Sahwah had to admit that the new Many Eyes was a rather laughable object, with her one eye and her miscellaneous tail and her one arm covered with yellow paper where the brown had given out.

“I don’t care what she looks like, she’ll fly,” said Sahwah stoutly.

“Well, I care what she looks like,” returned Agony.  “I tell you everybody will laugh at us and our one-eyed kite.”

“Let them laugh,” retorted Sahwah, “I don’t care.”

“Oh, come on,” said Migwan good-naturedly, “stop arguing about it.  If we’re going into the contest we’ll have to get there pretty soon.  We won’t win, of course, but we’ll show the boys that we’re game, anyway.  Like the ‘poor, benighted Hindoo,’ we’ll ‘do the best we kin do!’ Be a sport, Agony, and come on.”

Sahwah gathered up her kite in her arms and started for the door.  Going through the hall she knocked Hinpoha’s little purse mirror from the table and smashed it all to bits.  Hinpoha was aghast.  “Bad luck again!” she wailed.

“Never mind, ’Poha, I’ll buy you another mirror,” said Sahwah.  “Just leave the pieces, I’ll sweep them up when I come back.”

Agony scolded about the crazy-looking kite all the way to Commons Field and Hinpoha resignedly accepted the fact that luck was against them, and they might as well not enter the contest.  To all of their remarks Sahwah paid no heed, stubbornly keeping her determination to enter her beloved kite.

“We’ve got to be sports now and not back down,” was the only thing she would say.

“Yes,” said Migwan, “remember—­”

  “’Tis better to have flown and lost
  Than never to have flown at all!’”

The other entries had already arrived on the scene when the Winnebagos got there, and a good many of the Oakwood boys and girls had assembled to watch the contest.  Commons Field was a five-acre lot running down to the river on the eastern side of the town, used as baseball field, footfall field, and general sporting grounds.  It was a sort of natural amphitheatre, for a grassy hill curved around two sides of it, making an ideal place for the spectators to sit and watch what was going on below.

Lists of the entries in the contest had been posted on various trees.

GREAT KITE FLYING CONTEST

Entries

VICTORY BIRD........................Troop No. 1 Boy Scouts
SKYSCRAPER..........................Troop No. 2 Boy Scouts
MIKADO II...........................Troop No. 3 Boy Scouts
SAMMY BOY..............................St. Andrew’s League
AMERICAN EAGLE...................Sunday School Association
MANY EYES........................Winnebago Camp Fire Girls

“How graciously they put us at the end of the list,” remarked Sahwah.

The Captain and Slim were there waiting for them and looked at Many Eyes critically, but they forebore to laugh at her.  Sahwah felt as though she would explode if they made fun of her.  But they made no disparaging remarks, although they both felt dubious about the flying qualities of a kite in the shape of a Primitive Woman.  However, they were game and promised to shout for her with all their might.