, 1876-05-20

my arm were as strong and supple as steel.
"Ayow," sald tliia strange passenger, With
grin tl,at an og,o nigt have enyed, navoE thet
provincial gentry, heinl hut frst, how eonlcs
Il that the pcrc ktlllck il absent, and q blanc
beg o. your aEe hss tlle honor to be my ptloti''
had occurred, and how It was Tint he and I
founl ourselves togotl,Gf 30 far above terra
nrrna at the same time eauttontng him not, %
hc lad done before, to take 1t on himself to In.
We Tf n. ta ow ne 1' oE tS '' os for
PLACE to descend, for tho Wind is frcsl'cning,
Lot It freahcn!' ridc,y interrupted NJ. dc
Vi!leneuvc. "Scts fair for Spain, docs 1t notl'
Ran ssSea souny IN esnss su.Ess esa fs2
deem TINT W wcre bound q, such journey as
ts9 ts9t sn1 soq ,anst1, nS 1sp laughing as s"d ""Ay
had tic wind been a westerly one. talk both
Cnllz 6 wclt a. DO those If Genoa, j anawerei
u. dc Vslcneuvc, again ciuckting. l" 1Ia, lad,
II am opening the valve above" answercd
eoldly. "becaMse II Is time now to sink 10 q
lover level anil desecna-"
~pesee sh, ht,sy III Put h ny fellow &
other at once. linslds OH tho rope, ray, II
yuu would kccp. the roof m your skuli,' he al.
dea tllrsa.enlngly, as lie drew revolver from
within his waiscoas and Il, deliberately pointed
Captaln up lcren
My brain rcclcd AMI my blood run'coll ns tho
horrible thought flashed upon me that wills, at
that fearful f1dght alFyo tic earth, in company
with 'nntinan. Nothing surely save insanity
t1,uld account for the extraordinary behavior Of
u. do VileneuYc
But suppose put tolcrably good countc-
! nance on the matter, for my formidable con-
panion laughed again, but less ill-naturedly, as
he en1d:
"You face 1t out well, boy. Hike youngstcr
who shows hcHrt eotncwl'at bigger than
never do this "-he drew his hand as he spoke
g!gewaya, with q meaning gesture, across his
throat" when I can get my ltttlc profits by
Tiletcr means. Bqt wy stare st mo % II
were Q mountebank selling qqaek medicines.
1nremptofy an hour agoa Because they wanted
ihe pleasure q my company, back Of Toulon,
t,at's al: DID you ncser hcar' AnglaIs Of
"RlsQie-son-cou n repeated In pcrplc1itv.
SAY, Pierre Paul Cirtncheux, II you please, dit
Nsqucsoncou," }" said the mnr, With al, old sort
Of PRIDE, "t's name, If you read tho rcports
of our tribunals, that you tnay have met with:
these charming retreats like my pocket. I l,avu
sell leave OF abscncc.h
And then I remembered to have seen n para
Erarh in q local paper announcing the escape
from Toulon Of q criminal Of tho worst and
most dangerous type, who had not a. yet been
recapturSl 9nd whose grotesque nickname Of
Neck Nothing bad boen earned by tlfty prs-
0n-hrcakl1gs and lair-Lrcailth eyas!ons from
Justice. And here was /, Edwnrd Holmes,
artist, yoyngng by night In balloon, In cum
pany with RUNAWAY gallev-stnyc, we'll armed
with knife md pistol, and more than match in
strength for nc, even had he been less well pro-
y1dcdt
My terrible companion Wis only too mucl,
disposed to be talkntiYe; and ~ We swept on
wards before tho freshcning wind, l,s wns kind
enough to favor me will! . few brief anecdotes
rsble seemed to mingle in cynic confusion. The
! one point or which he was uncom,nunicatlvc
was tho manner Of f1la recent cscnrc from
Toulon; o. how-probably owing to tl!e com
weapons. but he told graphically Of tho ten
Ind endured vlile skulking anone % tic e
sDsy s; ,na,nv By tgg Rg t. and ,; pg ,s1 hsa e.
