This was splendid food for Johnny's imagination, for his ambitions even,
though it was not particularly good for the Rolling R. He was not
bothered much. Evenings, the foreman or Sudden would usually call him up
and ask him how things were. Johnny would say that everything was all
right, and had the stage driver made a mistake and left any of his mail
at the ranch? Because he had been to the mail box on the trail and there
was nothing there. The speaker at the ranch would assure him that nothing
had been left there for him, and the ceremony would be over.
Johnny was fussy about his mail. He had spent twenty-five dollars for a
correspondence course in aviation, and he wanted to begin studying. He
did not know how he could learn to fly by mail, but he was a trustful
youth in some ways--he left that for the school to solve for him.
Tomaso rode over again in a few days. This time he had a mysterious
looking kind of wrench in his pocket, and he showed it to Johnny with a
glimmer of triumph.
"Me, I'm saw that thing what flies. Only now it sets. It's got wheels in
front--little small wheels. Dos--two. My brother, he's show me. I'm find
thees wranch. It's got wings out, so." Tomaso spread his two arms. "Some
day, I'm think she's fly. When wind blows."
Johnny felt a little tremor go over him, but he managed to laugh. "All
right; you've been looking at the pictures. If you saw it, tell me about
it. What makes it go?"
Tomaso shook his head. "She don't go," he said. "She sets."
"All right. She sets, then. What on,--back of the wheels? You said two
wheels in front. What holds up the back?"
"One small, little leg like my arm," Tomaso answered unhesitatingly.
"Like my arm and my hand--so. Iron."
Johnny's eyes widened a trifle, but he would not yield. "Well, where do
men ride on it? On which wing?"
"Men don't," Tomaso contradicted solemnly. "Men sets down like in little,
small boat. Me, I'm set there. With wheel for drive like automobile.
With engine like automobile. My brother, she's try starting that engine.
She's don't go. Got no crank nowhere. She's got no gas. Me, I'm scare my
brother starts that engine. I'm jomp down like hell. I'm scare I maybe
would fly somewhere and fall down and keel. _No importa._ She's jus'
sets."
Johnny turned white around the mouth, but he shook his head. "Pretty
good, Tommy. But you better look out. If there's a flying machine over
there, it belongs to the government. You better leave it alone. There's
other folks know about it, and maybe watching it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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