El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-02-10

run down to the village shop after his
hasty supper and come back with his
| lungs feeling as if they were made of
| burning brass, but with little bottle
of alcohol and some deep red thin paper
in his hand.
"Well, should die, said he, throw
ing himself down, ''ef it warn't for
this breeze It's hotter'n hayinl''
"Gen rally is, when you've run a
mile said Bart. ''Wbat's this: Red
paper? By George, We'll make daz
zler O. herr And then Fred, having
run, too, with an idea that he was
helping Joe by keeping him company,
vet quite unable TO do it with his little
legs, came along, and Bart lost no time
in cutting out his pattern from a news
paper, FASTING together the sheets of
thin red paper to make them long
enough and then laying his pattern on
them and cutting ont the long, slim
sections. ''You see, said he, ''you
make the thing with what the women
call gussets and cores, SOS to shape it
better. Jest's eff you was to cut an ap
pie in half, an that inter quarters, an
that again in two, an take the peel off
in one slice from top to bottom. You d
have it peterin off to pint to the
top, widenin to the sides an peterin
to a pint ag'in to the bottom. Now
jest cut off the bottom r int square. Not
few square. So Because, you see, eff it's
few wide to the bottom, it won't fill,
an eff it's tew narrer it'll take fire an
stop the fun early. It's gotter be jest
right. There-there's your pieces all
cut-12 O 'em, nigh five feet long.
Now We'll jine 'em. Jest fold 'em
straight down the middle, long ways,
so. Now lay this atop O. that, an you
see the right hand edge O. the under
one comes jest ag'in the left hand edge
O. the top one. Where's your stickin
stuff? Paste 'em. Next, put this right
on; same way. We're comm along,
railroad speed. Another, an another;
the hull 12l Now there's the last edges
to jine. Turn it over. Jest the same
thing. Where's the wire?'
81 guess I've got somethin BETTER
that" said Aunt Prout, who had come
out and whose heart had a tender spot
in it for her brothers motherless chill
dren. ''You jest wait And she hur-
ried in and presently returned with a
piece of what is called wire tape, a
narrow fiat ribbon of wire that she put
in her caps, and she handed it to Fred,
with smile that told how glad she was
when she could do anything to give the
little lads pleasure. Before she had done
smiling Bart had twisted that wire
into ring a little more than foot in
diameter, leaving one end free to run
through the sponge presently; then he
gummed the paper at the mouth of the
balloon with quick strokes, fitted the
fat wire inside, turned the paper over
it and pressed and dabbed and punched,
with the boys help, till all was secure.
Then he stood up and lifted the macs of
red paper by the top. ''We'd orter paste
a round piece over the top by good
rights said he, ''but guess we won't
stop for that tonight; it's gettin on so
late. Well just tie it tight with
string, an that'll do to hold it over
the blaze with"
"Over the blaze?'' cried Fred. "Oh, |
Bart, you amt goin to set it afire?'
"Not if I can help it," said Bart.
"Where's your sponge, Joe? Have you
speritsi ready in that dish. But not jest |
yet. Where them newspapers of mines
Twist 'em all up, joey. I'm goin to !
light them with this here match, an the |
hot air'll go up an fill the thing ez
hold it over, jest ez eff you was BLOWN |
inter a paper to bust it, you know. !
There now, you watch out. See it wake |
upl See it stretchl See it grow See |
it SWELL See it fill That's balloonl'
''Oh, my gracious, Bartl" cried both !
the boys at once.
''Sakes alivel" said Mrs. Prout.
Bart, holding the balloon carefully, |
with his arm above his head, moved |
slowly no the hillside a dozen PAGES
'Sponge in the dish, Joe?" said he.
"And all sopring wet with the alco-
ho1l" answered Joe.
"Then run that wire through 1.-THE !
wire end that's hangin down here.
Don't squeeze it any. There's big
hole all cut in the sponge. Bring the
other end of the wire up an fasten it
across-jest opposite. All done?" as he