The Essential Edward Stratemeyer Collection. Stratemeyer Edward

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СКАЧАТЬ touring-car just as a heavy crash of thunder sounded out.

      "Phew! listen to that, and look at the lightning!" cried Phil. "Say, if you are ready, Roger, we had better get out of here!"

      "If you can only get back to the hotel," murmured Bert, anxiously. "If I were you I'd not think of going home until the storm clears away."

      "Back to the hotel will be enough for me," answered Roger. "All ready?" he asked, for he had already cranked up.

      "All ready," answered Dave, who had gotten on the front seat, thus allowing Bert and Phil the better shelter of the tonneau of the car.

      The senator's son started up the automobile and made a circle on the top of the hill. Then, just as there came another flash of lightning and a loud crash of thunder, the boys began the long and perilous journey down the rough road leading from Sugar Hill.

      CHAPTER IV

      A QUESTION OF STOCKS

      "Some rain, believe me!"

      It was Dave who uttered the remark, as the touring-car commenced the long and dangerous descent of Sugar Hill. A sheet of water was dashing against the wind-shield, which had been raised as high as possible.

      "I wish it was driving the other way," answered Roger, who was peering forward. "It covers the glass so I can hardly see."

      "Better take it slow," suggested Dave.

      Another flash of lightning lit up the scene, accompanied by a crack of thunder that made some of the boys crouch down for a second. Then came more wind and more rain.

      "I hope the wind and lightning don't throw a tree down across the roadway," cried Phil, loudly, to make himself heard above the fury of the elements.

      "We've got our eyes open!" answered Dave. "I'll look over the wind-shield," he added, to Roger, and lifted a corner of the front curtain for that purpose.

      "You'll get wet, Dave."

      "Not a great deal, and I'd rather do that than have an accident," was the reply.

      Roger had thrown the car into low gear, so that the power was really acting as a sort of brake. Slowly they slid along, over the wet stones and dirt. Then came a sharp turn, and the senator's son slowed down still more. The touring-car skidded a distance of several feet, and all held their breath, wondering if they would go down into a small gully, or waterway, that lined the road on one side. But in another moment that danger was past, and all breathed more freely.

      But almost immediately a fresh peril confronted them. At another turn Dave sent up a warning cry:

      "Brake up, Roger, there's a tree or a big limb ahead!"

      Through the rain-covered shield the senator's son saw the obstruction. He set both the hand-brake and the foot-brake, and all heard the wheels and the chains scrape over the stones and dirt. But the car could not be stopped, and two seconds later crashed into the tree limb, a branch of which came up, striking the wind-shield and cracking it.

      "Look out for that glass!" yelled Bert, in fresh alarm. "Don't get any in your eyes, Roger!"

      The youth at the wheel did not reply. Dave, quick to act, seized a lap-robe that was handy and held it up in front of Roger, who did not dare to leave the wheel. Then came a jingle of glass, but the pieces fell at the feet of the boys in the front of the car. The automobile itself slid on another ten feet, dragging the tree limb with it.

      "Say, that was a narrow escape!" muttered Phil, when the danger seemed over.

      "We'll have to see how much damage has been done," declared Dave.

      He crawled from the car and Roger followed. The other boys were also coming out in the storm, but the senator's son stopped them.

      "No use in all of us getting wet," he said. "I don't think the damage amounts to much. A mud-guard is bent and the hood is scratched and the glass broken, but I guess that is all. But we'll have to get the limb from under the car before we can go ahead again," he added, after an inspection.

      "Can't you leave it as it is and use it as a drag down the hill?" questioned Bert.

      "I wouldn't do that," advised Dave. "It might hurt some of the machinery under the car. I think we can get it out somehow, Roger."

      Both set to work, in the wind and rain. It was far from a pleasant task, and despite the fact that each had donned a dust-coat, both were pretty well soaked before the limb was gotten away from the car. Then Roger made another inspection of the automobile.

      "I think it's O. K.," he said. "Anyway, we'll try it." And then they cranked up once more; and the journey was continued.

      It was a slow trip, and at each turn on the hill the senator's son came almost to a stop. He was thinking they might meet a wagon coming the other way, but neither vehicle nor person appeared. Sometimes the visitors at the lake went to Sugar Hill for a picnic, but evidently the concert, and the thoughts of a possible storm, had kept them away this day.

      "Down at last!" cried Roger, presently, and a moment later the touring-car rolled out on the smooth and broad highway that connected with that running around Lake Sargola.

      "And I am mighty glad of it," declared Phil, as he breathed a deep sigh of relief.

      "Now for the hotel, and there I will see if I can't get you fellows some dry clothing," said Bert. "I guess each of you can wear one of my suits. You are both about my size."

      They took the shortest route to the hotel, arriving there fifteen minutes later. Roger ran the automobile to the porch and allowed the others to alight and then took the car to the hotel garage.

      "Well, I am glad to see you boys back!" exclaimed Mr. Passmore. "How did you come to break the wind-shield?" And then he listened with interest to the story the lads had to tell.

      "Can't they stay here to-night, Dad?" asked Bert, a little later, when Roger came in. "I want to let them have some of my dry clothing, and it is storming almost as hard as ever."

      "Certainly, they can stay, if they will and we can get rooms for them," replied Mr. Passmore.

      The matter was talked over, and Roger called his parents up on the telephone. A big room containing two double-beds chanced to be vacant in the hotel, and the lads took that. Then Dave and Roger donned some clothing that Bert loaned them while their own garments were being dried and pressed. A little later all went into the dining-room for dinner.

      "This will knock out the concert for to-night," remarked Bert, during the meal.

      "Yes, and we can be glad we attended this afternoon," answered Dave.

      "They are going to have a dance here this evening," said Mrs. Passmore.

      "Oh, we don't want to go to any dance!" cried her son. "They are not dressed for it, and besides, I've got it all arranged. We are going to bowl some games--Roger СКАЧАТЬ