"Here are three fellows!" cried the engineer, as the rays of a lantern
revealed the Rover boys. "Were you in that flying machine?" he called.

"We were," answered Tom, grimly.

"Anybody hurt?"

"My brother got a bad tumble and is partly stunned."

"We didn't hit anybody, did we?" questioned the engineer, anxiously.

"Nothing but the biplane," answered Sam. "You made mince-meat of
that."

"How did you happen to land on the track?" asked the fireman.

"The wind put the machine out of control and we came down quicker than
we wanted to," explained Sam. "Then you came along-- before we had a
chance to drag the biplane off the tracks."

"Well, I'm glad I didn't hit anybody," said the engineer, in tones of
relief.

"We had a close shave," returned Tom, and then he and Sam told of how
they had struck, and of how Dick had been dragged out of the way. By
this time the oldest Rover boy was feeling more like himself and he
managed to stand up, even though somewhat dizzy.

"Well, we're losing time," said the conductor, consulting his watch by
the light of his lantern. "We'll have to get into Ashton and report