"h.e.l.lo there!" called out Mr. Ba.s.swood. "I guess you'll have to get out that towing-rope again and give us a lift."

"Just what I thought," answered Dave. "We'll have it out in a jiffy."

He and his uncle alighted once more, taking with them the towing-rope that had been used before. Mr. Ba.s.swood was already out of the car, standing in water and mud over his shoe-tops.

"Here, catch the rope!" called out our hero, and sent one end whirling toward the other car in true cowboy fashion--a trick he had learned while staying at Star Ranch.

Mr. Ba.s.swood caught the rope, and soon had it adjusted to the front axle of the car. In the meanwhile Dave and his uncle fastened the other end to the rear axle of their own turnout.

"Now then, turn on your power when I sound my horn," directed Dave.

"Right you are!" yelled back Ben, who was at the wheel.

Mr. Porter remained on the ground to watch proceedings, while Dave re-entered the Wadsworth machine and turned on the power. Then our hero sounded the horn and began to advance. The towing-rope strained and cracked, and threatened for a moment to snap. Slowly the Wadsworth car went ahead inch by inch. The rear wheels of the Ba.s.swood machine churned the water and mud furiously.

"Say! we don't seem to be getting out of this very fast," remarked Shadow, who was in the rear car beside Mrs. Ba.s.swood.

"Put on all your power, Ben. It's the only thing you can do," ordered the lad's father.

The rear wheels of the second machine ground deeper into the mud and loose stones, throwing them and the water up into the air and even onto the cover of the machine. The towing-rope continued to creak ominously.

"Be on guard, everybody, if that rope breaks!" cried Mr. Ba.s.swood, warningly. He knew that if the towing-line parted near one end or the other there was grave danger of the flying rope coming back to damage one of the machines.

Inch by inch the second car moved forward. Dave had not dared to turn on all power, fearing to snap the towing-line, but now, as the second machine gained a little headway, he added power steadily.

"Hurrah! Here we come!" shouted Luke, in a tone of relief. And a few seconds later the Ba.s.swood car rolled out of the water and mud to the comparatively dry roadway ahead.

"Say, that was some stunt--to get out of there!" was Shadow's comment.

"I'm mighty glad the other car was here to help us," answered Ben. "If it hadn't been here I guess we would have stayed there for a while," he added, grimly.

"I think both our cars will need washing after this trip," observed Dave, with a grin, as he coiled up the towing-line once more and stowed it away.

"This sure is some ending to this trip!" observed Ben, making a wry face.

"We haven't seen the end of it yet, Ben," answered Dunston Porter.

"There may be worse roads than this ahead. I don't believe they are very good around Carpen Falls."

With the rain pelting down unceasingly, the two cars proceeded on the journey. The thunder and lightning had let up a little, but now, as the top of the next hill was gained, it seemed to become more violent than before.

"Oh, this is dreadful!" cried Jessie, as a particularly bright flash lit up the interior of the automobile. "What if we should be struck!"

"Let us hope that nothing like that happens!" answered Laura. Her face, too, showed her alarm.

"I think I saw some sort of a village ahead," cried Dave, who had been peering intently through the windshield. "I think I saw the white steeple of a church."

"Maybe it's Simpson's Corners," suggested Belle.

"I hope there is a hotel there and a garage," said Dunston Porter.

"We'll want to have a chance to dry ourselves and get supper."

"Then you don't think we'll reach Carpen Falls to-night?" questioned Phil.

"I don't know what to think, Phil. Perhaps we may----"

Mr. Porter did not finish what he was saying. Just at that instant came a vivid flash of lightning that nearly blinded them. It was followed by an ear-splitting crash of thunder. Then came another crash closer by, and an instant later Dave and his uncle saw a large tree fall directly toward the roadway in front of them!

CHAPTER XII

A STROKE OF LIGHTNING

"Look out!"

"We are going into that tree!"

"Jam on both brakes, Dave, just as hard as you can!" cried Dunston Porter.

Even before his uncle had spoken Dave had pressed down both feet hard, thus putting on the foot-brake and releasing the gear-clutch. Now his hand shot over to the emergency brake, and this came up with all the power at his command. But the grade was downward, and the road slippery from the rain, and instead of stopping, the touring-car went on, sliding through the mud and over the rocks until it was practically on top of the tree. Then came a jar that threw everybody forward. The steering-wheel saved Dave, but his uncle's elbow struck the windshield, cracking it in several places.

"Look, we've run into a tree!"

"Did the lightning hit the machine?"

"Say, Roger, take yourself off my feet; will you?"

This last cry came from Phil, who was huddled up in a corner of the tonneau.

"It isn't me, it's the handbag, Phil," gasped out Roger, who hung partly over the front seat of the touring-car.

"Anybody hurt?" questioned Dunston Porter quickly, as soon as the shock had come to an end.

"I--I--think I am all right, Uncle Dunston," panted Laura. "But dear me!

wasn't it awful?"

"I thought I was going to fly right over Dave's head," wailed Jessie, who had come up behind the youth with a great thump. "Oh, Dave, did I hurt you?"

"Knocked a little of the wind out of me, Jessie; that's all," he answered. "But I won't mind that if only you are not hurt."

"Say, that was some stop, believe me!" was Phil's grim comment, as he managed to straighten up and look ahead. "Stuffed mackerel! what did we try to do, Dave--climb a tree?"

"No. We tried to take a running jump and go over it," replied Roger, with a faint attempt at humor.

"Sound the horn, Dave, as loudly as you can!" cried his uncle, quickly.

"We must warn the others." And thus admonished, Dave put his finger on the b.u.t.ton of the electric horn and held it down for some time. Looking backward, those in the Wadsworth car soon saw the Ba.s.swood machine come into sight and then slow down. The heavy clap of thunder was now followed by another fierce downfall of rain, while the sky grew blacker than ever. In the midst of this outburst the second touring-car came slowly forward.