this way?'"

"No, indeed!" exclaimed the captain, as he looked at the ruin of
the shed, amid which the airship was. "This is my first accident
of this kind. The lever of the vertical rudder snapped, and I
couldn't control her. Luckily the roof was rotten, or we might have
smashed everything."

"As it is, nothing seems to be much damaged," said the lieutenant.
"I wonder if we can fly back?"

"It is doubtful," the captain answered. "We'll try and get her out,
first."

As they were climbing over the pile of broken boards to get a view
of the aeroplane, an excited farmer came rushing out of a barn, a
short distance away.

"Hey, what do you fellers mean--smashing down out of the clouds,
bustin' up my pig pen, and scatterin' 'em to the four winds?" he
yelled. "I'll have th' law on you for this! I'll make you pay
damages! You killed a lot of my pigs, I reckon!"

"I don't see any dead ones," spoke the captain, calmly. "It was an
accident."

"That's what them autermobile fellers says when they run over my
chickens," snarled the unpleasant farmer. "But they has t' pay for
'em all the same."