“Well, he’ll make a big gain on us to-night, I’m afraid, but it can’t be helped. They have signaled for assistance, and we’ve got to go to their help.”
The white finger of light of the searchlight began to sweep the ground below them. So far as they could see, they were traveling over a cleared country only interspersed here and there by clumps of trees.
“This looks as good a place to drop as any,” said Frank as he scrutinized the nature of the country over which they were soaring in slow circles.
Harry assented.
“Tell me when to cut out the engine,” he said.
“I’ll do that myself,” replied Frank. “I’ll do it with the emergency cut-outs. We might have to shift up again in a hurry, and the engine acts more quickly on the driving wheel controls.”
The aeroplane began to drop. About a quarter of a mile from her the dirigible was settling, too. Her crew kept burning flares so as to see that they didn’t blunder into any growth that might have ripped their gas bag.
The boys reached the earth without a mishap, and found themselves in a rocky meadow, about a hundred yards from the road. In a few minutes the auto came chugging along with an excited party on board.
“What is it?”
“What has happened?”