“Say,” Jimmy asked excitedly, “is there anything to prevent me from staking out a claim too?”
“Not that I know of, son,” Weber replied, “and I’ll help you pick out a good one too. Then we’ll fly down to the Carson Land Office and register them and the trick’s done. I guess I’ll have to go back and see that nobody squats on the claim, but once they’re registered they’ll be safe unless it’s so rich that they have to be watched night and day.”
Jimmy made some rapid calculations.
Such a trip would require a capacity supply of gasoline and oil and a landing on the flat might mean broken landing gear and a repair bill.
“I don’t see how I could do it for any less than a hundred dollars,” he declared. “Of course if I could pick up a passenger there for the return trip, I might do it cheaper.”
“I’ve only got fifty,” Weber said. “I’ve throwed up my job collecting bills for the light company and bought enough grub to last for the trip, and that’s all I’ve got left.”
The old man tried to hide his disappointment, but Jimmy saw his shoulders sag and an expression of hopeless discouragement spread across his face.
“I’m taking a chance of wrecking my plane,” he said, “but if I agree to try the trip for fifty, will you agree to pay the repair bills if anything should happen to the ship?”
“If we get there ahead of that rush, son, I’ll buy you a new ship,” Weber promised. “You ain’t never seen a gold rush, have you?”