The plane was only a short distance away and they could see that Bill had shut off the motor and that the propeller had nearly stopped. Then the plane struck the ground and they ducked. A moment later and the plane rolled between them and they grabbed for the sides of the cockpit. Fortunately they both got a good hold and, although they were swept from their feet, their weight helped and the plane came to a stop just six inches from a large rock. CHAPTER XII HARD WORK “Anybody hurt?” Bill shouted as he leaned over the side of the cockpit. “All right here,” Rogers cried as he slowly got to his feet. “Same here,” Gordon declared. “But I wouldn’t want to do that for a steady diet.” “We were lucky,” Bill told them. “I call it skill,” Gordon grinned. “Well, take it all round, I guess we got out of a bad fix rather handily,” Rogers told them. “But, boy, I thought it was all up with you when I saw you coming down out there,” Gordon said and Bill saw that there were tears in his eyes. “You thought I had lost control?” he asked. “Sure did.” “How did you think of it?” Rogers asked him. “Of changing the cell?” “Yes, of changing the cell.” “Seems to me it was a natural thing to think of under the circumstances,” Bill told them, “But, to tell the truth, I didn’t think of it until I was up pretty high. I went up hoping that I’d strike a wind in the other direction. But I didn’t. The higher I got the harder the wind seemed to be blowing and it was carrying me right out to sea. So I did the only thing there was to do.” “But suppose——” Gordon began, but Bill interrupted. “No use in supposing. There wasn’t one chance in a hundred that I couldn’t do it.” “But you didn’t have much room to spare,” Rogers reminded him. “Well, a miss is as good as a mile, you know and all’s well that ends well, so let’s not worry any more about it,” Bill smiled. “No, let’s get dinner,” Gordon added. “You aren’t hungry?” Bill laughed. “I’m always hungry.” “Don’t I know it?” “A body’d think you never got hungry,” Gordon declared as he started gathering wood for the fire. “I guess I usually manage to put away my share,” Bill laughed. “I suppose we’ll have to take a trip over to the other island after dinner,” Rogers suggested a few minutes later. “Think we better wait till to-morrow?” Bill asked. “What for?” Gordon demanded. “We’ve got to go so why not to-day?” “Guess we might’s well,” Bill said putting some potatoes in the pot. “You know what I’d like for dinner?” Gordon asked. “That’s easy, square tails,” Bill laughed. “What’s a square tail?” Rogers asked. “Bill, he doesn’t know what a square tail is.” “Gee, I guess I’m in wrong now,” Rogers grinned. “But no harm done,” Bill assured him. “A square tail is a trout, one of the kind that have colored spots on them.” “Is there any other kind?” Rogers asked. “Sure there is. There’s a kind that we call a crotchtail that have no spots. Some call them togue.”