The Rover Boys in the Air Part 36

"Phew! this is getting pretty wild!" gasped Sam. "d.i.c.k, can you manage her?"

"Not if it gets any worse," was the grim answer.

"Don't take too much of a chance," put in Tom. "We don't want to get wrecked in this wilderness."

His reference to a wilderness was not without reason, for below them stretched a series of hills and valleys covered with stunted trees and clumps of brushwood. Not a house was in sight.

"This is what you'd call Lonesomehurst," murmured Sam.

"Do you see any place where we can land?" was d.i.c.k's question, a little later, after he had battled with another angry gust and then run through a particularly trying "soft spot."

"Nothing around here," answered Tom.

"I see something of a clearing over to the left," came from Sam. "I don't know what it amounts to though, it's too far off."

"We'll look at it," said d.i.c.k, in a low voice.

He had to fairly battle his way along, so fierce were the gusts of wind.

He made something of an oval, and presently found himself over a spot covered with gra.s.s and low bushes. Then came another gust of wind and without waiting longer he shut off the engine, and the _Dartaway_ came down with a b.u.mp that threatened to break the wheels on which it rested.

They swept through the bushes, and then tilted up beside several small trees.

"Hold her down!" shouted d.i.c.k. "Tie her fast, before the wind turns her over!"

All set to work, and, not without great difficulty, they managed to run the biplane directly between several trees and some clumps of bushes.

"Fasten every rope well," sang out d.i.c.k. "Unless I miss my guess, this is going to be a corker of a blow!"

"I don't think it will be as bad as it was during that hailstorm,"

answered Tom. "But it is bad enough."

The ropes were all well secured, and then the boys breathed easier. Down on the ground the wind did not appear to be so powerful, and they felt that, unless it increased greatly, the _Dartaway_ way would be safe in her berth among the trees and bushes.

"Well, what's the next move?" questioned Sam, after they had rested for a moment from their labors.

"I hardly know what to say," answered his eldest brother. "We can hardly follow that auto on foot."

"The worst of it is, it will be growing dark before long," put in Tom.

"What are we going to do then? I thought we'd catch up to that auto long before this."

They talked the matter over, but could arrive at no satisfactory conclusion.

"I'm almost sorry we came down," said d.i.c.k. "We might have gotten through--although the wind is worse than it was."

"No, we couldn't do anything in this wind,--we'd simply wreck the _Dartaway_," said Sam. "But come on, let's go as far as we can. We can come back for the biplane any time."

While under such a strain of mind, the boys could not remain quiet, and so they set off through the woods in the direction of the road. It was hard walking, and several times they had to literally force their way through the brushwood. Then they came to a swamp and had to make a detour, for fear of getting stuck in the mud. When they at last reached the road they were well-nigh exhausted.

"I'll have to rest just a minute!" panted Sam. "Say, that was something fierce, wasn't it?" And he sank on a rock.

"Listen! I think I hear somebody coming!" cried d.i.c.k.

All strained their ears, and presently made out the sounds of a farm wagon moving slowly over the rocky roadway that was hidden by the trees.

Then the turnout came into view, loaded with freshly-cut cord wood, and drawn by a pair of bony, white horses. On the seat of the wagon sat an aged colored man, talking volubly to his team.

"h.e.l.lo there, uncle!" cried d.i.c.k, as the wagon came closer. "Stop a minute, I want to talk to you."

"What you-all wants?" demanded the colored man nervously, for the spot was a particularly lonely one.

"Did you come from the direction of Snagtown?" went on d.i.c.k.

"Dat's wot I did, sah."

"Did you see anything of a big automobile going that way, one with a coach top?"

At this question the aged colored man blinked his eyes and s.h.i.+fted uneasily. He glanced back, over his load of wood.

"I--I ain't got nuffin to say, boss, I ain't got nuffin to say!" he answered finally, and prepared to drive on.

"Oh, yes, you have got something to say--and you are going to say it!"

cried d.i.c.k, and he ran forward, in front of the horses, and caught hold of one by the bit.

CHAPTER XXIII

AT CLOSE QUARTERS

"Say, you dun let my hosses alone!" cried the colored man, in fright.

"Don't you dare to drive away until you have answered our questions,"

returned d.i.c.k, firmly.

"I--I don't want to git in no trouble, boss--'deed I don't!" wailed the driver of the farm wagon.

"Well, you answer our questions, and tell us the strict truth."

"I--I didn't do nuffin, give you-all my word I didn't!"

"But you saw the auto, with the men and the girls in it?" cried d.i.c.k, sharply.

"Ye-as, sah, I--I did, sah," was the stammered-out reply.

"Where did you see them?"

"Down in Snagtown, sah."