“Well, we certainly had a great trip,” said Dick.
“The wind was pretty strong,” put in Sam.
“Strongest wind you ever saw!” declared Tom, stoutly. “Turned us over about ’steen times and rolled us into a regular ball.”
“Oh, Tom, what an idea!” exclaimed Nellie, and began to laugh. “But weren’t you afraid?” she went on anxiously.
“What, me? Never! But Sam was so afraid he shook off his shoes, and one of ’em dropped right on a cow, and—”
“Tom Rover!” burst out Grace. “What a story-teller you are!”
“Well, Grace, if you don’t believe it, go and ask that cow,” went on the fun-loving Rover, soberly. “It’s lucky Sam has elastics on the shoes—to pull ’em back by. If he hadn’t had—” Tom did not finish but shook his head mournfully.
“I am so glad you got here safely, Dick,” said Dora, in a low voice. “But oh, do you think it is quite safe?” she went on, anxiously. “I—I don’t want you to get hurt!”
“I guess it is safe enough, Dora,” he replied, not wishing to alarm her. “It’s like an auto—you’ve got to get used to it.”
“I don’t think I’d ever get used to a flying machine.”
“Maybe you would. Some day I’ll take you up and you can see how you like it.” But Dora shook her head at this.
The boys had hoped to have a quiet time with the three girls, but this was not to be just then. The students of the seminary gathered around, and the lads were kept busy explaining about the biplane, and how the engine and the steering gear worked. Then, to show that they could run the Dartaway as well as Dick, Tom took the machine up and Sam followed him, each making several circles around the campus.
“Any girls want to go up?” questioned Tom. “Now don’t please all speak at once.” There was a general giggle, but nobody accepted the invitation. Then the Rovers turned to those they had come to visit, and, taking the hint, the other girl students sauntered away.
“Wouldn’t you like some refreshments?” asked Dora. “We might get some hot coffee and some cake.”
“No, we’ll have to get back before dark,” answered Dick. “So we’ll just stay and talk awhile. Any special news from home?”
“No. Mamma is going away for her health, and Mrs. Laning is going with her.”
“I hope they go where old Crabtree and Sobber can’t find them.”
“That is what they are going to try to do, Dick. Oh, dear, I wish those people would never come near us again!”
“They are up near our home now,” answered the eldest Rover boy, and told about the old mill.
“Whatever are they up to now, do you think, Dick?”
“I can’t imagine. We are all awaiting developments.”
“Your folks ought to be on guard.”
“They are on guard—and dad has hired a detective to keep his eye on Crabtree and Sobber.”
“What about your father, Dick? You wrote that he was worried over some business matter.”
“He is, and Uncle Randolph is worried, too, Dora. It’s some business you wouldn’t understand—something about some western investment. You see dad and uncle are getting old and they can’t watch things as they used to—and Uncle Randolph is all wrapped up in scientific farming, just as he always was. I sometimes think it’s time I took hold of business matters and helped them.”
“Then you’d have to leave Brill, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes; but I’d not mind that—I have a pretty good education even now, and I could study in my spare moments. I could take a short course, instead of one of the long ones. And then, Dora, that would help out another way,” went on Dick in a lower voice, and looking over his shoulder to make sure that the others were not listening. But the others had walked off to the rear of the big biplane.
“Another way? How?” And Dora looked at him wonderingly.
“Oh, you know well enough.”
“No, I don’t,” she replied; but two bright spots began to show in her pretty cheeks, making her prettier than ever.
“Well, I made up my mind that as soon as I left college I was going to get married,” Dick went on, looking her full in the eyes.
“Oh, Dick!” And now she cast her eyes on the ground.
“Sure. Don’t you think it’s a good idea?” he went on, and he caught her hand and held it.
“Oh, I—I—” She blushed more than ever and could not go on.
“I know we are not so very old, Dora, but, on the other hand, we are not so very young either, and I think your mother would approve, and I am sure my father wouldn’t object. I know he thinks you are just the finest girl in the whole world,—he said so.”
“Well, mamma likes you, too, Dick,—she’s told me that many times.”
“Then I’m sure she won’t object. And, besides, when I’m her son-in-law I’ll be able to do a good deal more than I can now—about helping her with her financial affairs, and all that, you know.”
“Yes, I know that, too.”
“And so I think we ought to get married. But, of course, if you object, Dora—”
“Did I object?” And she smiled just a little—a smile that set his heart bounding.
“Then you’ll consent?” he asked eagerly. “Will you? Say yes, won’t you?” And now he had hold of both of her hands and was looking her full in the eyes. “I want you so much, Dora,—I’ve wanted you ever since I first met you—on that little steamboat, on the way to Putnam Hall.”
“Oh, Dick, what an idea! Why, you hardly knew me then!”
“Never mind, I knew you well enough.”
“What a long time ago that was,” murmured the girl. She was still gazing fully into his eyes.
“Yes, it was a long time ago, and yet, somehow, it seems an awfully short time, too. But, Dora, you haven’t said yes yet. Won’t you please say yes?” he pleaded, in a lower voice, as Tom and the others started to rejoin them.
