The Ariel had found a landing place where some short crisp grass covered a spot bare of trees and rocks. Hiram brought the Scout to a halt not twenty feet away. He shut off the power, leaped out and approached Dave. The latter stood by the side of his machine watching the police officer who had run to the edge of the gully.
“Dave, this has been a startler; hasn’t it?” exclaimed Hiram.
“You are one of the wisest boys in the world,” spoke the young airman. “Without that spark signal we should never have got a start on your trail.”
“Has it done any good, after all?” questioned Hiram. “My passenger has got into deeper trouble; hasn’t he?”
“It looks that way,” answered Dave. “We saw him stumble over that ledge yonder.”
“Maybe it was a trick,” suggested Hiram. “He’s a bad one, I can tell you.”
“Here comes the policeman. Any trace of him, officer?”
The recent passenger of the Ariel looked serious. He held in his hand a dark lantern, the rays of which, the others had noticed, he had been flashing over the edge of the gully.
“Got a rope?” he asked.
“I have one, in the Scout. Always carry it,” volunteered Hiram briskly and he ran to his machine and returned with the coil in question.