Frank alone retained his presence of mind. He saw that only by a trick could they regain their safety from the desperate men into whose power they had fallen.
“Did you ever see an aeroplane before?” he asked of the leader.
“No, I never did,” replied the other; “why?”
“Well, you seem to have a pretty dry part of the country out here, and I guess a little rain would do it no harm.”
“That’s right, stranger, you never spoke a truer word; but what in thunder has that got to do with yer blamed scaryplane, or whatever you call it, scaring all our beef critters away?”
“I am very sorry for your misfortune, Mr.—Mr.——”
“Rattlesnake Ike is my name, with no blame ‘Mister’ on it, young tenderfoot,” growled the other.
“Well, Rattlesnake Ike, we can make rain.”
“What?” roared the whole assemblage.
“We can make rain,” calmly repeated the boy, “with that aeroplane.”