Rocky Mountain Sam — page 175: what you’re looking at

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

166 + ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAn. horror expressed by the female captive. All of the Indians were in war-paint, and it was evident at a glance that they were a predatory band belonging tothe great Blackfeet tribe, who had made these luckless captives in the neighborhood of the fort, and, unwilling to be burdened with their con- veyance, were about to put them to death after the most horrible of the modes adopted by the savages. The balloon was only several hundred feet above their heads, and so close to the crag that the occupants of the car could have touched it with their hands; and yet so dense were the low, rolling thunder-clouds, combined with a tangled growth of pines and firs sticking almost straight out from the mountain wall, as to render them almost en- tirely concealed from the view of those below. ‘The murtherin’ haythens!” muttered ‘T'eddy McGuire, as he gazed upon this affecting scene. ‘‘Why, the poor captives are nothin’ more nor childer, an’ the gurrell has a swate enough face to be Irish.” “Sam,” said the professor, ‘‘just reach out with the crow- bar; and see if you can pry off that big rock jutting out nearest to the car.” ‘Is it an avalanche you're afther sindin’ down on their mugs?” cried Teddy. ‘Sure, an’ won’t it desthroy the childer, as well as the red divils?” ‘“No; I’ve calculated the distance, and they are too far _ away from the base of the cliff to receive injury. Only this group directly below us here will experience the effects. Pry away, Sam.” : Sam leaned over the side, crowbar in hand, and pryed away at the overhanging rock with a will. The Indians directly beneath were at first apprised of something unusual going on over their heads by a few in- significant twigs and chunks of earth falling among them, which set them -to arguing among themselves in the most outlandish gibberish as to the cause thereof—seeing that the fragments seemed to come directly out of the clouds, while a few of them moyed apprehensively away, but the majority of them remained where they were, jabbering and gesti- culating, until suddenly the great rock, accompanied by a small tree or two and great masses of earth, came roaring and plunging down the precipice, burying more than half of their number out of sight, while the remainder fled in every direction, uttering the most dismal yells, Comicboo CS co