“Yes,” she murmured, her face becoming a rosy red. “Yes. Any time you say, Dick, if mamma is willing.”
“You dear, dear girl!” he cried softly. “Oh, I just wish I had you all to myself for a moment!” And he gave her a look that spoke volumes.
“Well, we’ve got to get back, that is all there is to it,” came from Sam loudly. He could not help but notice how confidential Dick and Dora were becoming.
“I’d like to stay, but we’ve got to make the trip before it gets too dark,” added Tom.
“Just as you say,” answered Dick, although he did not, just then, see how he was going to tear himself away.
But the boys did not leave for a good quarter of an hour, and during that time, Dick and Dora somehow managed to walk to the end of the campus, where there were big clumps of rose bushes and lilac shrubbery. Once in the shadow of these Dick pulled something from a pocket and held it out to Dora.
“If we are going to be regularly engaged, you must have this,” he said.
“Oh, Dick, a diamond ring!” she cried, as the glint of the jewel caught her eyes.
“Hold out your hand, dear,” he said, and when she held it out he placed the ring on her finger. Then he took her in his arms.
“Mine, Dora, mine, always and forever mine!”
“Always, and forever, Dick!” she answered. And then they kissed each other.
When they rejoined the others each felt as if walking on air.
“But the ring—they’ll be sure to see it, Dick!” whispered Dora.
“If they don’t I shall be disappointed,” he answered.
It was Grace who espied the glittering circlet first and she uttered a slight shriek. Then she pointed it out to her sister.
“A diamond ring—an engagement ring!” she cried.
“Oh, how lovely!” exclaimed Nellie.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the future
Mrs. Dick Rover!” said Dick, just a bit awkwardly, while Dora blushed the color of a peony.
“Oh, Dora!” cried Grace and Nellie, in chorus, and then each kissed her.
“I thought I smelt a mouse,” murmured Sam.
“Hail to the bride!” cried Tom. “Say, Dick, isn’t it proper to salute your future sister-in-law?” he went on, with a broad grin.
“I don’t know—better ask her,” replied Dick, good-naturedly, and then Tom kissed Dora, and Sam did the same thing. After that Tom declared he ought to kiss the “bride-to-be’s cousins,” and started in, and Sam followed.
“Here, you kids break away!” cried Dick finally. “I thought you said we had to get back before dark.”
“‘Kids’ indeed!” snorted Tom. “My, how old we’ve gotten since we’re engaged!” And then he grinned more than ever. “But never mind,” he went on to Nellie, in a whisper. “Just you wait and see the diamond ring I get you one of these days.” And this remark made Nellie blush as deeply as had Dora. Sam said something, too, to Grace about a ring, at which she laughed merrily and slapped his face. But when the boys were in the biplane and ready to sail away, and he held up a finger with a ring on it and looked at her questioningly—and longingly—she gave a quick little nod of her curly head.
“All ready?” asked Dick, at last.
“All ready!” replied his brothers.
“Then start her up!” cried the oldest Rover boy, and the others gave a turn to the propellers. Bang! bang! bang! went the engine, and Sam and Tom rushed to their seats.
“Come again soon!” cried the girls.
“Just as soon as we can!” was the answer.
“Be careful!” pleaded Dora. “Please, please be careful!”
“We’ll look out—don’t worry,” answered Dick. He had to shout, to make himself heard above the noise of the motor. Then came the usual whizz and rush, and a few seconds later the Rover boys were once more in the air and bound for Brill.
Dick would have been pleased could he have allowed his mind to linger on the conversation he had had with Dora, but he soon found this out of the question. The wind had come up again, and was now blowing as strongly as ever, and he had all he could do to manage the Dartaway. Soon the big biplane commenced to pitch and toss like a small boat on the bosom of an angry ocean.
“Say, this is getting something fierce!” was Sam’s comment, after a particularly thrilling dip. “I thought we were going right down that time.”
“You hold tight!” yelled Dick. “Don’t let go for an instant.”
“I’m as tight as glue,” was the reply.
“Hadn’t you better go up a bit, Dick?” came from Tom.
“Just what I thought of doing,” was the answer.
The rudders were shifted, and swiftly the biplane mounted through space. It was now growing dark, and presently the panorama that had been below them, vanished from view.
“Huh! This won’t do!” cried Dick. “I can’t see how to steer.”
“Steer by the wind for awhile,” suggested Sam.
A minute later came a fierce gust of wind, followed by a second and then a third. Around spun the biplane and then tilted up as if about to go over. Then came an unexpected ripping and tearing sound.
“It’s the left plane—it’s torn loose!” yelled Sam. “Let her down, Dick, before it is too late! If you don’t, we’ll drop to our death!”
CHAPTER XVII
CAUGHT IN A HAILSTORM
All of the Rover boys realized their extreme peril, yet for the moment they were powerless to do anything to help themselves. Dick put out his hand to stop the engine of the biplane, then concluded that it might be more advantageous to keep the propellers moving.
Around and around spun the flying machine, tossed like a chip on an angry ocean. All grew dark about the three boys and each gave himself up for lost. It was useless to attempt to steer, so Dick held the craft as she was, so far as the wheel was concerned.
