The Thunder Bird | Page 9

I bought me a Stutz outa what I earned flyin' in one season--and I
blowed money right and left and smashed the car and like to of broke
my neck, and had to pay damages to the other feller that peeled my roll
down to the size of a pencil. The point is, it took money to do them
things, didn't it? And I made it flyin' my own plane. That's what you
want to soak into your system. I made big money flying. What I done
with the money don't need to worry you--you ain't copyin' me for
morals.
"Now what you want to do is learn some stunts, first off. You learn to
loop and tail-slide and the fallin' leaf, and to write your name, and them
things. It ain't so hard--not for a guy like you that ain't got sense enough
to be afraid of nothing. The way you went off in that plane with the girl
made my hair stand on end, and that's no kiddin', neither. If you'd had a
fear germ in your system you wouldn't 'a' done that. But you done it,
and got away with it, is the point. And you been gittin' away with it
right along--and you not knowin' your motor any more'n I know ridin'
on a horse!"
"Aw, say! That's goin' too far," protested Johnny, but Bland gave him
no heed.
"You learn the stunts--early in the morning when there ain't the hull
town out to rubber--and then pull off an exhibition or two. Seventy-five
dollars is the least you ever need to expect. Don't go in the air for less.
From that up--depends on how spectacular you are. The public loves to
watch for the death fall. That's what they pay to see--not hopin' you get

killed, but not wantin' to miss seeing it in case yuh do. And with this
the only airplane around here--why, say, bo, it's a cinch!"
Johnny fanned the smoke away from his face and eyed Bland with lofty
tolerance. "And where do you expect to come in? You needn't kid
yourself into hoping I'll take you for a self-forgetful martyr person.
What's the little joker, Bland?"
Bland turned his pale, opaque stare upon Johnny for a minute. "Aw, for
cat's sake, gimme the doubt, bo! I'm human in more ways than tryin' to
see how much booze I kin lap up. It's a chance I want to start fresh.
This bumming around ain't getting me anything. I'm sick of it. You
gotta be learnt to do exhibition stuff, and I'm the guy that can learn yuh.
You'll want a mechanician to keep your motor in shape. I can make a
motor, gimme the tools. You want somebody that knows the game to
kinda manage things. You're Skyrider Johnny, same as the boys at the
ranch calls yuh. Yon gotta have a flunkey, ain't yuh? I'm willin' to be it.
I'll change my name, so nobody needs to know it's Bland Halliday. Or
you can gimme a share in the net profits, and I'll keep the name and
make it pull things our way. They's no use talking, bo, I've got the
goods! The name Bland Halliday is a trademark for flyin'--and never
mind if it also stands for damfool. I'll brace up and give yuh the best I
got. Honest, that's what I want--a chance to get on my feet agin. I'd
ruther help you fly your plane than fly one of my own. I'd run amuck
agin if I owned anything I could raise money on.
"If you think I tried to do you dirt, back there in the desert, bo, you're
wrong. Ab-so-lutely. I thought you was fixing to double-cross me, and
git away with the plane and leave me there. It got my goat--I'll say it
did--that desert stuff. So I hid the gas, so you couldn't go off and leave
me. But that's behind us. You can give me a chance now to straighten
up, and I can put you in the way to make big money. You think it over,
bo. They's no great hurry, and we can make a flight now and see how
she stacks up. Be a sport--go fill up the tank and let's go."
Johnny ground the cigarette stub under his heel in the dirt, shrugged his
shoulders with a fine imitation of perfect indifference, and yawned. He
would think over Bland's idea. He did not, of course, intend to fall for

anything that did not look like good business, and he was not at all
anxious to have Bland for a partner. Indeed, having Bland for a partner
was about the last thing Johnny would ever expect himself to do. Still,
there was no harm in letting Bland down easy. A flight or