THE BABES IN THE CLOUDS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 645, 7 January 1869, Page 4

THE BABES IN THE CLOUDS.

AN AMERICAN TRUE STORY.

About ten years ago, there suddenly burst upon the western world a magnificent stranger from foreign parts, "with all his travelling glories on." It was the great comet of 1858, on the grand tour of the universe. It seemed strange that petty human life could go on as usual, with it eating and drinking, toiling, trafficking, and pleasuring, while that "flaming minister," on his billion-leagued circuit, was preaching the wonders of infinite immensity and power, and the nothingness of earth. But science has robbed celestial apparitions of their old portentous significance. The comet no longer runs his kindling race, like Vich-Alpine's henchman, with his fiery cross, announcing war and disaster,

Herald of battle, fate, and fear.

He is on his own business; not ours

Under the tail of this particular comet doubtless many a tale of lov T e was told—in the light of his swift splendours many a tender look exchanged. The astronomer coolly swept the starry field with his glass, unawed by the irregular night-guard patrolling the heavens, and the robber and murderer disdaining the awful witness. He left us as he found us-—joined to our mortal idols —wise in our own conceit, weak, and worldly, and wicked, but no castaways of the universe after all.

We remember that comet-summer, not no much for its gieat astronomical event, as for two singular incidents that more nearly touched our human sympathies, which will grovel in poor earthly affairs, even within sight of the most august celestial phenomena. One pleasant Saturday afternoon during the comet's appearance, an aeronaut, after a prosperous voyage, descended upon a farm in the neighbourhood of a large market town, in one of the western states. He was soon surrounded by a curious group of the farmer's family and laborers, all asking eager questions about the voyage and management of the balloon. That, secured by an anchor and a rope in the hand of the aeronaut, its car but a foot above the ground, was swaying lazily backward and forward in the evening air. It was a good deal out of wind, and was a sleepy and innocent monster in the eyes of the farmer, who, with the owner's permission, led it up to his house, where, as he said, he could "hitch it" to his fence. But before he thus secured it, his three children, aged respectively ten, eight, and three, begged him to lift them " into that big basket," that they might sit on those "pretty red cushions." While the attention of the aeronaut was diverted by more curious questioners from a neighboring farm, this rash father lifted hi? darlings one by one into the car. Chubby little Johnny proved the "ounce too much" for the aerial camel, and brought him to the ground; and then, unluckily, not the baby, but the eldest hope of the family, was lifted out. The relief was too great for the monster. The volatile creature's spirits rose at once, he jerked his halter out of the farmer's hand, and with a wild bound mounted into the air ! Yain was the aeronaut's anchor. It caught for a moment in a fence, but it tore away, and was off, dangling uselessly after the runaway balloon, which so swiftly and steadily rose, that in a few minutes those two little white faces peering over the edge of the car grew indistinct, and those piteous cries of " Papa!" "Mamma!" grew fainter and fainter, up in the air.

When distance and twilight,mists had swallowed up voices and faces, and nothing could be seen but the dark cruel shape, sailing triumphantly away with its precious booty, like an aerial privateer, the poor father sank down speechless; but the mother, frantic with grief, still stretched her yearning arms towards the inexorable heavens, and called wildly up into the unanswering void. The aeronaut strove to console the wretched parents wich assurances that the balloon would descend within thirty miles of the town, and that all might be well with the

children, provided it did not come down in water, or in deep woods. In the event of it descending in a favorable spot, there was but one danger to be apprehended; he thought that, the elder child might step out, leaving the younger in the balloon Then, it might rise again, and continue its voyage.

"Ah no," l-epliei the mother, "Jennie would never stir from the car without Johnny in her arms !" The balloon passed directly over the market town, and the children seeing many people in the streets, stretched out their han4s and cried loudly for help. But the villagers, though they saw the bright little, heads, heard no call.

I Amazed at the strange apparition, they might almost have thought the translated little creatures small angel navigators on some voyage of dis; covery, some little cherubic venture of their own, as, heading toward the rosy cloud-lands and purple islands of sunset splendour, they sailed deeper and deeper into the west, and faded away. Some company they had, poor little sky-waifs! Something cumforted them, and allayed their wild terrors—something whispered them that below the night and clouds was Home ; that above was God ; that wherever they might drift or clash, living or dead, they would still be in His domain and under His care —that though borne away among the stars, they could not be lost, for His love would follow them.

When the sunlight had all died away, and the great comet came blazing out, little Johnny was apprehensive that the comet might come too near their airy craft, and set it on tire with a whisk of its dreadful tail. But when his sister assured him that that fiery dragon was "as much as twenty mile* away," and that God wouldn't let him hurt them, he was tranquilised, but soon afterwards said, " I wish he would come a little nearer, so I could warm myself—l'm so cold !" Then Jennie took off her apron, and wrapped it about the child, saying, tenderly, "This is all sister has to make you warm, darling, but she'll hug you close in her arms, and we will say our prayers, and you shall go to sleep." "Why, how can I say my prayers before I have my supper?" asked little Johnny. "Sister hasn't any supper for you, or for herself, but we must pray all the harder," solemnly responded Jennie.

