By that time Boss Burton had whirled to the scene in the runabout, and half a dozen men, from the forward wagons, were all around Rajah, belaboring the brute with cudgels, whips, and whatever they could get their hands on.
Rajah's incipient rage was soon quelled by this heroic treatment.
"What happened?" demanded Burton, drawing up beside the aëroplane.
"The machine made a jump," answered Matt, not wishing to put the blame on the girl. "Rajah was too close. Tell Ben Ali to pay more attention to the elephant and less to us, and to keep in the centre of the road."
Burton was angry. The fault seemed to lie with Matt, but Ben Ali caught the brunt of the showman's ire.
Ping, his yellow face like a piece of old cheese, got back on the upper wing, and McGlory led Haidee to the Comet and helped her to her seat.
"Speak to me about that!" gulped the cowboy. "I'm a Piegan if I didn't think you and the old Comet were done for. What possessed the girl?"
"Give it up," answered Matt grimly. "As you said a while ago, pard, these are queer proceedings. Just watch Haidee every minute."
"She didn't know what she was doing, and you can gamble a blue stack on that."
"Of course she didn't. That's why I didn't tell Burton the real cause of the trouble. Keep it to yourself, Joe."