satisfaction, finally brought the aerial donkey back to earth.
“How about me trying it?” Bud suggested.
“Good idea,” Tom agreed. “You’ll be using it on the moon. But first let me check you out on this control box.” He explained the function of the two switches and the steering lever, adding, “You may find it a bit tricky at first, so watch yourself.”
“Looks easy enough,” Bud remarked. “How about setting the repelatron for different materials?”
“The detector does that automatically,” Tom explained. “Of course it only works for the common mineral elements.”
“Okay, here goes!”
Bud took the control box and mounted the donkey. In his eagerness he opened the switch too far and shot up so suddenly that he almost lost his balance.
“Easy does it, boy!” Tom called up to him.
“You can say that again.” With a rueful grin, Bud operated the altitude switch more cautiously, moving the platform up or down only a foot or so at a time.
Feeling that he had mastered this phase of operation, Bud tried steering. The first few glides went smoothly. But then he made too fast a turn.
An audible gasp went up from his audience as the platform tilted sharply.
Bud was thrown off balance and had to drop to his hands and knees to keep from sliding off!
RIDE ‘EM, COWBOY! 131
As the platform righted itself, Bud struggled to his feet again, mopping his forehead. His heart was still pounding. “Wow! Talk about buckin’ broncos!” he gasped.
After a few more minutes of practice he was steering the platform as easily as Tom had done. When he finally landed, Bud shook the young inventor’s hand.