human
Wonder what Bradshaw and his gang have been doing while we tanked up, Bob remarked.
gpt
Wish we could have been in on the scrap.
human
Wish we could, but we might have been in the way. If we had hung around that ravine waiting for the fireworks, the chaps who were parked there might have been warned and that would have spoiled the show,
gpt
Oh sure. By the noise they made, those chaps getting away may not have heard our little play. Reckon, they beat it to their headquarters to tell the other fellows. Seeing us again would have queered the party for the Mounties,
human
Yes, a plane is sort of conspicuous. Bet that message told the Chief, whoever he is, to surround the ravine and get the outlaws while the getting promised to be good.
gpt
I saw one of those fellows pull out his gun. Gosh, they would have got Bradshaw if he had come riding right into their arms.
human
It would have been some scrap, you bet. Bradshaw's no slouch.
gpt
Not a bit. Wish he could come and see us at Cap Rock. Say, with Pat to help him, he's better off than if he were twins, or two policemen, Bob laughed as he thought of the efficient pony.
human
Some horse. Glad he's got a good master.
gpt
You bet. They rested comfortably, and at last Jim broke the silence again.
human
Gosh, Buddy, remember that story of the brothers who watched the smoke go up the chimney?
gpt
Surely. I was just thinking about them. The Montgolfier boys. They were watching the fire and the smoke go up the chimney, and that set their brains to working and they wondered why the smoke went up. Queer isn't it when you think that a little thing like that happening around one hundred and thirty years ago, should develop into air travel!
human
She doesn't look much like the paper bags they made their first experiments with, does she?
gpt
I'll say she doesn't, nor the balloons that came a few years later. Gosh, I'm glad we don't live at a time when people were so ignorant that they thought everything new was a devil of some kind,
human
We'd be in a nice fix if we got shot at or stabbed with pitch forks every time we came down. But, even at that, Jim, there are places in the world where the people are mighty savage. Dad says in some of the South American provinces they've never been able to conquer all the tribes, or civilize them. They are almost the same as they were when Columbus landed, and will fill a chauffeur full of poison arrows if they see a car driving through their land.
gpt
Great horns. I'd like to go sailing over some of those places some time. Lindbergh must have seen some mighty interesting places when he went cutting air-paths over Mexico.
human
He sure did. And isn't he the grand lad for keeping his eyes open and his wits about him?
gpt
I'll divvy up.
human
You needn't. Jim made himself another sandwich.
gpt
Don't know where my lunch is disappearing, but I find I have a little vacant space which needs fueling.
human
We may as well be soaring along,
gpt
Let's go over Canada and see if we can see any of the smoke from the ravine,
human
All right. You want to drive?
gpt
You bet, and you watch for the scrap.