Ind encountered md robbed tic true Ii. dc
Vtllcneuyc on his way to the village Jae. =.
"Twenty shining maps n his purse, the tllotp'
bcsidcs in notes. Well, we'll! / left linn gig
gca and hount1 Ia tree, utter Ind taken the
freedom! 10 change clothes with him: and there
b. stands, 70 doubt, treluhl!nl, but forsunatet to
the letter of NJ. killlcls, promising to take him
as n passenger in the balloon here, and so-''
And 20 the fdca had presented itself to tLis.
anrtnE tI md Fcntly.wittcd rn;lian to pcEsonate
procure the mems IF flight in what wns Ger
tainly nn unexalnpled iushion willie was the
lucAlcas Ecapcgoat q lns n',lacious enterprise.
Meanwhile the wind, as | have said, was rts-
Ing, and ns VIC hurried on locked downwartls,
mid suw by tho shim.ncring Of the moonlight OH
the trcnulous wnycs that the sea was below us.
I could not forbcar from all exclamation Of
dismny.
The despcrado Mt my side also looked down.
"3ah scu or lns,d-wl.at matters III" he sald
rtcklcssfy "1'lirow out ballast; do you hear
] mel" AVID unwill!ngy compiled.
The balloon Instantly rose, and It presently
became perceptib'y colder, SO that svercd,
md ial to chafe nj; lIunls together to prevent
| them from stiiIcllfng. My ronpaniohs Iron
| franc showed no kigns Of su&.fng frnm the
abrupt lowering Of tho temperature; but after n
| time tho Defiance seemed 10 be nearer to tho
sea, for heard the low roar Of tho waves; nnl
then Nsque.soli.cou fmpaticttly flung out nn-
other bag Of ballast, and VIC ruse.
Vague1 Ike the Visions Of O dream, are my
rccollecttons Of tile voyage OF that miserable
night, spent thus, and III such company, SUI
| ferctl much from cold nnd fatigue, aud It wns
mechanically TINT obcycd the directions OF the
cscapca gallGy-slaVc, who t,nd now assumed the
| command. Thoro was no doubt about the Axlty
ot his determination to continue the desperate
| flight until NJ should be Across The French
| frontier. How long our acrial Journey might
prove, undertaken us 1t was without warm cloth
lnft PEOftstots or plNslYt lGoulu not toujGEturL,
willie II was ccEtaln that VIC were turryIng nlong
| at q swift pacs-llow swift Ind no means of
neutrality-suspicious. the pressure Of the strong
| wind.
So far os could tell, the direction OF thcwlul
| was uniform one, stemlily from northcast-hy-
east The sea which ! Ind acon beneath us was,
no doubt, a part u the Gulf, lying somewhere
| betw0en the mouths vi the River Rhonc md the
Spanish border, but thu rcnlaiu.lvr Ut our ult.
was, In theory, mere g1'cssSork. slight shift
IN the wind might Cause LIS to bu carried out lntu
tho broatl Mct}lcrranea.l-c did wc but drift
beyond tho stsnits, Into the broader Atlantic to
perish, as many 4 balloon voya,cr haa died,
without record Of his fate. 1ehcscnbouts wo
were could not tell Tho dark, blurred out
| lEncs VI what luy be,leatll seemed To Indicate
| hills and woods, not SUI.
III wc como down In France, my young
fllcnd," said the sttltlent voice Of tho eseatcu
convict, MS VIC 1oate,l through Inasses Of misty
| ynpor the condensed moisture OF which wcttrd
MI to tho skin, "you uay bid adicu 10
whatever hono ties ntd 1,rittsh af!tc-
tio.s -Four tnslllnr heart may
cherish, Its no fault uf yours, you will say, II
thu wind rarsies this tlappiig Easbag 10 poitou
or the Niycr,las. No., but Is lslsqueson-eou to
walt willie tho young Eugltslnnai crawls 10 thu