can give a pretty good imitation of high life in great
cities."

"I can guess the rest," said Norman. "His father brought him out here to
put him on a ranch. When he found that his son hadn't this idea, it
rather upset certain plans."

"And he'd like us to put in a few knocks but I reckon that'll be some
job. As far as I can see, it's young fellows like Zept who turn these
hardships into glories. I've heard of kids like him who are really at
home where there's no trail and whose idea of luxury is a canoe and a
blanket and a piece of pork."

"Well," concluded Norman, "if I didn't have the aeroplane bug just now,
I'd like to have a chance at the ponies and horses on one of Mr. Zept's
big ranches. A canoe and a blanket are all right, but on a cold evening
when the snow's spitting I don't think they've got anything on a chuck
wagon and a good tent."

On the way to the show grounds, Roy went into further details of the
gossip he had heard concerning young Zept's escapades, not only in Paris
but in the south of France.

"One thing's sure," commented Norman at last, "wild as he may be about a
lot of things, he ain't crazy about airships. That's saying something
these days."

This remark was made because the Count, while showing a polite interest
in the _Gitchie Manitou_, had not bubbled over with exuberance. The boys
felt somewhat chagrined over this lack of enthusiasm until they recalled
that to young Zept an airship was an old story, the young man having
witnessed many flights by the most improved French monoplanes.

On this, the second day of the Stampede, about five o'clock Norman made a
respectable if not very exciting flight. He was somewhat nervous and was
glad when the exhibition was over, and had no sooner landed than he
determined on the following day to attempt a more ambitious demonstration.
On Wednesday and Thursday he added some thrills to his evening flight,
making on the latter evening a landing in the shape of a corkscrew spiral
that got for him special notice in the newspapers the next morning. It
also got for him an admonition from his father, when the latter read this
story, that a repetition of it would result in a breaking of his contract
with the Stampede authorities.

"All right, father," conceded the young aviator, "but that ain't a marker
to the possibilities of the machine. I haven't put over the real stunt
yet."

"And what's that?" demanded his parent.

"I had planned, on the last day o