a force that for the instant knocked all
the breath out of him, and once more he shot towards the bottom.

"They'll both be killed!" cried the Professor in great alarm.

Tad, comprehending the scene in a twinkling, started on a run. Choosing
a point where there were no bumps in the way, he crept over and, sitting
on his feet, supported on each side by his hands, began a downward
shoot. But the freckle-faced boy did not long maintain that position. A
few seconds after starting he was flat on his back, going down feet
first at a speed that fairly took his breath away.

Ere he was half-way down, the mule had reached the end of its journey at
the bottom of the slope. Then Stacy Brown came along, but not much more
gracefully than the mule, and landed feet first on the animal. What the
slide and the bumps had failed to do for the unfortunate beast, Stacy
Brown did. He was a human projectile and the mule, that had got to its
fore feet, promptly lay down again under the impact. Chunky did a
graceful dive over the body of his prostrate enemy, landing on his
shoulders in a thicket.

"Stacy! Stacy!" yelled Tad as he reached the end of his own slide and
got to his feet. Tad had not been in the least injured by the fall.
"Stacy!"

"What do you want?"

"Are you hurt?"

"No."

"Then come and help me get the mule up."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm strung up."

Tad did not know what the trouble was, but he lost no time in getting to
his companion. Butler gazed, then he burst out laughing. Chunky lay on
his back on the ground, his eyes rolling. One foot was elevated as high
as it could reach and still permit the boy's body to remain on the
ground. The foot was caught in the crotch of a dwarfed tree, and was
wedged in tightly, too.

"Gracious! How did you ever manage to get into that scrape?" questioned
Tad between laughs. "Hey, Ned, is that you?" as a crashing in the bushes
was heard near at hand.

"Yes. I'm coming. Is Stacy hurt?"

"No, but come here quick. Here's a sight for you!"

Ned threshed his way to them, then he, too, burst out into a roar of
laughter.

"Ha, ha!" mocked Chunky. "That's right. Never mind me. I'm only the fat
boy, taken along to do stunts to make the rest of you laugh. I'm quite
comfortable, thank you. I can stand on my head here for any old length
of time. Have your laugh out, then shoot me! I don't want to die a
lingering death."

"I'll lift him up. You get the foot out, Ned," directed