We made one dash into the crowd, and a wail arose from
the bruised and bleeding hoodlums that hung over the town like a
nightmare, while we galloped out of it, followed by cries of rage
and a mob with rocks and clubs. But we had the best team in town,
and soon lost them.
Vengeance? No! Of course there was the ruined curtain and those
eggs to be settled for; but, on the whole, I think we were a kind
of village improvement society for the occasion, though we did not
stay to wait for a vote of thanks. I am sure it was our due all
the same.
Along in the summer of 1877 Wells and I hatched out a scheme of
country advertising on a larger scale, of which the lantern was
to be the vehicle. We were to publish a directory of the city of
Elmira. How we came to select that city I have forgotten, but the
upshot of that latest of my business ventures I am not likely to
forget soon. Our plan was to boom the advertising end of the enterprise
by a nightly street display in the interest of our patrons. We had
barely got into town when the railroad strikes of that memorable
summer reached Elmira.
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