A SILVER PLANE
There was an almost breathless silence for a moment as the small silver
plane swooped gracefully down and made an easy landing; then the
enthusiasm of the crowd burst forth in shouts of welcome.
“Say, Kid, _you’re_ all right!”
“That’s the kind of a cayuse to be riding!”
“A silver airship for the silver city!”
“Hurrah for the skidder of the skies!”
Horses on the outskirts of the crowd, unused to such commotion, reared
and pranced on their hind legs. Then, seeming to believe that something
_might_ be lacking in the warmth of their welcome, a cowboy shot off his
gun into the air. Instantly Deputy Sheriff Goode shouted for silence.
“Nixy on that!” he commanded. “All of you fellows get to shootin’ an’ we
won’t do much creepin’ up on the gang.”
“Goodness!” Mary said to Jerry. “He must think those bandits are hiding
somewhere _near here_. They couldn’t possibly hear the shooting if they
were over the border in Mexico, could they?”
The cowboy shook his head. “It’s just that he doesn’t want to take any
chances, I reckon.” Then, generously, he added, “You girls will want to
meet Harry Hulbert, won’t you? He’s talking to the ‘Dep’ now.
Jehoshaphat! That’s too bad. He’s going right up again.”
“I guess the Deputy Sheriff wants Harry to start in scouting and not
waste time visiting with girls,” Dora remarked.
“Back! Back everyone!” the deputized cowboys rode around the square,
clearing it again, for the curious and interested crowd had pressed close
to the plane.
“There, up she goes! Whoopee!” Some cowboy shouted in Mary’s ear. “Me for
the air!” he waved his sombrero so close that it fanned her cheek.
“Ain’t that the plumb-beatenest way to go places?” another cowboy was
actually addressing Dora in such a friendly manner that she replied in
like spirit, “Yes, it’s great!”
Jerry turned to Dick. “Take the girls back to where we left the car, will
you? I’m going to speak to Goode. Be over in a minute.”
“Oh, Big Brother,” Mary caught his hand, “don’t do anything that _might_
be dangerous, will you? It would be terrible for your mother if anything
happened to you.”
Hope and love had, for a moment, lighted the cowboy’s eyes, but the last
part of Mary’s importuning had seemed to be entirely for another, and so,
as he turned away, Jerry’s heart was heavy.
Mary’s gaze, he noticed, had quickly turned from him up to the sky where
a silver plane was still discernible riding toward the moon.
Dick took an arm of each girl and the crowd made a path for them.
“I like these cowmen and boys, don’t you, Dora?” Mary had climbed into
the rumble with her friend. “They have such nice, kind faces and they’re
so picturesque with their wide hats and colored shirts and
handkerchiefs.”
Dora nodded. “There’s a boy over there on horseback. See his leather
chaps are fringed and he has spurs on his boots.”
“They act as though this was some sort of a celebration, don’t they,
Dick?”
The boy was leaning against the car watching the milling throng which was
being augmented in numbers by newcomers riding in from the dark desert.
“What’s the big show?” A weazened, grizzly-headed man in tattered clothes
had suddenly appeared at Dick’s side. He had a canvas-covered roll
strapped to his back and carried a stout stick. His pinched face was
starved-looking and his eyes were feverishly bright.
Dick explained what was happening and, without a word, the queer creature
scuttled out of sight in the crowd.
“That poor man!” Mary exclaimed sympathetically. “What _can_ he be?”
“Don’t ask me,” Dick replied. “I haven’t been out here long enough to
know all the types.”
A pleasant voice said, “That’s a typical desert rat. He digs around and
sometimes finds a little gold, but mostly he lives on sand, I reckon.”
Mary recognized the speaker as a clerk in the grocery store. Before she
could ask more about the poor unfortunate, someone hailed their informant
and he hurried away.
Jerry returned and his face was grave. “I hardly know what to say,” he
began. “I don’t want to frighten you girls unnecessarily, but Deputy
Sheriff Goode thinks it would be unwise for you to return over that
lonely road to Gleeson tonight, or, at least not until the hiding place
of the bandits has been discovered.”
“Oh, Jerry!” Mary’s one thought was concern for her father. “I _must_ let
Dad know that I am safe and that I may not be home at once. Won’t you
please telephone him? You will know best what to say.”
