The Argosy for May — page 127: what you’re looking at

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

314 THE first clutched the drag-rope until he was swarming up it hand over hand. Exercise of this sort had been one of his favorite “stunts” at gymnasium prac- tise, but he found it a very different thing to negotiate a rope whirling as a tail to a flying balloon from ascending the same length upon one firmly attached, and with a net underneath in case of accident. Nevertheless, under the circumstances, he made what must be considered excel- lent progress, and was beginning to flat- ter himself on his advance, when sud- denly he sustained another shock which — again nearly sent him tumbling, and so once more left hina shaking and inert. As he was hauling himself up with careful skill, every faculty intent upon his feat, a voice spoke to him from above. He opened his ‘eyes and glanced to- ward the car, but, on account of the darkness, could make out no one leaning over. Nor, although the voice continued to speak, he-could not distinguish, such was the pounding,of the blood in his ears, a single word which was said. He supposed, however, that it must be an admonition from Von Altdorff, and wondered, with a new apprehension, if it might perhaps be a threat from his enemy. 7 All along he had recognized that he must have assistance from those in the car in order to accomplish his project ; but now it struck him, with dire signifi- cance, that the air-ship’s pilot was his sworn foe, a madman crazed with jeal- ousy of him. Still, even a fiend would hardly re- fuse the hand of succor to a fellow- being in such a predicament; and, in any event, he could be no worse off than he was at present. He must simply hope for the best, and go ahead. Therefore, he resumed his arduous climb. Now, as a matter of fact, Von. Alt- dorff had just discovered the presence of the other on the rope at the moment he spoke, and his utterance had been an excited adjuration to hold on at any cost. He had not the slightest idea who Chegnay was, for, absorbed in the tick- lish business of starting off, reither he nor Muriel had observed that wild dash ARGOSY. of Solferino’s down into the valley, and he had simply ascribed the jerk of the car, when Laszlo caught hold, to the snarling of the drag-rope against some obstruction. It was only, indeed, when the car began to bob about under the stress of the other’s energetic climbing, that he realized at last there was a stowaway upon the voyage. ‘Then he at once start- ed to render every assistance in his power. And Chegnay, in truth, was now in~ sore need. His strength was rapidly failing. He could no longer advance an inch; his arms felt as though they were being torn out by the roots; his hands were cramp- ing so that he must soon let go. An awful horror of that empty ‘void below surged over him; a black haze seemed to rise before his eyes and muffle him in its folds. For a moment he thought he was really falling. ‘Then his vision cleared, and a harbinger of hope twinkled encouragingly to his glance. It was a tiny lantern slung over the side, in order to give him :light for his ad- venture. —~ He saw, too, that a strand of rope, with a plummet.on the end, was being swung toward him pendulum-wise; and although it required all his resolution to make the attempt, he finally summoned up bravery enough to let go for a mo- ment with one hand and grab the line as it swished by. To his delight, it proved to be a slip- noose, and when he had succeeded in adjusting this under his shoulders, and felt a firm pull of support on it from above, the nothingness beneath seemed suddenly to lose half its terror for him. His strength came back with a bound. He felt fresh and alert again; in fact, the moral support of that cord far ex- ceeded all the physical advantages he gained from it. Still, even with all the assistance that could be rendered him, his was still far from being any holiday job, and when he finally drew himself up to the rim of the basket, it is doubtful if there was another ounce of exertion left in his entire frame. Von Altdorff, putting Muriel at the other side to balance the weight as much as possible, reached out and, grasping Go 0)(0)(6) ANUG S (C@