hear him holler for thrills? And don't you
reckon that Captain Riley will be cocking an eye up at the sky about
now, looking to see you come back. Come, come--shake a wing, here, and
show 'em what you're good for!"

Whether the Thunder Bird heard and actually did shake a wing does not
matter. Johnny remembered that he had yet some miles to fly, and
proceeded to put those miles behind him in as straight a line as
possible. Schwab's voice came back to him in snatches, though the
words were mostly foreign to Johnny's ears. Schwab seemed to be
indulging in expletives of some sort.

"Don't worry, sauerkraut, we'll show you a good time soon as we get
along a few miles. There's some birds behind us I'm leading home
first."

"My God, don't go straight down again! It makes me sick," wailed
Schwab.

"Does? Oh, glory! That ain't nothing when you get used to it, man.
Be a regular guy and like it. I'll _make_ you like it, by golly. Come
on, now--here's San Diego--let's give 'em a treat, sauerkraut. You
never knew you'd turn out to be a stunt flyer, hey? Well, now, how's
this?"

"Whee-ee! See the town right down there? Head for it and keep
a-goin', old girl! _Whee-ee_! Now, here it goes, sliding right up
over our heads! Loop 'er, Thunder Bird, loop 'er! You're the little
old plane from Arizona that's rode the thunder and made it growl it had
enough! In Mexico I got yuh, and to Mexico you went and got me a
regular jailbird that Uncle Sammy wants. You're takin' him to
camp--whoo-ee! Give your tail a flop and over yuh go like a doggone
tumbleweed in the wind!

"Come on, you little ole cop planes that thinks you're campin' on my
trail! You'll have to ride and whip 'em, now I'm tellin' yuh, if you
want to keep in sight of our dust! Sunfish for 'em, you doggone
Thunder Bird! You're the flyin' bronk from Arizona, and it's your day
to fly!"

With the first loop Schwab went sick, and after that he had no wish
except to die. Whether the Thunder Bird rode head down or tail down he
neither knew nor cared. Nor did Johnny. As he yelled he looped and he
dived, he did tail spins and every other spin that occurred to him.
For the time being he was "riding straight up and fanning her ears,"
and his aerial bronk was pulling off stunts he would never have
attempted in cold blood.

He thought it a shame to have to stop, but North Island was there
beneath him, a flock of planes were keeping out of his way and
forg