Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1875-11-04

will say, if the wind carries this tapping
gas-bag to Poitou or the Nivernais. No
but Is Risque-son-cou to wait while thu
young Englishman crawls TO the neares
brigade of gendarmesie TO give notice tina
his fellow traveller was Peter Paul Grin
cheux, forcat en- rupture de bans Thanh
you. / prefer to keep my own counsel
so sure as we drop where Napoleon i.
Emperor, and the Odicsds Journal postet
on the walls of the Poste de Police, lprov,
that one can keep secret better thar
two.n
l am not, hope, unduly timorous, bu
l own that my heart sank within me as
heard these words, uttered with an EN-
phatic ferocity which left no doubt of the
speakers resolve. l had fully made uI
my mind, should the desperate at my side
begin to realize his threats, that | should
not be by any means passive in the
struggle; but his weapons and his strength
leit little hope of a satisfactory ending tc
such contest
There's something wrong with the
valves, said my companion roughly, an
hour later; the gas, diablel is coming
down, and we are sinking. It's for you
aeronaut, TO ascend the netting and stop
the escape of gas"
was very reluctant to obey. To climb
the netting of balloon when at great
height above the earth is never very
pleasant task but to do so, leaving be-
hind me ruffian who might at any mo.
ment pistol or stab me as | descended,
thus relieving himself from an inconven.
lent witness, was indeed irksomc. How.
ever, Risque-son.cou evinced such vehe'
mentpertinacity, and swore SD many grisly
oaths, that at last / complied, and having
adjusted the valve crept back 10 the car,
sick and giddy, but unhurt
The moon had faded away. There were
pale crimson strcaks in what | took TO be
the eastern sky, and below lay piled.up,
gloomy masses of black cloud, through
which cleaned at intervals something
white and lustrous, like the marble
pinnacles of the cathedral at Milan.
We're steering straight. Fatality for
once, befriends me-" exclaimed the des-
perate sharer Of my journey =" for, Mule
b0m6esi those are the peaks of the Eastern
Pyrenees. Chuck over ballast, boy don't
lei us ground ON them"
We were in reality, floating among
the serrated SUBMITS and a snow.clad
mountain tops of the huge" chain of
mountains that forms a natural barrier be-
tween Gaul and Spain. Below the sullen
cloud banks menaced elemental war, and
already low-muttering growls of thunder
reverberated among the serrated ridges be.
meath us.
Throw over more ballast" command
cd my rutlianly companion.
flung out, with some misgivings, the
remainder of the last bag Of sand and
small pebbles, but the Defiance" did not
rise with its former buoyancy, Much gas
had been lost. The once smooth surface
OF the silk, painted in gaudy stripes OF
pink and blue, was wrhkled now and flut-
tered loosely in irregular festoons. More
than once IL seemed as though we must be
dashed against some one of the towering
peaks above which the balloon slowly re-
vOlved.
Crash after crash, peal upon peal, rang
out the deep diapason of the thunder,
echoed from glen to glen and from ridge
to ridge, while far and wide the lightning
sent its flaming arrows across the darken.
ing sky. How strange il was TO see be.
meath us those forked shafts Of dazzling
light, To hear from beneath us those awful
rolls of heavens own terrible artillery and
to float helplessly above the raging TEN
pest
Day had broken; the sun was rising
red and angry, in the stormy eastern sky
and as a current of air waited the balloon
rapidly forward could dimly distinguish
forest and meadow and spurs OF wood
clothed hills lying TO the southwark of us
The snowy peaks, rosy pink In the morn
ing radiance, were being gradually lef
behind us.
" Hurrah! as you say, you other island
ers," cried out the galley-slav triumphant
ly, as he, too, scanned the landscape
" Pspe la .jote! We're well across the
frontier now, and Pierre Paul Grincheux
is as safe as any other Frenchman from
the odious summons 10 trudge back 10 the
chain gang and the rattan of the garde.
chiourme! Thank your stars, English
mani"
A stunning peal Of thunder cut short
his boastful discourse, and as 1t did so the
Defiance heeled over and was driven like
a dead leaf before the gale by the sudden
rush of mighty wind that bore us al.
most TO the surface Of the ground and hur.
ried us along with headlong rapidity.
Fields, woodlands, houses seemed TO pass
us by with feverish haste, and still we
sped onward, so near now 10 the earth that
I momentarily expected that We should
become entangled in the trees that doomed
so near us.
What was that, like river OF glancing
water, on the dusty high road beneath US,
the yellow road like ribbon winding
amid rocks and thicketss Troops on the
march, no doubt, the sunlight glinting
on their bayonets. | could see that as
we approached they came coniusedly to
halt.
Again, hurrah :" shouted the galley
slave. T" A cheer, noble Spaniards, for
your guest, Pierre Paul, now fely---"
AS lac spoke saw the earth very near
us, saw the soldiers run 10 right and left
as though TO clear the way for our passage,
and then, with a sickening crash, the bal
loon and the car seemed 10 strike against
a rock, and thousand sparks OF fire
filled my bewildered eyes, and then all
grew dark.
He'll live, this one, never fear, said
a CHEEKY voice speaking in the Spanish
language, which partially understood, ~
/ awoke TO find myself lying on truckle::
bed In wayside cottage, surrounded
by group of officers, while rcgimental
surgeon was feeling my pulse. :" Give
him a few more drODs of the BRANDY