Then, of a sudden, the _Dartaway_ dove forward and the gust of air was left behind.

They came into a "hole," as it is termed by aviators, and again they sank.

But now Dick was gaining control once more and he tilted the front rudder and up they went for a hundred feet, but in something of a circle, because of the broken plane.
"Can't you land ?" gasped Tom.

"We can't--can't--stand--this!" "I'll do what I can," replied Dick, between his set teeth.

He knew that their very lives depended on how he handled the biplane.
Slowly and with great caution Dick allowed the _Dartaway_ to get closer to the earth.