The news was noised abroad, and people for miles around were planning to be present at the event. Great excitement prevailed at the Fort, where the boys and their handiwork became the center of interest.
CHAPTER XVI
THE FIRST FLIGHT
A group of curious spectators stood around the Thunder Bird open-mouthed and wide of eye.
"You tell me that thing go up—up high? No!" expostulated one of the Mexicans with a gesture of skepticism.
"Da boys make him fly," said another, grinning, and showing an even row of milk-white teeth.
"Na, not da leetle boys?" protested a third, mopping his perspiring swarthy skin with a red bandanna handkerchief, for the day was a warm one and the sun had almost reached the middle of its daily course.
"Funniest lookin' thing I ever seed," put in a lame soldier, hobbling around the machine and scrutinizing it doubtfully. He had, like a number of his comrades, spent the last decade or so in and around the fort, hearing little of the outside world.
"Who's goin' to shoot it up?" asked a sheep herder, with some notion of a sky rocket. He had begged the day off in order to be present at the first flight.