A TERRIBLE VOYAGE IN A BALLOON.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2325, 4 June 1887, Page 1 (Supplement)

A TERRIBLE VOYAGE IN A BALLOON.

:■• ■ (;.•!.;.-. -. ...T-. ■■■;,- 7;;. ■/ :..-.--. : - A great crow/l gathered, a,t T?r— tosee me ascend in a monstrous j balloon. Some of the citizens had .promised to go with me, but their courage failed at. the, last moment, and I resolved to go aloue. . ■

; Wherever I had- lately, made ascensions, although in .widely different places, I had always noticed among .the spectators a young man, whose unusual pallor aud deep-sunken, great eyes ha,d ; impressed me. He was greatly interested in my undertakings, and pressed near to; offer any slight assistance. I; had become so used to his presence that at F—; —l involuntarily looked round for him, as I called to my men to; make ready. The unknown stood close by the barrier, paler, and more haggard than, ever. I sprang boat, and ordered the ropes to be CUt.: .■'■■. , ; ■; . . , .■.• .i ■■

At the same momentlsaw, a movement among the spectators, but did not heed it, as I was,.arranging some, things in the .bottom of the ; boat, and, was. still stooping over and busy .when the quicklyrising baloon was high in air. . Great was my astonishment when I looked up and aaw that strange-looking young jraan with me. ■ , >~ .; : • ■■ ; :

; "Your obedient ser.vant, sir," .said he, ■ very politely. -.;■■■ . "By what right are you here?" 1 askedj indignantly;. ; . ■~ "You could not escape me ;; therefore I have a right to be here," said he. Perplexed by this answer, I was silent. Untroubled by my amazement, he went : on : "In this way we shall never go up." With these words he. seized two bags of .ballast and cast them out.

"As you are here, sir, lam obliged to take-you with me,'!,said I, : " but I must request you to leave the guidance, of the balloon entirely to me."

" Certainly," said he ; " take measures that agree with my views, and,l will say nothing against them." . ■ . I looked more closely at my companion.. He was about thirty yeare old, very plainly dressed, and seemed, despite his pallor and lack of flesh, of unusual muscular strength. "I had to surprise you," he said, after a pause, " as I had no money to pay for the journey I am obliged to make." "We will talk ,'•bout that as soon as we are down on the earth again," I replied. "On the earth again ?" he asked, astonished, , ;'■...,.

"You do not think that your unauthorised escort will hinder my deacent when I see fit ?"

'.'Pah!" said he, scornfully; ,4 we shall not go down !" and again he threw two bags of ballast out of the balloon. "Sir!" I cried, angvily catching his arm, " I cannot.allow that." The barometer showed me that the balloon had risen two thousand fee't. "VVe must descend," said' 1; those cloulds'darkening around us, and growing blacker .and heavier, in the sound, warn .of a thunder-storm." .

''No," he cried, "we must dash ■through, the clouds; the lightening shall flash far below us," and once more two bags of ballast flew overboard, I struggled to hold him back, but he pushed me to the floor with one hand, while he carried out his purpose with the other, saying: " I am very sorry, but I see you do not understand the thing, so I must take the whole control. Now, don't- interfere with me again." We were now nearly four thousand feet above the earth, and the higher we rose the wilder became his gestures. "In the name of letTua go down !" I implored. '' Go down ! Have not aeronauts, who did not possess my skill, risen twenty thousand feet ?"

