He didn't know how, though I honestly believe he would have tried it anyway, had there been even a gallon of gasoline in the tank.

But the tank was bone dry, and the tail was knocked askew, so Johnny had to give up thinking about it.
When he slept, the airplane filled his dreams so that he talked in his sleep and wakened the brother of Tomaso, who sat up in his blankets to listen.
"That plan, she's work fine, I bet!" grinned the brother of Tomaso when Johnny had droned off into mumbling and then silence.

"That Tex, she's smart _hombre_." He laid himself down to sleep again.
Speaking of Tex; that same night he lay awake for a long while, staring at the moon-lighted window and wishing that his eyesight could follow his thoughts and show him what he wanted to see.

His thoughts took the trail to Sinkhole, dwelt there for a space in anxious speculation, drifted on to the Border and beyond and sought out Johnny Jewel, dwelling upon his quest with even more anxious speculation.

Then, when sleep had dulled somewhat his reasoning faculties, Tex began to vision himself in Tucson--well, perhaps in Los Angeles, that Mecca of pleasure lovers--spending money freely, living for a little while the life of ease and idleness gemmed with the smiles of those beautiful women who hover gaily around the money pots in any country, in any clime.
For a hard-working cowpuncher with no visible assets save his riding gear and his skill with horses, the half-waking dreams of Tex were florid and as impossible, in the cold light of reason, as had been the dreams of Johnny Jewel in that bunk house.
That night others were awake in the moonlight.