as Tom would not stop, he rushed in with
some of the hailstones in his hand and allowed them to slide down inside
of Tom's collar.
"Wow!" roared the fun-loving Rover. "Let up, Sam! That feels as if I'd
hit the North Pole!"
"Then you let up," answered Sam, firmly; and after that Tom let the
hailstones alone.
As they neared the cottage they saw that a lantern was lit and set on a
table in the centre of the living room. Around the table sat three
persons, two young fellows and an older man, evidently a farmer. The
three were smoking and playing cards, and on the table lay some
bank-bills.
"Why, look at this!" cried Dick, in astonishment. Then he added quickly:
"Get out of sight, don't show yourselves!" And he caught each of his
brothers by the arm and led the pair to the rear of the building.
"What's up, Dick?" asked Sam. "Who were they?"
"Didn't you recognize those young fellows?"
"I did!" cried Tom, in a low voice. "They were Jerry Koswell and Bart
Larkspur!"
"Koswell and Larkspur!" exclaimed Sam. "Are you sure?"
"Tom is right," replied Dick.
"Who was the third fellow?"
"I don't know. He looked like a farmer to me."
"Did you see the money on the table?" broke out Tom. "They must have
been gambling!"
"It looked that way to me, Tom."
"If they were, all I've got to say, that third fellow better look out
for Koswell and Larkspur," continued Tom. "They are sharpers at cards,
so Dudd Flockley once told me. He said they got him to put up his money
a number of times and each time they won. He was inclined to think they
didn't play fairly."
"Well, knowing them as we do, I'd say they wouldn't be above cheating,"
said Sam. "But what in the world can they be doing in this
out-of-the-way place?"
"That remains to be found out," replied his big brother. "Maybe they
were on the road and ran here for shelter from the hailstorm."
"I'm not afraid of them, Dick," said Tom.
"Neither am I, Tom, you know that."
"Then what's the use of keeping out of sight? I'd rather go in there and
give them a thrashing, like the one we gave them on that island."
"Don't forget we have the _Dartaway_ here and they might take pleasure
in ruining the craft or running off with her. Besides, I'd like to watch
them a bit and find out a little about their plans. Remember, they want
to play us some dirty trick."
"There they go!" burst out Sam, at that instant, and motioned to the
front of the cottage. All looked in the direction he pointed out, to see
Koswell and Larkspur hurrying down a lane that led to a road running
between the trees.
"You come back here! That wasn't fair!" shouted the farm hand who had
been playing cards with them. "Come back!" And he rushed to the front
door of the cottage and waved his arm wildly.
"It was fair!" shouted back Jerry Koswell.
"Sure it was fair!" added Bart Larkspur. "We'd come back, only we are in
a hurry."
"You cheated me!" stormed the farm hand and shook his fist at the pair.
But they paid no further attention, and soon the darkness and a bend of
the road hid them from view.
The Rover boys waited a few seconds and then knocked on the back door of
the cottage. The farm hand, a fellow named Dan Murdock, stamped over to
the door and threw it open.
"What do you want?" he asked surlily. The loss of his money had made him
ill-tempered.
"Why, hello, Murdock!" cried Sam. "I didn't know you lived here."
"Oh, so it's you, Rover," answered the farm hand. He remembered that he
had once given Sam a ride and had been well paid for it. "Caught in the
hailstorm?" he went on, a bit more pleasantly.
"Yes. These are my brothers," added Sam. "We were out and we got lost.
Can you tell us the best road to the college?"
"Of course. Walk through the woods back there. Then take the road to the
left and at the cross roads turn to the right. You'll see the signs, so
you can't go wrong."
"And how far is it?"
"About two miles. You can take the road yonder, too, but that's about a
mile longer."
"Do you live here?" asked Dick, curiously.
"I sleep here--me and two other hands. We get our meals up to Mr.
Dawson's house--the man we work for."
"Oh, then this is the Dawson farm?" Dick remembered that Mr. Dawson
supplied butter and eggs to the college.
"Yes, sir."
"I'm glad to know that, for we need some help. We were out in our
flying machine and had to come down over there. We'll want somebody to
look after the machine until we can fix it up and take it away. Of
course we'll pay for what's done," he added.
"Oh, I heard tell of that flying machine!" exclaimed the farm hand. "You
sailed over this farm a couple of hours ago."
He was much interested and wanted to know all about the trip, and about
the machine. He said Mr. Dawson was away, but that the _Dartaway_ could
be wheeled up into one of the big barns and left there until repaired.
Then he agreed to get out a two-seated carriage and drive the boys over
to Brill. Inside of half an hour the biplane was safely housed, and the
whole party was on the way to the college.
Dick had warned Sam and Tom to remain silent concerning Koswell and
Larkspur, and it was not until they were almost to Brill that he
mentioned the fact that they had seen the pair running away from the
cottage.
"Seen 'em, did you?" cried Dan Murdock. "Say, them fellers are
swindlers, they are! They came in to git out of the hail and then they
started to play cards, just to while away the time, so they said. They
asked me to play, and as I couldn't work just then, I consented, and
then they got me to put up some money,--just to make it interestin',
they said. They let me win a little at first, and then they got me to
put up more and more, and then they cheated me and wiped me out!"
"And how much did they get from you?" asked Dick.
"They got nearly all my savings--eighty dollars!" answered Dan Murdock,
grimly.