“Huh! A bunch of stuck-up tenderfeet—that’s all they are! They maybe learned that trick in a circus and pulled it off on us to make us feel how little we know.”
“You couldn’t do it,” said the Parson, grimly.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to. A cow pony is good enough for me, or I can walk when I have to.” And with that Hinkee Dee stalked away.
But the others did not conceal their admiration and amazement at the feat of the boys. They crowded about, asked all sorts of questions, and some of the cowboys patted the parts of the craft as though soothing a restive horse of a new species.
“Well, I see you arrived,” remarked Mr. Munson, who came up when the curiosity of the cowboys was about satisfied.
“Did you know they were up to this?” demanded the foreman.
“Well, I did see ’em tinkering with some contraption over in the woods,” admitted the cattle buyer as he called himself. “But I thought I’d let ’em surprise you.”
Professor Snodgrass, who had come back, his specimen boxes filled, saw the gleaming wings of the airship and called:
“Oh, boys, are you going to make another flight? I want to go up, for I have an idea there is a new species of high-flying butterfly in this region and I’d like to get a specimen.”