Rocky Mountain Sam — page 112: what you’re looking at

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

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAM. 103 tion, though unwounded, and Sam alone balanced himself on the edge of the car—bare-headed, blood-stained, and with his hunting-shirt torn to rags—with his enemies swarming around him, and fighting with the energy of despair. He could hardly stand; every fiber and tissue of his frame was quivering with exhaustion and pain, and he was about to resign himself to his fate—to give up the last vestige of hope—when the cheering words of his old “‘pard” gave him a new lease of life and strength, and, casting up a hurried glance, he was for the first time aware of the rescue that was being so gallantly attempted. He answered the shout with a wan smile and a feeble cheer, struck down one more dusky head, and then, losing his balance, stumbled back and fell upon his knees in the bottom of the car. | But the relief at hand was substantial as it was oppor- tune. At the very instant, the Herculean form of Big Horn surged in, brushing the savages from the side of the car like chaff before the tempest, and the men at his back played out with their long knives, stabbing riders, hamstringing ponies, and doing terrible execution generally. Nor was this all. The hunters who had been left behind, seeing the success of Big Horn’s forlorn hope, now mounted their horses—which were comparatively fresh after their long rest—and, with Lieutenant Dutton at their head, leaped the low barrier, and charged upon the reeling ranks of the red men with a ringing shout. There was a momentary pause in the immediate vicinity of the balloon. Sam staggered to his feet again, and grasped another weapon, while Big Horn leaned over into the car, and, pat- ting the trembling maiden under the chin with his ruddy hand, said: ‘‘Leetle gal, d’ye recollect my sayin’ as how you were a brick ?” She nodded her head and smiled faintly. . “Well, so you air; but don’t give in at the last rub. Jist chuck some water on the ole gent’s face, thar, an’ fetch him to. I propose fur to use this ’ere gas-bag a leetle on my own hook, d’ye understan?” Whether she understood or not, she speedily brought the ~ comicboo (ele)