The gas was pouring out, but Matt was hoping that enough buoyancy would remain to give them a safe landing on the surface, even if it must be a rough one.
In this he was disappointed. Suddenly there came a tearing sound from the bag, and all in the car knew that the bullet hole had widened into a rent under pressure of the gas.
Then, like so much lead, the doomed air ship swooped downward and crashed into the top of a tree.
[CHAPTER IX.]
THE WRECK.
For a moment, after the crash, Motor Matt was stunned and bewildered. When he regained his senses completely and realized where he was, he found that he was wedged between the guard rail of the car and a branch of the tree. Turning his head, he looked downward through a clear depth of fifty feet. But for the guard rail, he would have dropped the entire distance and probably have lost his life.
"Carl!" he shouted, clinging to the limb.
"Here I vas, Matt!" came the stifled answer. "I vas hung oudt on a pranch like der veek's vash. Ach, du lieber, vat a luck! Der poor Hawk, she iss gone oop der shpout."
"Let's be thankful we didn't go up the spout along with her," replied Matt. "Where's Dick?"