om side to side, then the current of the wind caught it at the
right angle and it began to climb up into the air.

Tom waved his cap at it with an excited cheer, in which all the boys
joined.

The first kite-flight of the League was on!

Smaller and smaller grew the kite, climbing until it was almost out of
sight. The rattle of the reel, as the wire ran out, was music in the
boys' ears. When the half-mile mark on the wire was passed, the
Forecaster said:

"I think that's enough for a first flight, boys. Better pull her in."

Some of the boys begged that the kite might be allowed to go up a
little higher, but the home-made reel was a trifle rickety and would
need strengthening. Winding the reel by hand took quite a long time, but
the kite came to the ground, safely, unharmed.

From that time on, kite-flying became a passion with the boys. The
official measurements of the Weather Bureau kites were secured, together
with diagrams showing exactly how the kites were to be built. Before a
month was over, every member had a kite, and, as kite-races were to be
held, every boy had to build his kite himself, absolutely without any
outside help. It was nothing less than amazing to see how these kites,
all built on the same pattern by different boys, behaved differently. It
seemed almost as if the characters of the boys appeared in their kites.
Bob's was the slowest and most powerful, Anton's the fastest but behaved
poorly in a strong wind, Monroe's was absolutely useless in a zephyr.

Tom, who up to that time, had felt that his share in the work of the
League was extremely small, now found himself of great importance. He
thought of kites in every spare minute of the day and dreamed of kites
at night. His father had to forbid the mention of the word "kite" at
meal-times. The lad made fliers of every shape and pattern, and his
kites were usually so stable that it was upon his model that the
meteorograph was fastened which registered the pressure, humidity and
temperature of the air and the velocity of the wind, according to the
request of the young fellow who had sent the League the two first kites.
The _Issaquena County Weather Review_ was compelled to run a regular
weekly feature of "Kite Records" and few were the weeks without a
flight.

At last came the fateful Saturday, the last Saturday in October, the day
set for the kite races. Many of the boys had made new kites for the
occasion and all had overhauled them. Secret