Rocky Mountain Sam — page 103: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

94 ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAM. utterance of the birds themselves, which was almost. deaf- ening. | On they came, the noise becoming louder every instant, and it was now too late to avoid the shock of their onward rush; as the balloonists were well disposed to do, for there seemed to be a real danger of their being overwhelmed. ‘Hold hard, and strike out!” yelled the professor, leaning forward over the car, and sweeping out among the birds with a long pole, while Sam and T’ayaway, similarly armed, beat them away and down on either side. The van of the flock at first parted and spread out on either hand like a fan, but the myriads behind, knowing nothing of the obstruction ahead, rushed blindly on, dashing themselves over, under, and against the balloon, and among the ropes of the rigging with tremendous force and clan- orous cries. Lhe light of the un was darkened as by the passage of a thunder cloud, the air grew stiflingly close in the midst’ of the smothering masses, and Sam and old Max could only hit out blindly right and left, while Fayaway was com- pletely overborne and fell, screaming with fright, into the bottom of the car. “By | the balloon will. be torn to pieces,” groaned sam, himself sinking under the weight that rushed upon him from every side. “Courage!” cried the professor; ‘‘it can’t last forever.” At last, after a time which seemed an age, the gloom grew brighter, and the flock thinner, and a few moments aiterward, the birds had passed to the north, leaving a few straggling lines on either hand. | Both Maxand Sam staggered to their feet, and looked around them in amazement. The balloon itself had not suffered materially by the collision, but many of the cords connecting it with the car were broken and torn, the line connecting with the throttle-valve was floating far out of reach, the canvas canopy over their heads was torn to ribbons, and the body of the car itself was filled almost to the top with the bodies of the dead, crippled; and senseless birds; the two men being covered up to their waists. Sam was the first to entirely recover himself, and did go only to exclaim in a startled voice: “Great Heaven! where is Fayaway? She must have been carried overboard!” | (ef 0) comicbooks m a ? ~% PES. 5 Cee