The Argosy, March 1907 — page 188: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

4 _€ 760° would not have dared. He clung with one hand to the rope and swung himself to and fro until with the other he caught the edge of the basket. Then he let go with the other, got a second grip on the edge, drew himself up, and tumbled in a heap on the bottom of the car. He lay there panting for a full min- Be ute, wondering why the thing had not dumped him overboard, but too thank- ‘ful that it had not to reason very far When he had re-- upon its construction. covered his breath somewhat he got on his knees and put his head cautiously over the rim. The surf was still audible, but fainter. In one direction he saw the twinkling lights of Cranville, and nearer was a single small group of lights that came, undoubtedly, from the Manning resi- dence. Far off was a dull glow that prob- ably was caused by the lights of Bay- mouth, the largest port along that part of the coast, and presently he saw the _ flashing of a revolving light—the one on Mackerel Reef, no doubt—and, good ‘gracious! that was more than five miles from Cranville! Fuller dropped back again to the bot- tom of the basket. It was pleasantly cool, but he shivered as he might do in winter. How long would, the balloon stay afloat? He remembered his geography lessons to the extent that it was some three thousand miles in the direction he was taking before there was any other land. Not so much as an island, that he could remember, between Mackerel Reef and Europe! He tried to get the multicolored map in his mind’s eye and make out what part of Europe he was most likely. to hit, but he was hazy as to details, and could only conclude that it might be somewhere between Portugal and Spitz- bergen. ‘“ Ain’t no use guessing about that,” he decided gloomily. “ No balloon ever made has gone so far, and if it did, I’d starve to death before I was half-way.” There was the other alternative that appalled him quite as much as the pros- pect of starving. The balloon, which must have lost a lot of its gas already, would come down some time, and then there would be death by drowning. ¢ s “vague ~ dred miles. quarter of the way-te Europe, but pre-_ ‘and again he peered over the edge. THE ARGOSY. ’ He tried to recall what he had read- or heard about balloons. There had been a lot about them in the Sunday papers, with pictures, and: he had a idea that the longest balloon flight he had heard of was eight hun- That was only about a sumably the water there was as deep as in mid-ocean. He wondered how far he had gone, The Baymouth lights were plainer now; those of Cranville much fainter. There were other glows on the horizon—other towns, probably. It was clear that he was going steadily seaward, and he sank back again to the bottom of the car. After some time he remembered quite suddenly that there was a valve-rope regularly attached to balloons by which the aeronauts diminished the buoyancy of the bag when they wished to descend. Well, what of it? ticular desire to go down just there. It might be thought of if the wind should change and he should be borne back over the land. That became his one hope—a change of wind—but everything up there was so quiet and steady that he could hardly . believe there was so much as a breath blowing. He tried to gage his progress by getting up periodically to look at the lights of Baymouth. Wind or no wind, he was getting steadily farther away. ‘Must be the revolution of the earth,” he told himself, and he got so interested in trying to figure whether the revolu- tion of the earth from west to east would take him toward Europe or away from it that he almost fell asleep. And. so time passed somehow . until. when he peered over the edge he could distinguish no» glow anywhere on the horizon. Then a chill of despair came upon him, and he had to grit his teeth to keep from useless crying out. It occurred to him that perhaps the direction of the journey had changed while he was puzzling over the revolution of the earth, and he peered from every side of the basket. So, straining his eyes upon the dead blackness below, he descried a single faint twinkle almost under him. Comichboo He had no par- . “? oS wo yal ste <S:'€O m