excavation was not a wide one.

Both boys hastened to examine the car. To their satisfaction they found
that not much damage had been done beyond a slight wrenching of the
steering gear. This was due to the fact that they had been going at
reduced speed.

"Gracious! Suppose we had been coming along at the same pace we'd been
hitting up right along," exclaimed Jimsy.

"We wouldn't be here now," declared Roy; "we'd be in the next county
or thereabouts."

"Yes, we'd have kept right on going," agreed Jimsy; "talk about flying!
But, say, who can have done this?"

"Not much doubt in my mind it's the work of that outfit of Kelly's. He
told us to look out for trouble, and he appears to be making it for us."

"The precious rascal; he might have broken all our necks."

"That's true, if we'd been hitting up high speed."

"How are we going to get out of this?"

Peggy asked the question just as the man who had been driving the cattle
came running up.

"What's the trouble?" he asked, gazing at the odd scene.

"You can see for yourself," rejoined Roy; "some rascals dug a trench
across the road so as to wreck our machine if possible."

"Humph! So I see," was the rejoinder; "how be you goin' ter git out of
thar?"

"That's a problem. If we could get a team of horses----" The man
interrupted Roy, who was acting as spokesman.

"Tell you what, two of my cattle back thar are plow oxen. I'll go back
to ther farm, git their yokes on 'em and yank you out of here. That is
pervidin' you pay me, uv course."

"Don't worry about that. We're willing to pay anything in reason."

"All right, then, I'll hook up Jeb and Jewel."

The man walked back toward his cattle, which were contentedly browsing
at the side of the road. Clucking in an odd manner, he drove two of them
out of the herd and started back toward a farmhouse which was not far
distant. In a wonderfully short time he was back with his oxen in
harness.

"Gee, Jeb! Haw, Jewel!" he cried, as he came up. The oxen swung round
and the heavy chain attached to their yoke was hitched to the front axle
of the car.

"Now for it!" cried Roy, when this had been done.

"Git ap!" shouted the man.

The slow but powerful oxen strained their muscular backs. The chain
tightened and the next moment the car, from which Peggy and Jess and
Bess had alighted, rose from the pit. Then the hind wheels dropped into
it with a bump, but the shock absorbers prevented serious damage. With
the oxen