into the wind quickly enough!

"Here goes something--the lever or the rudder!" cried Tom in
desperation, as he gave it a mighty yank. Up to now he had not
pulled with all his strength as he feared to break some connecting-rod,
wire or lever. But now he must take every chance. "If I can get
that rudder up even a little we're safe!" he went on.

Once more he gave a terrific pull on the handle. There was a
snapping sound and Tom gave a yell of delight.

"That's the stuff!" he cried. "She's moving! We're all right now!"

And the rudder had moved only just in time, for when the aeroplane
was within a hundred feet of the earth the head was suddenly
elevated and she glided along on a level "keel."

"Look out!" yelled Ned, for new a new danger presented. They were so
near the earth that Tom had over-run his original stepping place,
and now the sky racer was headed directly for Mr. Damon's house, and
might crash into it.

"All right! I've get her in hand!" said the young inventor
reassuringly.

Tom tilted the rudder at a sharp angle to have the air pressure act
as a brake. At the same time he swerved the craft to one side so
that there was no longer any danger of crashing into the house.

"Bless my--" began Mr. Damon, but in the excitement he really
didn't know what to bless, so he stopped short.

A moment later, feeling that the momentum had been checked enough to
make it safe to land, Tom directed the craft downward again and came
gracefully to earth, a short distance away from his eccentric
friend.

"Whew!" gasped the young inventor, as he leaped from his seat. "That
was a scary time while it lasted."

"I should say so!" agreed Ned.

"Bless my straw hat!" cried Mr. Damon. "What happened? Did you lose
control of her, Tom?"

"No, the deflecting rudder got jammed, and I couldn't move it. I
must look and see what's the matter."

"I thought it was all up with you," commented Mr. Damon, as he
followed Tom and Ned to the front end of the craft, where the
deflecting mechanism was located.

Tom glanced quickly over it. His quick eye caught something, and he
uttered an exclamation.

"Look!" the young inventor cried. "No wonder it jammed!" and from a
copper sleeve, through which ran the wire that worked the rudder, he
pulled a small iron bolt. "That got between the sleeve and the wire,
and I couldn't move it," he explained. "But when I pulled hard I
loosened it."

"How did it fall in there?" asked Ned.

"It di