Then came a sudden, sickening drop and a tilting to one side. Sam let out a wild yell, but what he said was drowned out in the roaring of the wind and the noise of the engine. Then, of a sudden, the Dartaway dove forward and the gust of air was left behind. They came into a “hole,” as it is termed by aviators, and again they sank. But now Dick was gaining control once more and he tilted the front rudder and up they went for a hundred feet, but in something of a circle, because of the broken plane.
“Can’t you land?” gasped Tom. “We can’t—can’t—stand—this!”
“I’ll do what I can,” replied Dick, between his set teeth. He knew that their very lives depended on how he handled the biplane.
Slowly and with great caution Dick allowed the Dartaway to get closer to the earth. Each of the boys strained his eyes, to catch sight of what might be below. Then came another gust, and this was followed by a strange rattling on the biplane. Small, white objects were bouncing in all directions.
“It’s hail!” cried Sam. “We’ve struck a hail squall!”
He was right, and the hail continued to come down all around them, driven by a sweeping wind that carried the Dartaway hither and thither. But it was one of those sudden squalls that do not last long, and soon they were sailing in the clear air again, and now within view of the ground below.
“There is a fine field—to the right,” cried Tom.
Dick nodded and, not without an effort, brought the biplane around. Then he shut off the motor, and they slid to earth quicker than they had anticipated. The Dartaway struck the ground and bounced up and down several times on its rubber-tired wheels and then came to a standstill in the midst of some brushwood. Poor Sam was thrown out heels over head into the bushes.
“Are you hurt?” sang out Dick, anxiously. It was so dark he could not see what had become of his youngest brother.
“I—I guess not!” came back from Sam, and he started to scramble out of the bushes. “Say, that was some sail, wasn’t it?” he continued.
“No more like that for me!” returned Tom, panting like a race horse. “Are you O. K., Dick?”
“Yes, although that bumping shook me up. But come, fasten the Dartaway down before the wind comes up again and blows it to kingdom come!”
This warning was necessary for the wind was still fitful and there was no telling how strong it might become. All sprang forward to do what they could to save the biplane from destruction.
“If there was a barn handy we might use that,” said Sam.
They looked around, but the only building nearby was a small cottage, evidently one used by a farmer’s hired hands.
“Run her around between the bushes,” directed Dick. “They will protect her a little, for the bushes are quite high.”
They found a spot between the undergrowth and into it forced the biplane, until the air craft was completely surrounded. The bushes broke the force of the wind and the lads had little difficulty in tying the machine fast with the ropes they always carried. It was hailing again, although not so heavily as before. The wind was gradually going down, but the sky was as dark and threatening as ever.
“I think it will turn into rain before very long,” said Dick, after a look around. “Too bad it couldn’t have held off half an hour longer. Then we’d have been safe at Brill.”
“I’m thankful we got down safely, Dick,” said Sam.
“Oh, so am I!”
“It was a narrow escape,” was Tom’s comment. “Great hambones! Who would have thought we’d run into such weather as this!”
“Oh, hailstorms like this are not uncommon, even in midsummer,” answered Dick. “Don’t you remember the one that came and cut down our corn some years ago?”
“Yes, and broke all the glass in the hothouse,” added Sam. “Say, is the machine hurt much?” he went on.
“We’ll have to make an examination.”
/> They looked the biplane over as best they could in the semi-darkness. One of the bamboo poles had been split and two of the canvas stretches were slit from end to end.
“Not as bad as it might be,” said Dick. “We can easily mend the canvas. But I guess we had better get a new pole in place of that one. I’d not care to trust it, even if it were wired.”
“Perhaps we can wire it good enough to get back to Brill with,” returned Tom. “We can’t stay here.”
“I’ve had enough sailing for today!” cried Sam. “Let us walk back, or get a carriage, and leave the biplane here until some fine day when there is no wind.”
“Yes, we can’t use her any more today,” said Dick. “Let us cover the engine and walk to that cottage and find out just where we are, and how we can get to Brill.”
Having arranged everything as well as the means at hand permitted, the three Rover boys left the vicinity of the brushwood and walked over to where the small cottage was located. The ground was covered with hailstones and Tom could not resist the temptation to gather up a handful and pelt his brothers.
“Stop it!” cried Sam, and then, as Tom would not stop, he rushed in with some of the hailstones in his hand and allowed them to slide down inside of Tom’s collar.
“Wow!” roared the fun-loving Rover. “Let up, Sam! That feels as if I’d hit the North Pole!”
“Then you let up,” answered Sam, firmly; and after that Tom let the hailstones alone.
As they neared the cottage they saw that a lantern was lit and set on a table in the centre of the living room. Around the table sat three persons, two young fellows and an older man, evidently a farmer. The three were smoking and playing cards, and on the table lay some bank-bills.
“Why, look at this!” cried Dick, in astonishment. Then he added quickly: “Get out of sight, don’t show yourselves!” And he caught each of his brothers by the arm and led the pair to the rear of the building.
“What’s up, Dick?” asked Sam. “Who were they?”
The Rover Boys Megapack Page 246