ds up those who think Tom
ought to do it."

Every hand shot up in the air.

Tom shuffled his feet on the ground and squirmed uneasily.

"All right," he said, "I'll try. You'll tell us what to do, Mr. Levin."

The next few weeks were busy ones for the Mississippi League of the
Weather. The building of the kite reel, more than anything else, gave
the boys a sense of the power of the new force that they were going to
handle. The _Weather Review_ announced the expected arrival of the two
kites, and the interest of the neighborhood was aroused.

Not since the days of the Civil War had anything given the farmers of
the district as much to talk about as did the weekly issues of the
_Issaquena County Weather Review_, and the people of the county took the
keenest interest in all the doings of the League. Fred had been anxious
to make the paper bigger and more important, as soon as it became
flourishing, but he was held back in this by the conservative and
laconic Bob. The wireless expert showed him that as long as the paper
was kept small and easy to get out, it could be kept good. As a result,
everything had to be condensed, and every bit of the little sheet was
interesting. Twice the _Review_ was quoted in important meteorological
journals and various weather periodicals were sent as exchanges to the
office. It meant a lot of work for the editor-in-chief, but Fred's
father, realizing that the post was an excellent training for his son,
released him from all his Saturday chores.

At last the word came that the kites had actually arrived. A farm wagon
was sent in to fetch the wooden cases, and that wagon, when it drove
into town, had every member of the League on board, all excited and
chattering like so many magpies. Rex and Lassie, the pair of four-legged
members of the League, also came along to give dignity to the occasion.

Permission had been secured from Tom's father to use part of the pasture
as a kite-flying station, and, bright and early the next Saturday, the
League gathered at the wind-measurer's home to see the cases unpacked.
Mr. Levin also came, to give advice and suggestions.

"What's the direction of the wind, Tom?" he asked.

The boy glanced up at his home-made weather-vane, which had been
adjusted so that it was right to the fraction of a degree.

"South-southeast, sir," he said.

"Is it steady or veering?" the weather expert continued. He was anxious
that Tom should feel the importance of his wind