I had lost a week coming
down. But freight often loses more time than that.
And it was at the freight depot that I found him.
Tickled? Well, yes! Both of us.
"Well, by George," says he, "you're good for
sore eyes."
Before he told me how he happened not to of
drownded or blowed away or anything he says
we better fix up a bit. Which he meant I better.
So he buys me duds from head to heel, and we goes
to a Turkish bath place and I puts 'em on. And
then we goes and eats. Hearty.
"Now," he says, "Fido Cut-up, how did you find
me?"*
I told him about the bottles.
"A dead loss, those bottles," he says. "I wanted
some non-refillable ones for a little scheme I had
in mind, and I had to get them at a certain place
--and now the scheme's up in the air and I can't
use 'em."
The doctor had changed some in looks in the year
or more that had passed since I saw him floating
away in that balloon. And not fur the better.
He told me how he had blowed clean acrost Lake
Erie in that there balloon. And then when he got
over land agin and went to pull the cord that lets
the parachute loose it wouldn't work at first. He
jest natcherally drifted on into the midst of nowhere,
he said--miles and miles into Canada. When
he lit the balloon had lost so much gas and was
flying so low that the parachute didn't open out
quick enough to do much floating.
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