in school that the dinosaurus was extinct, and had been for
thousands of years. Pa said: "So they say the buffalo is extinct,
but you can find 'em, if you have got the money. Lots of thing are
extinct, till some brave explorer penetrates the fastnesses and
finds them. The mastodon is extinct, according to the
scientists, but they are alive in Alaska. The north pole is
extinct, but some dub in a balloon will find it all right. I tell
you, I am going to see a live dinosaurus, or bust. You hear me?"
and Pa heard them cooking breakfast, and we got up.

Before noon Pa had organized a pack train and hired three cowboys,
and got some diagrams and pictures of dinosauruses from the
scientists, and we started north on the biggest fool expedition
that ever was, but Pa was as earnest and excited as Peary planning
a north pole expedition, and as busy as a boy killing snakes.
After the cowboys and the scientists had tried to get Pa to make
his will before he went, and got the addresses where Pa wanted our
remains sent to in case of our being found dried up on the
prairie, and our bones polished by wolves, we were on the move,
and Pa was so happy you would think he had already found a live
dinosaurus, and had him in a cage.

For four days we rode along up and down foothills, and divides,
and small mountains, and all the time Pa was telling the boys how,
after we had located our dinosauruses, we would go back east and
organize an expedition with derricks and cages as big as a house,
and come back and drive the animals in. And when we got them with
the show people we would run trains hundreds of miles to see the
rarest animals any show ever exhibited to a discriminating public,
and we could charge five dollars for tickets, and people would mob