“Hurrah for Lucifer!” cried Jo, who knew something about literature. Jeems bowed.
“What did you think you were, a flying squirrel?” inquired Tom.
“I didn’t think, I just flew,” said Jeems, which was true.
This incident likewise came near getting their enemy who was in hiding, for when he saw Jeems Howell perform his startling evolution in the air, he laughed so hard that he lost his balance and came crashing through the branches to the ground below and he lay there rolling over and over, not in the agony of a broken leg, but with uncontrollable laughter. As he told his pals later, “I never seen the likes of that performance. It was head and heels over any circus that ‘Green Ike’ ever saw back in ole Missoury. (Green Ike so-called, not on account of the color of his skin, but of his eyes.) That fellar must have struck a spring board the way he went through the air.”
After the excitement had quieted down over Jeems Howell’s flight through space, the boys took up the next order of the day, which was “forward march to their camping place for the night.” It was now well along in the afternoon and the shadows were extending far down the slopes and across the valleys.
“We must get to a place where there is good water,” said Juarez, as they started on their way.
“I wish we could find some grazing for the horses,” mused Jim.
“It’s a long pull into that valley down there,” remarked Jo, “but I guess we can make it.”
“I don’t see why not,” said Tom. “Our horses have had a long rest and ought to make fine time.”
They did succeed in finding an excellent camping place after riding down the mountain slopes for about five miles. They came into quite a broad valley with a beautiful stream of clear tumbling water flowing through the midst of it, and green meadows on either side.