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.
