The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1893-04-20

i4tus@. tie I75-se&ta CFAts AMI ballast. IN
az instant. TIE loss If 50 much weigh,
caused the balloon Is Zee at once and
dash away again. going higher every
moment | was almost crazy and lost
control II myself. looked down, and
fancied saw lights aud dwellings
down ia the canyon. people aud cattle
running about when the lightning i'll
iu1nined the seeng. bnt as knew tina; IL
was an nuiuhabitable wilderness laid
II To excited imagination. aud | knew
that poor C;ilbert's bones would he
whitening under the burning sun in a
few days II was impossible To help
him, | could only hold on and let the
balloon drive. 1t became frghtfullv
cold. aud found that had also d:zlo-
Gated my arm.
After time became unconscious
AMI fell 10 the bottom Of the car, w2,iCh
was covered with ice When recovered
consciousness / found myself in the
hands of IA Mexican cattleman. on whose
ranch the balloon had descended. near AL
buquerque. New Mexico. Twas with him
for several weeks. very i'll aud delirious
returned to san Francisco, where, to my
surprise, found that all but one of the
carrier pigeons had returned before me.
| heard nothing of Eric and naturally
MOI II him as dead, for no man could
exist Ia the region three days. 1t is a
water.eas, burning. alkali desert.
Now for the strangest part of my
story:
'One evening two weeks ago | OBJ
served a carrier pigeon, evidently q
stranger, endeavoring to enter my coop,
with q message fastened to his tail in
the usual manner. | went up and let
him III and recognized him at once as
the bird that had failed TO return. Nv
heart sprang up in my throat, and my
hands trembled so that could scarcely
detach the message. 1t was written on
some kind Of small skin and read thus,
for here it is.
Pierce took from his pOcketbook a
white parchment and unfolded it upon
the table. The others watched him with
an intense gaze. Then holding it up to
the light he read:
H. Il. Pierce, San Francisco, California:
IF you are alive, help me. | am in a city Of
ancient people in "A canyon, latitude thirty
three degrees thirty minutes, longitude thirty
two degrees thirty minutes west from Wash
ington, as near as ! can make it. There is no
way of escape. The people know Of no other
world or race and believe me supernatural
but it can't last much longer There's millions
of dollars here in solid gold. 1t will pay a re-
lief party. The population is about twenty
five hundred. | have learned the language
and written a book that will make peoples
eyes open. Ii this falls into the hands of any
white man, for Gods sake forward to H. r.
Pierce, San Francisco, or, if he is missing, send
h2lp to me at once. ERIC l.. GILBERT.
well, that's all there is of it. | am
going to find him, and you are the kind
of men | should like to have join me in
the endeavor, for believe he is alive. /
believe every word of this message. !
should like to have you organize wag-
on train and search for him while |
make the attempt in the balloon It's
risky, l know, but I've feeling that it
will succeed. | believe that it was the
same city that l saw as l was whirled
away that night when we struck the
cliff. As figure it, my friends, the To-
cation Of this unknown city must be in
the San Francisco river region, one of
the most inaccessible places in the
United States. 1t lies north Of Fort
BOrie, where, / think, we might make
our start, and Is bounded by the Black
river on the north, the ella range on the
west and on the east by the Rio Salarosa
and the White mountains.
"CliftOn is the nearest settlement, |
believe, to this arid wilderness, and /
find that the chances for a successful
balloon search would be best if begun
in that locality. The air current seems
more steadily southwestern than other
wise, and | wish 10 start from there 1t
is q tough country in which to travel,
from all accounts, but | think we can
overcome all difficulties. and the venture
will pay us if successful. | want to
make a business proposition to you
without calling for any feeling or SYM
pathy on your part at all. l will give
you each ten thousand dollars if we sue
coed in rescuing Gilbert. and five thou
sand if we fail after making all proper
efforts. How does it strike your
Gale had already felt his blood stir
with the spirit of adventure and had
made up his mind long before Pierce
ceased speaking, and as he concluded
said emphatically:
Il am with you, heart and soul. It's
just the kind Of work | need, and | be-
lieve this old gas bag here is as anxious
as am to undertake the search"
The sheriff, slow minded, as most men
of his size and kind are, was, however,
as willing as Whitley, but he was older
and more lethargic, more prone to see
the difficulties, if not the dangers, than
Gale, and, too, he relished the ease and
comfort of the standardization of Evans
Gulch, preferring it to hard riding and
hard sleeping ON the sunburned plains.
For him, however, the money considera-
ton was the motive power; the prize was
too glittering not to be worth an effort
such plums came in his way all too rare
ly nowadays-and ne signihed his assent
by asking Pierce how soon he wished to
start.
AT once, lie answered. Every mo-
ment is precious. While we idle here
Gilbert may tie in danger. | feel it in
some way. and | am anxious to get to
work
Gales mind had been busy for some
time on the problem, and bringing out
the new map was intently studying its
lines, i'll which the others joined him.
Before them in imagination spread
the desert of the San Francisco-only a
little space upon the map, but full of the
unknown ard mysterious, surrounded
by lines and dots, with oft heard, well
known names printed beside them. 1t
seemed impossible that there could be a
city full of inhabitants in that little space
and the world know nothing about il:
But Pierce declared that few people had
ever penetrated even the border land of
this wilderness, and that it was extremely
probable.
Not for an instant did these two men,
shrewd and willy as they undoubtedly
We're, sharpened by the grinding of years
of struggles, question his sanity or sin
gleness of purpose. They somehow felt
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