He stopped the engine and then clambering out of the car hastened to Roy’s side.  To his delight, just as he reached him, Roy sat up, and although his face was drawn with pain he declared that his injuries consisted of nothing more serious than a sprained ankle.

“But look at the machine!” cried Jimsy; “it’s smashed, I’m sure of it.”

The pit which had been dug across the road was about three feet deep and the front wheels of the auto rested in it.  The hind wheels had not entered, as the excavation was not a wide one.

Both boys hastened to examine the car.  To their satisfaction they found that not much damage had been done beyond a slight wrenching of the steering gear.  This was due to the fact that they had been going at reduced speed.

“Gracious!  Suppose we had been coming along at the same pace we’d been hitting up right along,” exclaimed Jimsy.

“We wouldn’t be here now,” declared Roy; “we’d be in the next county or thereabouts.”

“Yes, we’d have kept right on going,” agreed Jimsy; “talk about flying!  But, say, who can have done this?”

“Not much doubt in my mind it’s the work of that outfit of Kelly’s.  He told us to look out for trouble, and he appears to be making it for us.”

“The precious rascal; he might have broken all our necks.”

“That’s true, if we’d been hitting up high speed.”

“How are we going to get out of this?”

Peggy asked the question just as the man who had been driving the cattle came running up.

“What’s the trouble?” he asked, gazing at the odd scene.

“You can see for yourself,” rejoined Roy; “some rascals dug a trench across the road so as to wreck our machine if possible.”

“Humph!  So I see,” was the rejoinder; “how be you goin’ ter git out of thar?”

“That’s a problem.  If we could get a team of horses——­” The man interrupted Roy, who was acting as spokesman.

“Tell you what, two of my cattle back thar are plow oxen.  I’ll go back to ther farm, git their yokes on ’em and yank you out of here.  That is pervidin’ you pay me, uv course.”

“Don’t worry about that.  We’re willing to pay anything in reason.”

“All right, then, I’ll hook up Jeb and Jewel.”

The man walked back toward his cattle, which were contentedly browsing at the side of the road.  Clucking in an odd manner, he drove two of them out of the herd and started back toward a farmhouse which was not far distant.  In a wonderfully short time he was back with his oxen in harness.

“Gee, Jeb!  Haw, Jewel!” he cried, as he came up.  The oxen swung round and the heavy chain attached to their yoke was hitched to the front axle of the car.

“Now for it!” cried Roy, when this had been done.

“Git ap!” shouted the man.

The slow but powerful oxen strained their muscular backs.  The chain tightened and the next moment the car, from which Peggy and Jess and Bess had alighted, rose from the pit.  Then the hind wheels dropped into it with a bump, but the shock absorbers prevented serious damage.  With the oxen straining and pulling it was finally hauled into the road and they were ready to resume the trip.