He continued throwing overboard bag after bag of ballast, holding ;ne firmly back as soon as I tried to prevent I.is actions. I saw I had to deal with a madman, far my superior in physicial strength, so I resolved to try cunning. I tried to interest him in conversation, while I slyly pulled the valve-rope, and .hoped to bring the balloon dowu before he observed our course. I spoke of my wonder at his knowledge of ballooning. He drew from his coat pocket a manuscript treating of this topic, telling with the most extravagant expressions of discoveries he had made, and bitterly complaining of the scoffing the contempt with which the world had received them. " And have you now lost all hope of carrying out your wonderful"ideas?" I asked, in apparently great interest. "All, all," he .answered. "When I saw that I could no longer endure injustice and disappointment, I resolved to end my life on this journey." This answer made me tremble ; meanwhile I had succeeded in opening the valve, and I took care to talk in a loud voice, so that he might not notice the sound of the escaping gas. " Oh, if I could have lived one year longer I would have given to the world a discovery that would have astounded it! Here is a plan !" he cried, unfolding a roll, "of a balloon that could carry a whole army, and all their instruments of warfare. Whoever carries out this project is master of the world !" "And did you make this tremendous discovery through your studies only?" I inquired, breathlessly, for the balloon was sinking. "I cannot claim all the honour, he said, modestly. "For years I was a simple tool of science like yourself, but I studied with such zeal that God finally had mercy on me and revealed this plan. I have never disclosed its origin when talking to people about it. Their blinduess and incredulity would make it inconceivable to them. Their intelligence ould not comprehend the grandeur of the plan, and so I must bear His gift back to the merciful God." He was ailent a few minutes, as if from exhaustion.: Suddenly he said : '' You have opened the valve in spite of rny orders." I dropped the string". "Fortunately," he continued, while he flung some bags over the side, " we have yet two hundrds pounds of ballast. I allowed you to open the valve because the gas threatened to burst the balloon, but don't you do it again."

The clouds sailed by us in a glittering stream, on which the baloou cast a deep shadow. Thunder rumbled far below us. " Let rs go down now," I begged. "Go down? Never again; the sun awaits us " . Once more he lightened the balloon by fifty pounds, and it shot upward like an arrow. The delirium of my uncomfortable companion seemed to increase in proportion to our distance" from the earth. . •■;■;.'

" Only tell me where you really want to go ?"" I asked at last. " Higher, higher: you need not know more." With these words he flung the compass out. I was helpless as a child before the madman. To my urgent entreaties to have our course changed he only cried : " I am out of patience with you; now you shall no longer know whether we go up or down !" Then he threw tha barometer and half the remaining ballast after the compass. Ever higher rose the balloon; my heart throbbed as if it would burst; blood flowed from my nose and mouth.

" How grand it is to die as a martyr to Science !" shouted theluntatio, throwing overboard tho last of the ballast. " The houi , of death has come; the balloon may fall, but we shall float through space, and when we die we shall find a grave in tha ,Bun J"

! 'Desperation gave me strength. I struggled with .himj but I had toyield: ! He threw me to' the floor, and holding me there, with hifl- knee on my breast, he took a knife from his pocket and out a ro'pe'. ;: " : One, two, ■ three!" he cried. Another'-'rope went;' and 'the boat hung only connected by one side with tlif balloon.- ; - With'- pu'perhumau exertion : I thrnst him away and stood up. Hβ still held the knife, but his mind suddenly Changed. "We will go now," said he, offering ■me ■ his hand and preparing to juihpifrom the balloon. Come !" With a shriek I flew from him to the farthest end of the boat, instinctively clunjr to the only remaining rope, overwhelmed °*,by horror, closed tny eyes Whan I opened them I found myself alone ppon 'the • completely ' over-turned boatalone, ten thousand feet above the earth. My companion had vanished ! ' 1 rose still higher, higher, rushing ho swiftly throuarh the air tpat every breath I drew was keenest torture. A sharp frost made my teeth ! chatter ;>btit'suddenly a suffooating heat took the--place of the cold. T found tnyo'elf in the middle of a-glowins , , fiery cloud, and heard a terrific report—-the gas hadburst from ifee : prif-ioih The balloon whirled with horrible rapidity as it collapsed—an ugly formless mass. The descent seemed long. As I neared the earth I saw I was within two miles of the' ocean, and feared-the wind would drive me there. 'During tho whole journey down I hadbe'en standing on the 1 end of the boat,r. convulsively : clinging to the rope. A violent lurch tore it from my hold'and hurled me backward. I fellnot, as I expected, into space, but in the soft grass of a meadow, I was nearer the ground than I could, in my unfortunate position, judge. The anchor, trailing , along, ha 1 luckily canght fast. I had scarcely dropped before the balloon, now sailed swiftly off to the sea. A miracle had Raved me from the most awful peril my exciting life ever brought me. Nothing was ever heard of my unhappy companion. Probably he fell in the ocean; he must have been dead long before he reached it.