"You're right, I believe," Ned said. "We'd better land."
"All right, then," agreed Harry. "Let's come down easy, though."
Under Ned's capable hands the Eagle swooped silently and swiftly toward the earth. The great machine behaved splendidly in every particular. All three boys craned their necks eagerly toward the earth as they descended. With watchful eyes they peered about.
In another five minutes they were standing beside the Eagle, which rested easily in a grassy spot beneath some tall trees that screened the lads from the eyes of anyone passing upon the road.
Their flight through the twilight had been apparently unobserved, for no outcry from the nearby village had reached their ears.
For a few minutes the three lads stood peering anxiously forth from a screen of bushes that separated them from the highway.
At length Ned signalled his comrades to follow, and cautiously stepped forth from the copse. The others were close upon this heels.
"Let's go to the village," offered Ned, "and try to find out just where we are. Then we can know what to do next."
"Go ahead!" agreed Jack and Harry in chorus.
Ned walked down the road a few paces, then turned to look back at the spot where they had come through the bushes. He examined carefully the shrubbery, and stood a short time examining the outline of the trees and larger growth, carefully noting the contour.