Rocky Mountain Sam — page 97: what you’re looking at

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

88 ROCKY MOUNTAIN SAM. But Sam’s pistol was by this time empty again, so he re- turned it to his belt, and, unsheathing his long hunting: © knife, made himself ready for close quarters. ‘Now, jump me gently over his head,” he sang up to. his companions, ‘‘and be wide awake, or you may get me into a scurvy fix.” Almost as soon as he had spoken, he found himself lifted from his feet, and the next instant, he alighted upon the ground, just behind the bear, who narrowly escaped pawing him as he flew over his head; and, before he could turn around, the hunter’s knife was driven to the hilt behind the shoulder. ; _ Again and again it was driven home, and, with each re- peated stroke, Sam was lifted lightly out of harm's way; until bruin could stand it no longer, but at last thundered over on his side, and gave up the ghost with an expiring roan. : ‘‘His skin is so full of holes that it ain't worth taking off,” said Sam, at-once beginning to carve his way into the great carcass. ‘‘But just have a little patience, pro- fessor, and Vl have as fine a quarter of bear meat as you ever seen.” | In ashort time, he was back in the car, together with a splendid quarter of fat flesh, from which Fayaway was daintily carving a few steaks to prepare for breakfast; and the balloon was again careering through the waves of alr. ‘Firefoot’s hiding-place must be somewhere among those lofty spurs to the north,” said the. professor, leveling his olass. ‘‘But hallo! are those Indians down there to the south-east? No; they must be Big Horn and his band.” Sam also gave a shout of joy as he, too, was presently enabled to discern the distant, horsemen, though they were so far away, that they appeared like mere insects upon the lain. “Hurra!” he shouted; ‘‘I shall soon clasp honest old Big Horn by the fin; and won't he roll his eyes when he hears of the merry time we’ve had? But there’s no use telling him; he’ll never believe it.” ) In about half an hour, and after they had made a capital breakfast off the bear meat, they were hovering directly over the heads of the party, aloud cheer from which an- nounced that they were observed; and a little later, they _ comicbooks.co