The Thunder Bird

by B. M. Bower

  CHAPTER SIX

  FAME WAITS UPON JOHNNY

  That day was a terrible one for Mary V. The big car went lurching hereand there over roads that never expected an automobile to travel them,and Mary V watched and hoped and would not give up when even her dadshowed signs of yielding to heat and discouragement.

  Before noon they had met the sheriff and some of his men, and hadcompared notes and given what information they could. The sheriff, ina desert-scarred Ford loaded mostly with water and some emergencyrations, had managed to scatter his men and yet keep in fairly closetouch with them, and he seemed very sure that the search had beenthorough as far as they had gone. Young Jewel, he asserted, had not somuch as dropped a handkerchief on the ground they had covered, or hismen would certainly have found it.

  This, while it served as a temporary relief from the dread of hearingthe worst, merely postponed the full knowledge of a disaster which MaryV could not bear to contemplate. They drove to a rendezvous previouslyagreed upon with Bill Hayden and gleaned what news the boys had totell. Which was no news at all. Their search had been as barren ofresults as the sheriff's, and Mary V's eyes, when they turned from faceto face, were hard to meet. Little Curley, who had been Johnny Jewel'sespecial admirer and champion when that youth was spending his daysmore or less tumultuously at the Rolling R Ranch, was seen to draw hisshirt sleeve hastily across his eyes after he had confronted Mary V fora minute's questioning.

  She watched with painful interest a car that came bouncing toward themover the rough trail they had taken. When it arrived their fears mightbecome a terrible certainty. Two men occupied the dusty roadster, andneither was Johnny, and their haste implied great urgency. Mary Vweakened to the point of covering her face with her hands as they drewnear. But they were merely reporters anxious for news.

  That afternoon other reporters appeared, and the next day anenterprising motion-picture concern had a camera man on the job. Themystery of the vanished airplane grew with the passing hours. Thedesert fairly swarmed with men, and theories were thick as lizards. Onthe second night beacon fires were burning on every hilltop, and waterwas being hauled in barrels to certain rest stations where thesearchers could come and recuperate. Old Sudden achieved somefront-page fame himself as a stalwart Napoleon of the desert--which heprofanely resented, by the way.

  On the third day Mary V was ordered to stay at home. There werereasons which her father did not care to dwell upon, which made itextremely undesirable that the girl should be present when her loverwas discovered. And, since the search had narrowed to a point wherediscovery was practically certain within a few hours, Sudden was not tobe cajoled or bullied.

  Mary V was lying on the porch, wondering dully when the nightmare wouldend and she would wake up and find life just as it had always been,with Johnny alive and full of fun and ready to argue with her overevery little thing. It seemed grotesquely impossible that her owninnocent command that he come to her should result in all this horror.

  Upheld at first by a frenzied hope that they should find him, she nowdreaded the finding, and refused to reckon the time since she had lastheard his voice over the telephone. Hurt and without water or food onthe desert in all that heat--she set her teeth to stifle a groan. Alittle while ago when he had been so sure that he could enlist as aflyer, she had shrunk from the thought of his going to war. Beforethat, when he had lain unconscious for so many days there in thebedroom behind her; when a trained nurse had stood guard and would notlet Mary V so much as look at Johnny, and the doctor had spoken gliblyof hope, when his eyes told her how little hope there was, she hadsuffered terribly. She had thought that she had touched the depths ofworry over Johnny--and she had not begun to know the meaning of theword.

  She lay a small, huddled heap of heartache, shrinking from her ownthoughts, shrinking from the sight of every one, dazed with terror ofwhat she might hear if any one spoke. Into this nightmare jingled thetelephone bell. Mary V gave a faint scream and put her hands over herears.

  "There, there, baby--I'll answer it," her mother's voice camesoothingly, and Mary V shrank farther down in the hammock cushions.

  "Oh--why--land alive! Just a minute--hold the line," she heard hermother say in a strange, flustered voice. Then she called, "Mary V--Iguess you better come and--"

  "Oh, I--_can't_, mommie! I'll go crazy if I have to hear--"

  "There, there, baby, it's something you want to hear!"

  Mary V's knees shook under her as she went to the telephone. Her voicewas pinched and feeble when she tried to call the stereotyped hello.

  "Oh, hello, Mary V. That you? I just got in, and I thought I'd bettercall up. I hear they're out looking for me--"

  Mary V's eyes turned glassy. She made a faint sound and droopedforward until her forehead rested on the table. The receiver slidsoundlessly into her lap and lay there while Johnny Jewel rattled onhurriedly.

  "--And so after that happened, we were held up till dark getting thelanding gear straightened out. And of course we couldn't fly very wellafter dark. And then next morning, after Bland had cleaned out thecarburetor--say, it was straight mud in there and the screen was packedsolid, so of course she didn't get gas half the time, and that's whatailed her--and when we did start, or was going to start, we found outthere wasn't enough gas in the tank to take us home. So I had to catchan Injun and make him take a note to the nearest station for gas, andwait till he got back with some. I'd have sent word on to you, but Iwas in such a darned hurry I forgot--and the Injuns were all scaredstiff, and it was only by making them understand I wanted water for theBird, and nothing else would do."

  "Mary V's fainted," mommie interrupted him then. "I guess it was toosudden, hearing you on the wire when she thought you was dead. Youbetter wait and call up after awhile when her mind's more settled.She's had an awful hard time. I'm real glad you're all right, Johnny,but I've got to take care of Mary V now."

  Johnny's eyes were very wide open when he came out of the telephonebooth in the hotel lobby. That Mary V should faint when she heard hisvoice sounded rather incredible, but it seemed to confirm the strangeintent looks and the flustered manners of every one around that hotel.People seemed to be flocking in from the street and from other parts ofthe hotel, and that they were gathering to gaze upon him, Johnny Jewel,came with a shock.

