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.
"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?"