So the two baby-wanderers, alone in the wide heavens, una wed by darkness, immensity, and silence, by the presence of the great comet and the millions of unpitying stars, lifted their little elapsed hands, and sobbed out their sorrowful " Our Father," and then that quaint little supplementary prayer —

Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep ; If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. " There ! God heard that, easy; for we are close to Him up here," said innocent little Johnny. Doubtless Divine Love stooped to the little ones, and folded them in perfect peace—for very soon the younger, sitting on the bottom of the car, with his head leaning against his sister's knee, slept as soundly as though he were lying on his own little bed at home; while the elder watched quietly through the long, long hours, and the car floated gently on in the still night air, till it began to sway and rock on the fresh morning wind. Who can divine that simple little child's thoughts, speculations, and wild imaginings, while watching through those hours? She may have feared coming in collision with a meteor —for many were abroad on that night, scouts and heralds of the great comet—or perhaps being cast away on some desolate star-island, or, more dreary still, floating and floating on, night and day. till they should both die of cold and hunger. Poor babes in the clouds !

At length a happy chance, or ! Providence—we will say Providence —guided the little girl's wandering hand to a cord connected with the valve : something told her to pull it. At once the balloon began to sink, slowly and gently, as though!

let down by tender hands; or as though some celestial pilot guided it through the wild currents of air, not letting it drop into lake, or river, or lofty wood, or impenetrable swamp, where this strange unchildlike experience might have been closed by a death of unspeakable horror; but causing it to descend as softly as a bird alights, on a spot where human care and pity awaited it. The sun had not yet risen, but the morning twilight had come, when the little girl, looking over the edge of the car, saw the dear old earth coming nearer —"rising towards them," she said. But when the car stopped, to her great disappointment, it was not on the ground, but caught fast in the topmost branches of a tree. Yet she saw they were near a house, whence help might soon come, so she awakened her brother, and told him the good news, and together they watched and waited for deliverance, hugging each other for jo\ and for warmth ; for they were very cold.

Farmer Burton, who lived in a lonely house, on the edge of his own private prairie, wa*. a famous sleeper in general, but on this particular morning he awoke before the dawn, and though he turned and turned again, he could sleep no more. So, at last, he said to his good wife, whom he had kindly awakened to inform her of his unaccountable insomnolence, "It's no use; I'll just get up and see, and have a look at the comet."

The next that worthy woman heard from her wakeful spouse was a frightened summons to the outer door. It seems that no sooner did he step forth from his house, than his eyes fell on a strange portentous shape hanging in a large pear tree, about twenty yards distant. He could see in it no likeness to any thing earthly, and he half fancied it might be the comet, who having put out his light, had come down there to perch. In his fright and perplexity he did what every wise man would do in a like extremity—he called on his valiant wife. Reinforced by her, he drew near the tree, cautiously reconnoitring. Surely never pear tree bore such fruit!

Suddenly there descended from the thing a plaintive trembling little voice, " Please take us down. We are very cold ! "

Then a second little voice. " And hungry too. Please take us down!" "Why, who are you 1 And where are you T The first little voice said—" We are Mr Harwood's little boy and girl, and we are lost in a balloon." The second little voice said—" It's us, and we runned away with a balloon. Please take us down."

Dimly comprehending the situation, the farmer getting hold of a dangling rope, succeeded in pulling down the balloon.

He first lifted out little Johnny, who ran rapidly a few yards towards the house, then turned round, and stood for a few moments curiously surveying the balloon. The faithful little sister was so chilled and exhausted that she had to be carried into the house, where, trem bling and sobbing, she told her wonderful story. Before sunrise a mounted messenger was dispatched to the Harwood home, with "glad tidings of great joy." He reached it in t 1 j afternoon, and a few hours later the children themselves arrived, in state, with banners and music, and conveyed in a covered hay waggon and four. Joy-bells were rung in the neighboring town, and in the farmer's brown house the happiest family on the Continent thanked God that night.

It would seem that this comet had some occult maddening influence on balloons, for during its appearance there occurred in another western state an involuntary ascension, similar to the one I have related, butmore tragical in its termination. An aeronaut while, if I remember rightly, repairing the net-work of his balloon, was seated on a slight wooden cross-piece, suspended under it; the car having been removed, and the balloon being held in its position, a few feet from the ground, by merely a rope-in the hand of an,

[assistant. From a too careless grasp, this rope escaped, and in an instant the gigantic bubble shot upward, carrying the aeronaut on his frail support; a rider more helpless than Mazeppa bound to his Ukraine steed; a voyager more hopeless than a shipwrecked sailor afloat on a spar in mid-ocean. i

The balloon rose rapidly, but unsteadily, swaying and pitching in the evening wind. As long as it remained in sight, the form of the aeronaut could be distinguished, swinging beneath it. And, as he was known to be a man of uncommon nerve and presence of mind, it was hoped that even from his dizzy perch he might manage to operate on the valve, or at least to puncture a small hole in the balloon, and thus effect a descent. But such efforts, if he made any, were vain, as, for many days and night?, there was anxious inquiry and patient search over a wide extent of country, with no result. We gave him up. Only wifely love hoped on, and looked, and waited. At last, in a wild spot, the wreck of the balloon was found, and that was all. Still, wifely love hoped on, until, a month or two later, some children nutting in a wood, many miles away from where the balloon was found, discovered, half buried in the ground, a strange dark mass, that looked like a heap of old clothes, but that there was a something, shapeless and fearful, holding it together. It was thought that the aeronaut parted company from his balloon by loosening his hold on the cords above him, in desperate efforts to open the valve; but he may, after whirling in swift vortices, or plunging and mounting through cloudy abysses of air, have become unnerved by the awful silence of the upper night, by the comet's fearful companionship, by whelming immensity and infinity, and wea ily let go his hold, to drop earthward.