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"I suppose the supply of gentlemen does not go round, and they are getting some rubbish into the corps. One of you fellows drop a note over their aerodrome and ask them what the dickens they mean by it. Did you see him, Tam?" "A' did that," said Tam; "that wee Hoon was saved from destruction owing to circumstances ower which A' had no control.
There he sits, the wee man wi'oot so much as a seegair to keep him company thank ye, sir-r, A'll not smoke it the noo, but 'twill be welcomed by one of the sufferin' mechanics there sits Tam, gettin' into the mind, or substitute, of the Hoon." "But do you seriously believe that you have scared him?" Tam's eyes twinkled. "Mr. Craig, sir-r, what do ye fear wairst in the world?"
He believes we get the wind up because he'd be silly wi' terror if we did the same thing to him. Ye can always scare a Hoon that's ma theery, sir-r." Craig had no further opportunity for discussing the matter, for the next morning he was "concussed" in midair and retained sufficient sense to bring his machine to the ground. Unfortunately the ground was in the temporary occupation of the German.
The pity is that a Scottish edition was not prepared in Tam's own language; and Captain Blackie, who elaborated Tam's rough notes and condensed into a few lines Tam's most romantic descriptions, had suggested such an edition for very private circulation. It would have begun somewhat like this: "The Hoon or Gairman is a verra bonnie fichter, but he has nae ineetiative.
The soil is sand, but is fertilized by being constantly refreshed by little channels, from wells of brackish water. The inhabitants, who are of the tribe Fateima, bear a good character. The town of Wadan is between twelve and thirteen miles east by north of Hoon.
"I told Tassoc, next morning, what I had discovered, and through the whole of every night, for five nights, we kept a close watch 'round the East Wing; but there was never a sign of anyone prowling about; and all the time, almost from evening to dawn, that grotesque whistling would hoon incredibly, far above us in the darkness.
Missel, a good flyer, was outfought by three opponents and slid home with a dead observer, limp and smiling in the fuselage. "To-morrow at daybreak, look for Tam amongst the stars," said that worthy young man as he backed out of Blackie's office, "the disgustin' incivility o' the Hoon has aroosed the fichtin' spirit o' the dead-an'-gone MacTavishes.
The tombs and mosques, both here and at Hoon, were ornamented with numbers of ostrich eggs. The inhabitants of Wadan are sheerefs, who are the pretended descendants of the prophet, and form the bulk of the resident population, and Arabs of the tribe Moajer, who spend the greater part of the year with their flocks in the Syrtis.
There are great numbers of ostriches in these mountains, by hunting of which, many of the natives subsist. At all the three towns, Sockna, Hoon, and Wadan, it is the practice to keep tame ostriches in a stable, and in two years to take three cullings of the feathers.
"A' thocht so," he said, "but A' wis not so far frae the aerodrome when yon feller chased you " "I was chasing him!" said the indignant Lasky. "Oh, ay?" replied the other skeptically. "An' was ye wantin' the Scoot to help ye chase ain puir wee Hoon? Sir-r, A' think shame on ye for misusin' the puir laddie." "There were four," protested Lasky.
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