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"Not aiming at a man in the bushes only twenty-five feet away, Lil Artha don't tell me you were silly enough to do that?" he asked, somewhat hoarsely. The tall scout chuckled, and Elmer's fears were instantly dissipated. "I'm not a fool, Elmer," he said, loftily. "I aimed away up in the air, and shot to scare not to hurt!"
Elmer cast many troubled glances at the dull red glow in the southern sky before he retired that night. Mark and Frank occupied the same room, for Mr. March had not yet found time to build a house, and it seemed to them as though they had but just fallen asleep when they were aroused by Mr. Elmer's voice calling through the house, "Wake up!
"It is due to his attempt to lead a better life or at least so he tells me," said Lady Agatha. "Morality does not come easy to Elmer, he says, and I believe him. Elmer's time is largely taken up by inward moral debate as to the right or wrong of particular hypothetical cases which his imagination insists on presenting to his conscience."
Under Elmer's directions they hung the sheet over one of the windows, and then the young man prepared his apparatus for a small trial of lantern projections. Mr. Denny sat in his chair silent and wondering. He knew not what to say or do, and watched these preparations with the utmost attention. "Mr. Sheriff, if you please, you will stand near Mr.
Bourke's peculiar hot wholesome dishes and these, with what provisions they had on hand, were a fair substitute for Elmer's cooking. The frijoles having been disposed of, Ned at once went out, and was fortunate in finding a load of rough lumber and a sort of jack- carpenter. With the help of the boys a four foot-high series of "horses" or frames was set up in the center of the corral.
The tins of gasoline for experimental flights and the first trip to Elmer's camp were in a far corner of the yard, and in the wagon shed stood the two immense special trunks containing the gas bag and the Italian hemp netting. The evening meal was not as cheery and chatty an affair as the preceding ones had been, although Elmer had done his best in honor of their farewell.
Elmer, at the bottom of the ladder, was helping the car onward in low bounds by touching the ground with one foot. Then the air craft settled again. Elmer's weight was too much. A mad thought came into the boy's brain. The Indians had located the new invader and yells nearby told that hot pursuit was already being made. Then the spit, spit, of new shots showed the risk the boys had taken.
And as night came on and Elmer helped Buck draw the wagon close to the river bank, where approach from the rear would be difficult, the boy began to realize what it meant to get away from the telegraph and policemen and law and order. And when the experienced scout unloaded a portion of their heavier freight and began to build a small barrier Elmer's usual joviality cooled into silence.
The suggestion seemed a likely one, so I interrupted the flow of Elmer's troubled thoughts to say good-night, and went out. I paused a moment on the porch. A lamp was blazing in the store and I could plainly see everyone gathered along the counter. Henry Holmes was standing with his back to the stove, one hand wagging up and down at the solemn line of figures on the bench.
"Just fetch the lantern over, Johnny; they'd be apt to head away from the barn." It was really in the direction of the near-by swamp that they now commenced to look. The wisdom of Elmer's figuring was soon made manifest, for they quickly ran across what they were looking for. "Here you are," said Elmer, "and now get busy, Landy."
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