THE THUNDER BIRD TAKES WING The days dragged interminably, but they passed somehow, and one morning Johnny was free to go where he would.

Where he would go he believed was a matter of little interest to him, but without waiting for his brain to decide, his feet took him down the sandy side street to the calf shed that had held his treasure.

He did not expect to see it there.

For three days he had not heard the unmistakable hum of its motor, though his ears were always strained to catch the sound that would tell him Bland had not gone.

Some stubborn streak in him would not permit him to ask the jailer whether the airplane was still in town.