Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1875-12-17
In Suspense.

- on are aDOut 10 witness Mons. Ut. {
ascension,'' said a gentleman to me as
entered the Enclosure devoted to the arco-
nautic display. He was an entire stranger
| to me; but not being superstitious IN mat
! tiers of etiquette, as we might suppose
| gentleman of distinction" to be, did not
| object to this brusque mode OF introduce
| ton, and so civilly answered YES
| But I shall 60 further to see it than
] YOU will, y continued the gentleman; g
| intend to ascend with Mons. G."
"You may go farther and fare worse y
" You are pleased to be witty" said he;
shut I intend to make some examination
of those upperlregions for myself-to as
certain whether the stars celestial are on
/ duty during the day, Eor whether theirs is
| as much q sinecure as the office of our
stars terrestrial. Would you like to as
cend with us?,' !.
+ j"No, thank you kindly, . said I; I" in
getting into the clouds one might lose
ones self-the way is likely to be mist
Every one to mis- taste; the earth has such
charms for me that / would not change a
/ spad eftll of it for cubic miles of blue en-
pyrean.' - -,
Vain declaration! How little did /
! imagine the horrors that awaited me!
| How little didI foresee my dreadful fate in
hanging between the heavens and the
earth, spectacle to laughing men, gig
Cling women and insensate, hooting boys.
We entered the Enclosure. There was
the vast silken bubble, pulling out its hol-
low cheeks like the face of a fat clown
when laughing, and rising and tugging
away at the ropes as if impatient to leave
our society. r,v III ~ var.a !. ~. :,
my friend; to which ] replied in the mega
tive.
"Perhaps the gentleman would assist
in cutting the ropes said the aeronaut in
French, which, singularly enough, un-
derstood at that moment, though never
before or since ventured to exhibit my
knowledge.
Certainly" said I, "with pleasure. +"
"Thank you" said the aeronaut;
"please take your station"
He and my friend entered the car. l
grasped one of the ropes and awaited the
order. In moment 1t came.
"Cut!'' said one voice.
/" No, hold on" said another.
was bewildered, and did both. When
the other cut did the same, and with the
direction to hold on grasped the end of
the rope still near me, and held on" In
moment more was fifty feet from the
ground.
Imagine my suspense' There was l,
like a freshly caught fish, dangling at the
end of a line, with the balloon represent
ing the float l cried out to my friend
and the aeronaut, but in vain. The spec
tators below, thinking l was some aerial
acrobat, who was about to turn fifty
double somersets and then alight upon his
feet before them, cheered sufficiently to
drown my voice. The parties in the car
could not see me. But, by the hat swung
occasionally over the side, | knew they
were bowling to the crowd below. Mean
while / was swinging likea pendulum be-
low them with only ten fingers 10 sustain
the weight of 1870 pounds I'm rather
STOUT, and to preserve me from being
thinly spread over the ground beneath,
from Harding the lean earth with my
human form divine. What an age OF ter
ror! The dome of st. Paul's became a
parasol men became nine-pns; and fine
Gothic churches began to look like so
many chicken coops.
In the meantime my fingers stiffened,
but I clutched the rope with the energy OF
despair i had long ceased calling; had
exhausted myself. Suddenly cold per
SEPARATION broke out uron me. L knew
my hour had come. My fingers were
slipping down the rope Oh, those
agonizing moments! Inch by inch | ap,
preached my doom. First the left hand
lost its hold; and then, as felt the END
slipping by the little finger of the right,
l gave one brief prayer and fell-out of
bed!
Being, as I before observed, corpu-
lent man, my fall had shaken the whole
house, and the alarmed inmates, aroused
from "sweet slumbers, were knocking
violently at the door, which had the effect
of restoring me to consciousness, when l
discovered that my g terrific balloon as
cent?, was nothing more than a night
mare, superinduced, I am led to believe,
by the festivities usual on Christma as
Day, in which / may say ! INDUCED
somewhat-No! I will not betray my
friends; but allow me to tell you that such
dinner as they gave is not to be sneezed