The Bird Boys' Aeroplane Wonder; Or, Young Aviators on a Cattle Ranch

by John Luther Langworthy

And that was indeed a busy morning for the four friends.

Elephant and Larry were only too anxious to do all that lay in their power, in order to assist. True, their knowledge of the mechanism connected with these amazing air travelers was rather limited; but then both were willing to do odd jobs of carrying, and nailing up cases; so that altogether they made themselves very useful indeed.

Larry managed to bottle up his envy on this occasion, and even seemed quite gay. As a rule he was a good companion, cheerful, willing, and generous to a degree. And Elephant could hardly have been any happier even though given the opportunity to accompany the pair of adventurous voyagers on their long trip.

Then came the afternoon session, and they went at it with renewed vim. It is astonishing what an amount of solid work four husky boys can put in during a whole day with the tools, especially when two of them are as expert in handling monkey wrenches and the like as Frank and Andy were.

By four o’clock the aeroplane had been completely and securely packed, and they were waiting for the big truck which Frank had engaged at the livery stable, to show up, in order to carry the same to the freight station of the railroad.

The man presently came along, and with the help of the four boys the various boxes and crates were loaded. Then they started off, headed for the railroad; and as their route lay directly through town it was not long before quite a following of youngsters trailed along, chattering about the mysterious way in which Frank Bird was about to ship his aeroplane, and inventing all sorts of miraculous stories about certain races in which the two cousins were slated to take part; until one boy more daring than his mates, managed to climb up on the truck, and read the address which had been plainly printed on every piece of freight.

So it was known that the aeroplane was being shipped far away to Arizona; and it may be set down as certain that this fact only served to whet the curiosity of that crowd of half-grown lads more than ever.

Frank had learned on the preceding evening how it would have to be sent out. The express people would handle it after a certain fashion, shipping by what they called fast freight. The agent calculated that in this way it would take about ten or twelve days for the aeroplane to reach the border town where Andy’s uncle was to meet them upon their arrival.

Of course that meant a long delay, and much fretting; but it was the best that could be arranged, and Andy had to abide by it. But between them he and Elephant and Larry had decided that they would not let the precious freight go unguarded for a minute, until it was placed in a car on the following morning, and had left Bloomsbury on the freight that would rush it to the nearest city, where it could be attached to the fast train that left daily for Western points.

Frank was inclined to make fun of his cousin for his suspicions, and declared that according to his mind they had nothing to fear, except the possibilities of a fire sweeping down upon the ramshackle freight house, which was the best Bloomsbury could boast until the new stone one was completed.