Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1879-11-06

might as we'll try 20 kill cat with
kindness a. an aer0naul that under
stands his business
He had experienced y gres. deal
OF difficulty with his gas--he had
made it himself by means of some
metal bars--zinc, | believe--and an
acid in water. which be had in bsr-
rels near by. The gas was conduct-
ed to the bag through pipes fitted
to caps on the barrels. 1t seemed
there had been deposit of mud
from the water upon the metal that
had delayed the action of the acid !,
40 that the imitation had been 81 W
and the gs was of u poor quality.
his preparations we're nearly 6 IN.
/ plete, and the time for which the
ascension bad been advertised was
| very near. IL shan't ne able to
start before O'Clock at the earii-
est" said he, "and maybe later !"
With that he sat down aud we
talked awhile about ballooning. His
conversation was not polished, but
be was an enthusiast upon the sub
Ject, aud before long
HE HAD NE PROFOUNDLY INTERESTED.
He claimed to have made ascen.
sions in nearly all parts of the
world, and the stories he told of his
adventures 10 the sky aud among
tne tree.tops and on the water had
an especial charm, due partly to my
own wine soaked state of semi ex
altation, and partly to the fact that
they we're told by this very iden,i
cal hero-that the nan himself was
before me. At this distance of time
l am satisfied he was garrulous
liar but / took mis- tales for gospels
then. La BRIEF when Ed, who had
been drowsily listening. in company
with two or three of the influential
men of the village. WIN we're giving
the affair the benefit of their coun-
tenancs-when E., say, opened
his eyes on me and raid,"Bst hun
drod you don't dar, take "Trip
with him !" was 10 precisely the
mood TO answer, "I'il take that
bet" and to mean What | said. The
professor looked with an air of
| amusement at US, aud then put his
foot on the bet by observing that
he'd "be id if anyone was goin'
up" besides himself and the cat
Thereupon Ed spoiled the good.
feeling that had prevailed for the
last half hour with the remark, Ad-
dressed to the professor
"l'il bet you q hundred that
HE GOES IF HE WANTS To.
who owns this balloon p asked
the professor, testify.
That's more than | know" ah-
swered Ed, who mad reused him
sslf 81 don't care who owns il. |
was betting on who would go up 10
IT,"
The professor contented himself
wasi ,iss ..--.L -vv~..~ a. --~l-, ,,
and walked away.
"Drunk, am p said Ell, "Wrli
maybe am. ought to be by this
time but the bet goes f1r all that
Then he turned 10 me and repeat
ed his propositions. In less time
than | take to tell of it, 1 had &C
cepte1 it, and made up my mind
that whether the professor wanted
me "r not, | would take shy at
hearen in his company.
Have you ever seen u hallpon
star. ? You have. Well, then,you
know how the basket il stocked and
prepared, and the ballast laid in,
and the ropes fastened &ud the
guys cast fl 1t was an hour after
We made our bet before the profes
SIR. who was 10 wretched temper
over the delays and the weakness
of his gas and thousand other
things, including the gate money
that didn't come in, began to super.
intend the final preparations. l had
made up my mind what to do. l
stood aside carelessly until almost
the last moment, and then, while
the balloon was swayiDg from side
TO side under the lessened tension
of the cords that had held it to
earth, and the crowd outside were
cheering. moved closer 10. | don't
deny that
1T WAS AN EXCITING MOMENT,
and l think that if | had been en-
tirely sober | would have done DIFF
ferently but when the bag rose
few feet, and the professor jumped
into the basket, which bobbed upon
the ground in the instant of loosing
the last rope, 1 made a spring and
fell half into it, with my legs dang
ling over the side,as it swept up in.
to the air. | tell you. sir, l can't
think of it now without excitement
and feeling of the terror that
came over me in the few seconds |
was swinging there. with the sick
ening sensation of rapid vertical
motion upon me, and the car with
the excited professor 10 it tipping
like q cookie on the waves with
every kick | made. To this mo-
ment | can hear the cheer that
broke from the crowd at the instant
of the start, and the cries of hor.
ror that choked it as we shot up in-
to view With one exception, |
thiok it was the most frightfu, mo.
ment OF my life. There was no
receding then. | had self.p 1sses.
sion enough to know that
MUST NOT LET 90.
though the impulse to drop was
powerful. ! don't suppose / strug-
gled there more than thirty seconds,
but thought them an hour. At
last | got into the basket. and con-
fronted the professor. He was out.
wardly calm, though bis face was
purple with suppressed rage, and
his eyes cleaned with q balefol
light that | saw once afLerward 10
reality, and hundreds of times in
dreams. | was in cold perspirs.
tion, and so weak that be could
have pitched me overheard without
the slightest difficulty. had he
wished.
"Well. sir" said be, II see you've
won your bet"
l made no answer
"You must think more than / do