San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-08-20

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"An at once the gander, with an unearthly
cronk that sounded 10 Lundsford like the
wall of the damned, lifted his clumsy body
and led the flight. With tremendous flop
ping and a succession of cronks that strangely
resembed the 'Heave, hor of the negroes.
they rose from the water and sailed away
toward the sky, carrying Lundsford with
them Before he knew what was going TO
happen he was fifty feet from the ground,
and when he realized his perilouS position he
was too high to drop. He was in for the
tight. He must migrate whether or no, and
up under the edges of the clouds, as the cool
winds of the upper air famed the perspira-
ton from his brow, he had time to think
over the situation. Where would he land
Ind how far from homei Would these fool
birds drop him in the ocean or the gulfl In
he meantime his position was exceedingly
irksome He had managed to draw the two
sides of the circle together, so that he was
virtually standing in the stirrupS of his
many winged steed, but he was standing on
his hands and his arms began to tire. The
geese on his right and left were so close that
their wings rubbed against his bare sides and
chafed them They tickled his ribs, and but
for the peril and pain of the situation he
would have been forced into involuntary
laughter
He VS. many times reminded Of the ludi-
crOuS aspect OF the situation, and repeatedly
asked himself whether he was not the biggest
goose in the lot.
"All thought of mirth soon left him. The
situation had changed from discomfort to ex-
treme peril The muscles of his arms could
not stand it much longer. A cold sweat gath
cred on his brow, and he began to nerve him,
self for the worst. He was resolved to face
leath like brave man, and he almost con-
sinced himself that he was willing to go, but
to die at the hands of a lot Of geese was Ids
grace to which his lofty spirit would not be
,ecOucied.
ITO the bitterness Of this disgrace and the
| agony of leaving all that was dear in life,
| new and unspeakable horror was now added
| He was passing over a town and he could see
| the people gather in clusters along the streets
| and twist their necks to look up in the sky.
It was large town and ths SUBURBS stretched
away for nearly a mile. To his unutterable
| horror he remembered that he had left his
\ clothes on the bank of the creek. Even if he
| had had them it would have been impossible
! to put them on This new tangled vehicle q.
his had no facilities for making toilettes and
| he had to remain as nature formed him, with
out any Of the superhuities Of fashion. Not
| even a fig leaf encountered his person. 1t
was an admirable flying costume, but was
not appropriate for a public performance.
| He was just congratulating himself that he
was too far above those curious eyes for them
| to discover his costume when he saw that one
| group held something in their hands. 1t was
long field glass He bent his agonized face
once more rigidly to the front. At least they
would not recognize him.
Just at this time he noticed that the oc-
casional cronks began to grow feebler and
that the geese appeared to labor i'll their
| fight. They were becoming tired, and must
inevitably sink under his weight very soon.
| Then he prayed that the wings of the geese
| might be strengthened for a season. He was
| willing even like Jonah, to be cast into the
sea- anything, rather than land in that town.
| Then he cluckedencouragingly to his fourteen
winged steeds and gently jerked the cord as
| if he were jerking the reins of his horse, but
still they labored The old gander's hoarse
| cronk! cronkY seemed to mock him in his
| despair and his downcast spirit began to sink.
"Au at once be heard something whiz by
| him and he saw a puff of blue smoke away
| down below. A second or two later he heard
the sharp crack of a rifle, the sound having
| travelled slower than the ball.
His blood almost froze in his veins Hor-
| ror had been added TO horror, and bis spirits
sank in the depths Of despair
| But the darkest hour was Just before the
| dawn. The whiz Of the bullet and the report
| Of the gun had frightened the geese and
| nerved them to renewed eXertionS. They
| made one desperate effort to reach the friendly
cover of the woods. Lundsford's spirits rose