an was
nearer, so that Johnny could see a fringe of white along its edge where
waves lapped up to the lights.

They swooped, flattened out, and glided again while Bland picked up
certain landmarks. The motor spoke, its voice increased while they
banked in a circle and swooped again. Now a long bare stretch lay just
ahead. The motor stopped, and they volplaned steeply; flattened,
dipped a little, skimmed close to earth, touched, lifted again.

"F'r cat's sake, what they went and done to this field?" Bland's
whining voice complained, and he swung the Thunder Bird away from a
long windrow of dried vines, just in time to avoid entangling the
wheels. They settled, ran along uneven surface for a space. A small
loose pile lay just ahead, and Bland veered sharply away. Another pile
to the left caught the wheels just as the tail was settling. The
Thunder Bird jerked, staggered drunkenly, wheeled over the pile and
then, with a gentle determination quite unexpected in so docile a bird,
turned itself up on its nose and with a splintering crash of the
propeller tilted on over until it lay flat on its back. Which was a
silly ending to so glorious a flight.

Johnny, hanging upside down with the strap strained tight across his
loins, with Bland dangling before him, felt even sillier than the
Thunder Bird looked. He freed himself after the first paralyzing shock
of surprise, dropped on all fours upon the upper wing covering, and
crawled out between the front braces. A minute later Bland followed,
looking extremely foolish.

"That's a hell of a way to land!" Johnny snorted. "What kinda pilot
are you, for gosh sake?"

"Aw, how was I to know they'd went and planted this field to beans? I
been away a year, almost. It was a good field when I was here before.
Come on and let's turn her back, bo, before all the cylinders is full
of oil." Then Bland added with a surprising optimism in one so given
to complaining, "We're here, and we ain't hurt, and Los Angeles is just
back there a ways. I'm satisfied."

"Yes, and we shelled the beans--that's something more," Johnny
sarcastically added to the sum of their blessings.

With some labor they turned the Thunder Bird right side up. It was too
dark to estimate the damage, and Bland suggested that they catch a
street car and ride into town. He did not inform Johnny then how far
they must walk before they would be within catching distance, and
Johnny started off willingly enoug