reaching an open glade in the meadow, where the grass was shorter than in other places, dick and joe put down the planes they had been carrying.
“i guess they’ll be all right,” said dick.
“why are you leaving your planes there?” asked teddy, looking back over his shoulder as he headed toward the gully in the woods.
“so they won’t get all banged up on trees and bushes when we help you hunt for yours,” joe answered.
“if we carried them through the woods there wouldn’t be much left of ’em,” added dick.
“that’s so,” teddy agreed. “we may have to dodge into some tough places, looking for my lost plane. it’s swell of you fellows to come and help me,” he added.
14 “as if we wouldn’t!” exclaimed dick.
“fine chums we’d be if we didn’t,” added joe. “well, teddy, you won the race.”
“but i didn’t expect my plane to go so far,” said the tall lad. “it’s got a dandy motor. i hope i can find it.”
“oh, we’ll find it!” declared dick. yet as he and the two other boys looked at the thick woods they began to have feelings of doubt. the place where teddy’s plane had disappeared amid the trees was a particularly dense part of the forest.
while the three are starting their search for the lost plane, a moment may be taken to let our new readers know something about teddy benson who has had many mysterious adventures. now he was about to have another.
the first book of this series, “teddy and the mystery dog” introduces our young hero. he and his sister and chums had many strange experiences with a certain dog.15 later they were involved in a mystery about a monkey, a cat, a parrot and a pony.
teddy and his chums lived in the small city of oakdale, near hemlock river. there was a small lake nearby. the boys had many good times on the river and lake, or in the country near these bits of water.
summer had come, the long vacation from school was at hand and one of the first bits of fun teddy and his chums started was the model airplane race. they planned to have others if the first was successful.
“but if i don’t find my plane i guess i won’t go in any more races,” teddy said somewhat gloomily. he was leading his chums into the woods.
“can’t you build another?” asked dick.
“oh, i guess so,” teddy replied. “i plan to, of course, if i get into the gas motor class. but first i want to find this dandy little plane that’s lost. i wish i hadn’t wound those rubber bands so tight.”
16 “still, you know what your plane can do when it has to,” comforted dick.
“i never saw a better flight,” added joe. “i thought for a while it was going to soar right over the woods.”
“i wish it had,” murmured teddy. “then it wouldn’t be down in the gully.”
“are you sure it’s there?” asked joe.
“can’t tell,” teddy replied. “we’ll have to scout around and look. say,” he went on as the three boys were fairly within the woods, “this is going to be pretty tough going. i shouldn’t make you fellows scramble through this underbrush with me to search for my lost plane.”
“forget it!” advised joe.
“that’s what we’re here for,” declared dick.
the woods adjoining mason’s meadow, owned by the same man, were dense and dark. tall pines and other evergreen trees made the forest dark on even a bright, sunny17 day. the woods were not on level ground, as was the grassy plain. part of the patch where the trees and brush grew was level enough. but beyond that area the woods sloped down quite a hill and a section of the woodlot lay in a deep ravine or gully.
“it’s a good distance down there and a good distance back,” remarked teddy as he and his chums reached the edge of the ravine and looked into it as far as their sight could penetrate through the gloom.
“we can make it,” declared joe. “i’ve often gone down steeper places than this when i was out scouting.”
“it isn’t going down that counts,” said dick with a sigh. “it’s the climb up that’s hard work.”
“it’ll work off some of your fat!” chuckled joe, taking care to be beyond the range of dick’s fists.
“oh, is that so?” snapped the stout lad. “well, i’ll show you two i’m as good a gully18 climber as either of you. but are you sure your plane came in here, teddy?”
“quite sure, yes. i marked it by that lightning-struck oak tree on the edge of the wood. the plane went in right there.”
“do you think it could go far, with all these trees to dodge?” dick asked. “i mean wouldn’t it crack-up against one of ’em?”
“it might,” teddy agreed. “but if my good luck holds, it might just buzz in and out among the trees. then it would come down in the gully. i think the motor would be about run down if the plane got this far,” he said. he came to a stop in a little glade on the edge of the ravine. the ground was covered with a soft carpet of pine needles.
“makes a good landing field,” commented joe as he brushed a pile of needles together with a motion of his foot.
“just like coming down on a spring bed,” declared dick. he threw himself on the ground with a soft thud.
19 “well, let’s have a look around,” suggested joe. “if your plane is here, teddy, it ought to be easy to spot it with the white wings and fusilage.”
“yes, it’ll show up well against all this darkness,” agreed dick. “now let’s spread out a bit and look.”
“take it easy going down into the gully,” advised teddy. “if any of us slip we might get a bad fall.”
foot by foot the boys advanced deeper into the woods. darkness slowly hemmed them in. the trees were thicker now. the boys looked down into the ravine at the foot of which raced a murmuring stream.
suddenly dick clutched teddy’s arm and exclaimed:
“there! isn’t that your plane? that white thing?”
“where?” asked teddy.
“right near that big rock. look! sure! that’s your plane!”
20 “by golly! so it is!” cried teddy in delight, “i’ve found it and not far down in the gully, either. hurray!”
he started toward the toy plane. but before he and the boys who were following him could reach it, they were startled by a loud snorting noise.
then some animal, with large ears and an upraised tail, sprang from behind the rock and made straight for teddy benson.
“look out!” yelled dick. “look out!”