  Three reporters came at him so impetuously that the foremost manskidded on the polished floor and all but fell. Bland was plucking athis elbow and whispering, "You let me handle the publicity, bo!" Theclerk was staring at him, both palms planted firmly on the desk, andmen were pushing up and craning for a look at him. Johnny whirledsuddenly and retreated to the telephone booth, shutting the doortightly behind him. It was the first time in his life that he had runfrom any one.

  To gain time, he called up the Rolling R Ranch again and managed to getBedelia, the cook, on the 'phone. Bedelia was perfectly willing totell all she knew, and she appeared to know a great deal. Johnny heldthe receiver to his ear until his elbow cramped, and said "uh-huh" oncein a while, and wondered how much Bedelia was exaggerating the truth.As a matter of fact Bedelia was giving him a conservative history ofthe past three days and, indirectly, she was explaining the crowd inthe lobby behind him.

  Telephone booths are not any too comfortable on a hot day, and Johnnyemerged rather limp and sober.

  He edged in to where Bland was gesticulating in the center of a groupthat seemed to be drinking in his words eagerly.

  "I'm going on to the ranch, Bland," he said shortly. "Jar loose hereand come help get the machine ready."

  "In a minute, bo. As I was saying--"

  "Ah--I hear you had quite an adventure, Mr. Jewel, down among theIndians with your airplane. Now, just where--"

  "I'm in a hurry," Johnny hedged. "I don't know anything about anyadventure. We had a little carburetor trouble, and had to wait for gasbefore we could get back. That's all." He grabbed Bland firmly by onearm and hustled him outside, where men were seemingly
waiting far hisappearance.

  "Oh, Mr. Jewel! I wish you'd tell me--"

  "I'm in a hurry! Good golly, folks seem to think talking is all thereis to do in this world! Come on, Bland." He hurried on, his mindabsorbed in grasping the full significance of Bedelia's excited reportof events at the Rolling R and this curious crowd that gaped at him.The thought of Mary V lying unconscious, stricken by the sound of hisvoice over the telephone, nagged at him persistently and unpleasantly.He had not told Bedelia that he was coming, and now he feared that hisunheralded appearance might be another shock to Mary V; but he wouldnot take the time to go back and warn her, for all that. Instead, hewalked a little faster to where his plane was waiting.

  "I think you're making a bad play, bo--duckin' out when all themnewspaper guys are hot after dope on us," Bland expostulated while hedrilled along beside his boss. "I give 'em some scarehead stuff, butthey'd lap up a lot more. We can get a lot of valuable publicity rightnow if we play 'em right. I give 'em that gawd stuff for a start-off,and I made--"

  "Shut up and save your breath," snapped Johnny. "I'm not chasing upany newspaper notoriety now."

  "Well, it'd be better business if yah did, bo--I'll say it would. Why,it's free advertising we couldn't have pulled off on a bet, if we'dtried to frame it. Absolutely not. Well, mebby your duckin' out rightnow is a good play, too. It'll keep 'em chasin' yuh for more--and I'llsay that's about the only way to handle them smart guys. Oncet youchase them, the stuff's off. You can bust your spine in four differentplaces and wreck your machine, and mebby get a four- or five-linenotice down in a corner next the dentist ads. It's worse, too, sincethe war begun. There ain't no more chance, hardly, of gettingfront-page publicity. Say, a couple of 'em took your picture. D' yuhknow that?"

  "No, and I don't care," Johnny retorted.

  Just now nothing mattered save getting to the Rolling R as soon aspossible and stopping that idiotic search for him. He hustled Blandaround to such good purpose that by the time the reporters had trailedhim to the hangar he was already in his seat and was barking "Contact!"at Bland, who was unhappily turning the propeller at stated intervalsand wondering when he would ever again have a square meal, and hopingthat no misfortune would delay their arrival at the Rolling R, where heremembered hungrily certain past achievements of the cook.

  "Going back to your Indian tribe?" one smiling, sandy-haired fellowcalled out to Johnny.

  "No. I'm going to the Rolling R!" Johnny retorted unguardedly."Ready, Bland? Contact!"

  The motor started, and Bland pulled down his cap. "His best girl livesat the Rolling R. He's goin' to see her," he informed the sandy-hairedman as he passed him. "They're engaged." He climbed up and took hisplace, tickled at the chance to hand out more "dope." The sandy-hairedone seemed tickled, too, until he saw that his ears had not been theonly ones to drink in Bland's words.

  They moved hastily aside as the big plane swung round and went down thefield like a running plover. They watched it swing and come back,taking the air easily, thrumming its high, triumphant note. Theytilted heads backward and followed it as Johnny circled, getting hisaltitude. They squinted into the sun to see the plane head straightaway toward the Rolling R, its little wheels looking very much like thetucked-up feet of some gigantic bird, until it had dwindled to therigid, dragon-fly outline.

  "He's got nerve, that kid!" the sandy-haired one declared to hisfellows. "Didn't care a whoop for publicity--did you fellows get that?I'd been wondering if it wasn't some frame-up, but it's on the level.That boy couldn't frame anything."

  "Not with those eyes," a sallow companion agreed. "I seem to know thatother bird. He's a crook, if I know faces."

  "He's just the mechanic. He don't count. But that kid--say, I likethat kid!" And he added enthusiastically, "Great story, that stuff themechanic doped out for us. We'd never have pulled it out of the kid."

  "I wish I could remember that bird. I ought to know him. Leaves a badtaste in my memory, somehow. You're right--it's some story."