Carl forgot his fancied grievance watching Motor Matt. The latter, making another leap at the rope as it settled back again after overturning Carl, succeeded in laying hold of it.
He had the rope by the end, so that when he picked it up none of the weight was taken from the ship, and Carl's disastrous exploit was not repeated.
"Wrap it around a tree!" yelled the man at the air-ship's rail; "take a half-hitch around a tree!"
The man might just as well have saved his breath. That had been Motor Matt's plan, all along, and even as the aeronaut was shouting his instructions Matt was jumping for the nearest tree.
The young motorist had little time to make the rope fast. The whirling propeller was driving the Hawk onward against the wind at a fair rate of speed. Had there been no opposing wind, Matt would not have had time enough for the work ahead of him.
"Come on, Carl!" he shouted.
The Dutch boy stopped watching and made haste to lend a hand.
Matt was already at the trunk of the tree, but the rope had traveled onward so rapidly that he had less than a yard of it in his hands to work with.
Throwing himself on the opposite side of the tree, Matt laid back on the end of the rope. At that moment Carl reached his side, dropped near him and likewise took a grip on the free end of the drag.
"It's der fairst time," panted Carl, "dot I efer heluped make some captures mit an air-ship. Shinks! Look at dot, vonce!"