Motor Matt had pointed the air ship earthward, and was gliding toward the hilltop.
"No use, Joe," Matt answered. "They could hit us with their bullets and wreck us before we got out of range. They want to talk with us, and we might as well humor them."
"Mighty peculiar way for a lot of cowboys to act," muttered McGlory.
"No likee," said Ping.
[CHAPTER VII.]
THE MAN HUNTERS.
Motor Matt was not anticipating any serious trouble with the cowboys. The worst that could possibly happen, he believed, was a slight delay while the curiosity of the horsemen regarding the aëroplane was satisfied.
Armed cattlemen are proverbially reckless. A refusal to alight would certainly have made the Comet a target for half a dozen guns, and it was a foregone conclusion that not all the bullets would have gone wild.
The cowboys, of course, knew nothing about aëroplanes. They wanted Matt to come down, no matter whether the landing was made in a spot from which the aëroplane could take a fresh start, or in a place where a start would be impossible.