They were spared this long wait, however, because luckily enough the farmer happened to be going in town for supplies and readily made terms with the scouts to carry them and their bundles.

So they said good-by to the soldier in khaki belonging to Uncle Sam’s Flying Corps, and were soon passing along the homeward road.

No doubt that farmer pricked up his ears and did considerable eager listening, when he began to hear what his three passengers were talking about.  Never having seen an aeroplane in all his life, and having only a faint conception of the wonderful uses to which the fliers could be put, the tiller of the soil gasped many times when he heard these mere lads tell of their feelings when half a mile up in the air.

And when later on he chanced to discover from words let fall by Bud, that the several packages in the back of the wagon contained a miniature aeroplane, the old man cast more respectful glances back at them.  He also changed his manner toward the scouts, and even addressed Hugh once as “Mister Hardin.”

In good time, long before the sun gave token of setting, they arrived in town; and Bud was made happy in seeing his precious miniature flier safely deposited at his own door.  He still had the look of one whose mind was soaring away up in the clouds and Hugh did not have the heart to disillusion him just then.  There would be no harm done in letting poor Bud dream a little longer before giving him that rude if necessary jolt.

Hugh was more than satisfied with the result of their latest expedition.  Neither he nor Bud, at the time they started out, could possibly have dreamed of the remarkable experiences that were fated to come their way.  It had only been to enjoy one more little outing before winter came along in earnest and to learn what the scout inventor had accomplished, that had induced Hugh to go forth immediately after eating his turkey at the Thanksgiving feast.

And there was Ralph, who also had obeyed an inward mentor urging him to spend a day or so with his gun in the region where he had in times past trapped many a little fur-bearing animal, whose glossy coat he covet coveted as a means of eventually paying for his tuition in the School of Mines.  He had only expected to wander in some of his familiar nooks, and perhaps to knock over a few quail to tempt his sick mother’s fickle appetite; but see what had come out of such humble beginnings!

When the scouts had their next weekly meeting, Hugh thought it worth while to give the troop some description of the events that had come the way of himself and his two chums.  He purposely avoided more than casual mention of Bud’s invention, because he had found a chance to bring the other down from the heights where he had been sailing, and Bud now knew that he had made his bright discovery “a mile too late,” as he himself expressed it, looking exceedingly downcast at the time.