“Yes, I’ll be back in a minute.” They watched him pushing his way toward
the one drug store in the town.
Mary turned toward Dick. “Now, what does _that_ mean, do you suppose?”
“I think it merely means that the ‘Dep’ isn’t sure that the robbers _did_
cross into Mexico. He thinks they may be hiding nearer here than that.”
“I thought as much,” Dora commented, “when he was so upset because a
cowboy started shooting.”
Jerry was not gone long. “I explained to your mother, Dick. She said Mr.
Moore is asleep and that she will not waken him. Her advice is that you
girls take a room in the little old hotel here and wait until morning.”
The girls were relieved as they had neither of them relished the idea of
returning over that desolately lonesome road with bandits at large.
Jerry was continuing. “Mrs. Goode runs the hotel and she’s just as nice
and friendly as she can be. The mothering sort. Dick, you stay here in
the car, will you, while I escort the girls across the road?”
“With the greatest of pleasure!” the Eastern boy said.
Dora teased, as she permitted him to assist her out of the rumble. “You
ought _not_ to say that you’re pleased to have us _leave_ you.”
“Not _that_; NEVER!” Dick assured her, then in a low voice he confided,
“I’ve been wild to be _in_ on all this, and if I’d been sent home with
you girls, I—”
Dora laughingly interrupted. “You might have been _in_ it more than any
of the others.” She shuddered at the thought. “We three might have—”
“_Now_, who’s using her imagination?” Mary inquired. Then, after scanning
the heavens, she added, “Big Brother, the Seagull has flown entirely out
of sight, hasn’t it?”
“I reckon it has. Back in a minute, Dick.”
Mary and Dora were thrilled with excitement and thought all that was
transpiring a high adventure, although they _were_ a little troubled,
fearing that the three boys in whom they were interested might be in
danger before the night was over.
The old adobe two-story building to which Jerry led the girls was across
the wide square from the post office. The large office was filled with
people, most of them women of the town who had gathered there. Many had
come from the lonely outskirts. They had been afraid to stay alone in
their homes while their men were bandit-hunting.
Jerry soon saw the pleasant face of the rather short, plump Mrs. Goode.
He led the girls to her and explained their presence.
“So _you_ are Mary Moore grown up!” the woman said kindly. “I knew your
mother well when she came here as a bride. Everyone loved her in these
parts; they sure did.” Then, to the tall cowboy who stood waiting,
although impatient to be away, she assured him, “I’ll take good care of
them, don’t fear!”
“I know you will. Good night, Mary and Dora.” The cowboy held out a hand
to each then was gone.
Dora thought, “Oho, _something has_ happened. There was no tenderness in
_that_ parting. Hum-m, what can it be? Ah, I believe I see light!”
Mary was saying, “I do hope that Harry Hulbert is all right. Isn’t it the
most heroic thing that he is doing?”
“Who’s he, dearie?” Mrs. Goode, having heard, asked. “Oh, yes, the sky
pilot. A nice face he has. I gave him a cup of coffee. His manners are
the best ever. Well, come along upstairs. I’ll give you the front corner
room where you can watch the goings-on, if you’d like that.”
“Oh yes, please do, Mrs. Goode. I never was more thrilled in all my
days.” It was Dora speaking. “I know that I won’t sleep a single mite,
will you, Mary?”
“I don’t intend to try,” that fair maid replied as they followed up the
broad carpeted stairway and entered a plainly furnished hotel room. There
were two large windows overlooking the square below and the girls, having
said good night to their hostess, went at once to look down upon the
crowd.
The men had divided into small groups and were talking earnestly
together. A group of younger cowboys just in front of the hotel, were
making merry. One of them strummed a guitar and several of them flung
themselves about dancing wildly, improvising as they went along. Their
efforts were applauded hilariously.
“No one would guess that they thought they _might_ be going to battle
with bandits before morning,” Mary said. Then she looked up at the
moon-shimmered sky. For a long time she gazed intently at one spot.
“Is that a pale star or is it the little silver plane coming nearer?” she
asked.
Dora watched the faintly glittering object, then exclaimed glowingly, “It
surely _is_ the Seagull. Oh, Mary, _do_ you suppose Harry Hulbert has
located those bandits?”