The showman turned to Matt.
"Are you willing to take the Comet in the parade with Rajah," he inquired, "now that we have a better driver than even Ben Ali to look after the brute?"
"Dhondaram is a marvel!" exclaimed Matt. "Yes, Burton, we'll be in the parade with the aëroplane."
"Good! Hustle around and get ready. There's not much time. Come down, Dhondaram, and get the blankets on Rajah. The parade will start in half an hour."
The boys hurried out of the tent and into the calliope "lean-to." The Comet had to be put in readiness, and McGlory and Ping, the Chinese boy, had costumes to put on.
[CHAPTER IV.]
MOTOR MATT'S COURAGE.
During the exhibition at Lafayette, Indiana, the Comet had caught fire while in the air and the king of the motor boys had made a dangerous descent in safety. The machine had been damaged, however, and, when the show left the town, Matt and his friends had remained behind to make repairs. These repairs had occupied two days. When they were finished, Matt and McGlory had rejoined the show, flying from Lafayette in the aëroplane and scattering Burton's handbills over the country as they came. Carl Pretzel and Ping, the Chinaman, had caught up with the show by train, there being no place for them on the Comet.
The flight through the air had been made in the face of a tolerably stiff breeze, and Matt and McGlory had found it necessary to lie over almost the entire night on account of a high wind. The flying machine, however, had caught up with the show that very morning.