ar or not until he feels the cloth."

"Or the bullet," put in Dave with a grimace toward the hill.

"We're getting nearer all the while," Ned said. "Keep your eyes open,
and if there are soldiers there we'll go somewhere else."

For a moment Harry intently studied the spot they were fast
approaching. With the glasses in position he scanned every foot of
ground carefully, not omitting the slightest detail.

"I'm sure I see them now," he stated positively as he lowered the
glasses. "We're in a nice mess with Jack hanging under this ship
simply by one of the truss rods. We've got to rescue him!"

"What can we do?" asked Dave, at a loss to solve the difficulty.

"I'll tell you what we'll do!" cried Harry. "I'm the lightest of the
party, so I'll go down and get him! I can do it!"

"Harry, are you crazy?" questioned Ned chidingly. "It's impossible!"

"No, it's not!" stoutly maintained the boy. "He's there, and we've
simply got to get him. We can't land anywhere hereabouts, and by the
time we can land he'll be exhausted and will have dropped."

"How will you do it?" asked Dave. "Let me help."

"I guess you'll have to do most of the work," replied Harry, reaching
into one of the lockers, from which he drew a coil of light line.

"Not if you go under the fuselage to get Jack," objected Dave.

"Yes, sir!" continued Harry. "When I get down there you'll have to do
all the work of engineering the deal. You'll have to do a whole lot of
pulling and hauling, and you'll have to run out on one side to balance
the machine. Mustn't have the ship list too much!"

"Oh, I see!" was Dave's response. "And," he continued, "I won't be
able to see where you are, because you'll be on the opposite side from
my own position. How shall we manage?"

"Well, here's my plan," Harry went on rapidly, as he began overhauling
the coil of line. "When I get out on one side I'll go along the
framework, of course. You'll be on the opposite side to balance. Then
when you see that the machine is tipping your way you are to get nearer
the center of gravity so as to stabilize the affair."

"I understand," Dave replied, eagerly entering into the spirit of the
work. "And when I feel the machine tip away from me I'll go out
farther along the framework so as to again equalize the flight."

"Exactly. Now, it will be a hard job for us to get this line passed
under the framework so that we can get a purchase and pull it to Jack.
I can't