“You know who went?” Weber asked eagerly. “I mean, who the passengers was?” The pilot shook his head.
“I reckon it don’t matter none anyway,” Weber said, “’Tain’t likely they know Keno like I know it. Most likely they’re just mining men anxious to be the first on the ground and ready to buy good claims if they can’t stake them themselves.”
“We’ll get off as soon as we can,” Jimmy promised.
“Take your time, son,” Weber cautioned. “There’s plenty of land up there for the first forty or fifty that shows up. Just so that we get there ahead of the old sourdoughs that’ll be driftin’ in in the mornin’. You know this contraption better than I do, so I ain’t aimin’ to give you any advice. But I just want you to understand that I spent all my life just lookin’ for the end of the rainbow and if I miss it once again, it ain’t goin’ to get the best of me. Don’t take no chances with your flying machine, son, or risk your neck tryin’ to get an old crackpot like me up to Keno.”
While they waited for the engine to cool, Jimmy told his passenger about buying the Calico Peacock and reclaiming it for passenger purposes. The old man displayed keen interest while Jimmy showed him the repairs he had made, and the patches he had put on the wing fabric. He also confessed that the engine was heating because it had never been given a thorough test after being overhauled. The old man did not appear to think that he had been victimized. Instead, when he had inquired into the cost of operating a plane and what dope and fabric and replacements cost, he seemed to appreciate Jimmy’s generosity in attempting the trip for fifty dollars.
“You stand to lose more than I do,” he commented. “If we don’t get there, all I’ll lose is somethin’ I never had, while if anythin’ should happen to us, you’d lose your whole investment. And after you tellin’ me how you’ve worked to put the Calico Peacock in shape, I can appreciate what it means to you.”
From the field officials Jimmy learned that the other planes for Keno had flown almost directly east, crossing the Sierra Nevadas above Sutter Creek and the other famous old gold mining landmarks. This was the shortest route to Keno, although it offered no emergency landing fields to Jimmy’s knowledge. He would have to cross the Sierra Nevadas at a high altitude, which made the trip a gamble if his engine started to heat again. Jimmy was willing to take the chance, but he explained the risk to his passenger.
“If there’s any safer way, son, you’d better take it,” Weber advised. “I’m sayin’ that, not on my account, for the shortest way there will suit me best, but I’m considerin’ your interests.”
“My interests are yours,” Jimmy declared. “I want to take the short way if you’re willing to take a chance on landing in the tree tops. Even if the engine does start to heat up, we ought to be over the tops of the mountains by that time.”