San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1893-02-11

you Tor your kindness.
Finding SO tame an explanation of the
phenomenon. most of the crowd soon dis
persed.
Gale Whitley and the sheriff somehow
felt themselves to be in a measure
Pierce's hosts, and felt the improperly of
indulging in Evans GulchS only amuse-
ment while their guest refrained there
from.
When Pierce inquired for the hotel
they both .-smiled loudly" and stated
that the place had not risen to that dig
nifty yet-fourteen saloons, nine faro
banks, a postoffice, provision store (also
saloon) aud a lookup constituted
apart from sundry quartz crushers, the
entire borough; but they wished to sex
tend to him the hospitality of their own
'shanty'-the best in the place too"
Thither they conducted him at once,
seeing therein a way out of their di-
lemma, for they both felt the agony of
witnessing the game while being pre-
vented from playing.
A long, rambling conversation ensued,
during which the characters of the two
men unfolded themselves to Pierce's
eyes, and he recognized their thoroughly
practical American worth. The sheriff
was transparent; simply big, good
natured .Jerseyman by birth, who had
lived in various parts Of the west since
boyhoOd, having made several small for
tunes, spent them and expected to make
another-a type frequently to be found
all over the continent. Gale Whitley
was not so easily read. He was more
beneath the surface and was harder to
get at, but Pierce had seen too many men
of learning and refinement adrift in these
western wilds to probe too deeply into
any mystery he might imagine in Gales
past. He was content to find in them
both materials that he might use. 1t
was nearly ten o'clock when he said:
Il am here for purpose in which you
might, if you are inclined, aid me ma
terially. les rather long story, but l
will make it as short as possible"
He lighted his pipe, as the other two
had done, and smoked a few minutes in
silence, while they drew their chairs
closer. Then he began:
Two years ago had balloon made
and left San Francisco in the month of
June, with the wind taking us rapidly
eastward. With me was a young man
named Eric Gilbert. He was about
thirty years old and one of the bright
est men | ever knew. A linguist, a
scientist, a mechanic, an artist; in fact
hewas possessed of mere practical knowl-
edge and cultivated accomplishments
than any other man have met; one of
the most daring yet genial, good tenn
pered fellows in the world. He was
nearly six feet in height and weighed
about hundred and sixty pounds, and
he was an athlete too. He could shoot
we'll and ride well, just the kind of man
in fact to undertake such an adventure
as we meditated. 1t was to cross the
continent to the Atlantic, and for a
while all went swimmingly.
eve had crossed the Rockies success
fully and were in the Wasatch range, or
rather between the Wasatch and the
ELK mountains, when the current, which
had been almost uniformly westward
for days, suddenly changed and carried
US down toward Arizona. We were not
alarmed, although our supply of water
was somewhat scanty; yet the gas held
out well. and we knew that we would
strike water at intervals. We had on
board when we started dozen carrier
pigeons, seven of which had already
been released and returned home.
1--WE released one in the Elk noun
talns just before the current changed.
We drove south all day, passing over
the widest and most magnificent canyon
scenery at high altitude, in a cloudless
sky, until nearly sunset, when there
came up terrific storm.
"ln spite of our attempt to rise above
1t we were hurled along with dreadful
velocity and found ourselves nearing
the earth rapidly and in danger of being
dashed against the enormous cliffs of
the canyons, whose cavernous depths
yawned below US. The lightning flashed
around us, and | feared every moment
that the balloon would be set on fire. 1t
became darker every moment, and
nightfan found US very near the earth,
making mighty bounds up and down
and driving along at the rate of a mile
minute. The anchor was thrown out,
but failed to hold, the only results be-
ing to make the bounds and jerks more
fierce.
sit was totally dark, and about eight
o'clock at night the car was dashed
against the ground with such force as
to tear apart several of the ropes, throw
ing Eric Gilbert out, with all our fnstru-
ments, the pigeon crate and ballast, in
an instant The lose Of ca ,,,,,oI, ,,,o; IL, =