Rocky Mountain Sam — page 168: what you’re looking at

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

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAM. 159 at first with a sudden jerk, and then letting it down as softly and airily as the feather from a soaring eagle. For about half the distance — that is while in the stratum of motionless air occupied by the balloon itself— the descent was perfectly perpendicular; but a light breeze was moving near the surface of the earth, and as soon az the parachute and its passenger entered this, it swayed gently to and fro, at the same time, describing beautiful circles and curving lines, and displaying Big Horn, face down- ~ ward atthe extremities, sticking out with hands, feet, and limbs, like a gigantic frog, or the green monster in the pantomime. Grotesque enough he seemed to those below at first; but when the savages distinctly made out the real nature of the monster that was descending in ¢heir midst, a thrill of hor- ror ran through their midst, and even the hunter could not but view the noveland fearful spectacle with wonder and awe. But the Indians, nevertheless, grouped together, flourishing their weapons, and cheering each other with their war-whoops, and a few of them discharged arrows, which however, only passed through the cloth of the para- chute without doing harm. A brisker wind than had been prevailing now happened to spring up, and kept the parachute from at once deposit- ing its burden upon the ground, .but buoyed it up for several feet above the surface. “Took out, redskins, fur Big Horn area comin tooth an’ nail, over an’ above, an’ no mistake/ WHoorP!”’ And the next instant the terrible warrior was in their midst, his two pistols vomiting forth their leaden death as he came sprawling down, his head diving and twisting this way and that with its bristling knives, the blades at his elbows dealing fatal strokes on either side as he worked _ his arms, his feet Iaunching out their terrible fore and aft thrusts almost with the rapidity of thought, while the double-bladed tomahawks at his knees were at the same time brought into chopping play with tremendous effect. Then, as the parachute lowered him upon his feet a back twist of his knife-girt head was sufficient to free him from the thongs which bound him to his handle; the vast umbrella-like affair danced away upon the cheering wind; and he began to launch out on every side. Casting aside his now useless pistols, he speedily possessed himself of Eomicbhoo “S (ele)