He had hardly spoken the words when a sound like the bursting of a bomb came to Jack’s ears above the throbbing of the motor. Almost at the same instant a sheet of flame seemed to leap from the plane now only a short distance ahead. Jack stared as one fascinated at the sight. For a moment the plane seemed to poise like a wounded bird and then it began to fall.
Over and over the stricken plane turned as it hurtled toward the earth.
At the sound of the explosion Captain Brice had turned off the gas and as Jack, leaning far over, watched the falling plane, he was making as short a turn as possible.
“Poor fellow. That’s the end of him,” he said in a low tone easily audible now that the motor was still.
The blazing plane at the moment disappeared in a dense piece of woods.
Captain Brice continued to let his plane drift until they were within a few hundred feet of the earth when he started the engine again.
“Look out for a good place to land,” he shouted.
But it was some little time before they were able to pick out a suitable landing field, but finally Jack saw a large level spot and pointed it out to the Captain.
“All right we’ll go down.”
And down they went landing a few minutes later. The big plane sped along the ground and at last came to a stop not thirty feet from a big farm house.