Omaha daily bee., 1883-03-17

The torrent burst In. For heaven Q
sake get In! get In!
Greatly alarmed, we sprarg into the
basket; the ropes we're cut; the balloon
few on high, snstching 10 from the
hands Of the enraged mob, and
bravo! bravo!" sounded after us from
below. "Hurrahl" came laundering
up to Ms. "Long live ZAmbeccsri!
Long live GrNsetti! Long live An
dredil Hurrsh for the COUNT Shouts
from thousands on thousands of voices
accompanied rs. $500.
We soon recovered from our fright,
but we perceived what did not please
Us. "The wind IL too strong; we can.
not land without danger OF being de.
stroyed," said Zsmbeocari. We were
thus In q bad plight, and had to walt
for daybreak. But that was far from
us. The sun would appear above the
horizon ct about 6:45 o'clock, and 1t
was 1916 when We assembled. With
lightning speed we flew up, up, always
up, and the wind whistled and rushed
from the southwest and chased Us
away, away, always farther. How
quickly Bologna vanished from Us!
In q very brief time We no longer saw
Its lights, heard nothing of Its tumult
clouds lay between rs and the
earth.
The magic, the wonderful sorcery
of our poising by moonlight besveen
the clouds, l cannot describe We
we're In fairyland, and II we eeal3
have enjoyed the new view With hsAi
hearts, and could have hoased tareGsA
the air, free from care, without fear,
II would have been divinely beautiful,
and I remember that I thought for .
few minutes Of the old Greek CODA
But quite different thoughts htsan -
force themselves with irresistible
power upon M, like lightning, into
the far, Far distance We could not
lower ourselves, and the balloon rose
i~ne1orably, always higher, to the re.
gions In which human life Is impossi.
Bile and where breath falls.
Only too soon We perceived the In.
fuence Of the cold and the rarefied
air. how high We we're I do not
know, but we began to shiver in the
frozen atmosphere; o teeth chat.
tered, and We crowded together. DR..
Grassetti soon grew feeble, began to
gasp, staggered, struggled convul-
sively, closed his eyes, and moved nj
more. In the fine, thin air one
breathes quickly and Is sooner x
hausted. The result Is weakness, pain at
the heart, vertigo, fainting, and finally
death, II the MAJ does not come again
into air OF greater density. A few
minutes after Grassetti, Zimbeccari
also fell and gave no more signs Of
life. Now think of my situationl
The wax light In the lantern was OK.
tinguished. I valnly tried to light 1t
again with tapers; 1t would not ignite.
With much trouble 1 obtained a light
with ordinary matches. l had
scarcely succeeded in this when l was
seized with dizziness and faintnoss. 1t
took great force Of will to keep on my
legs. Balanced between heaven and
earth, the balloon flew on swift ss an
arrow. At my side lay the two had
tainted or were dead. 1 was without
means of delivering myself from so
horrible o condition. Yet it became
worse.
Hark! What hollow roar was that
below un2 1t was the surging of the
ocean. It could be nothing else. We
must have been hurled through the
air Q distance of over hundred miles,
and, according to the direction Of the
wind, had now reached the region Of
the sea. What nowi 1t would DO
impossible to descend until we were
again above land. In vain I strove tc
read ths barometer. My eyes knew
nothing more. Painting, 1 stared
Into the darkness and upon the moon.
lit clouds. Not to swoon, I grasped
the side Of the basket in which We
sailed.
II was about 2:l5 o'clock; our night
had lasted an hour and a half, when II
seemed to me that the clouds few up.
ward. Was It q delusion, brought
about by my bodily condition. All al
once y frightful thought came to me;
the clouds we're not floating up, but
we were falling! l bent over the side
of the basket-yes, yes, I heard plain.
or and louder the roar of the ocean az
we rushed downward. How 1t hap.
pened I do not know; whether the
balloon got some opening above, which
let the gas escape, or what else.
looked yer again. Almighty God! be
gracious and merciful to US! We were
about to sink In the sea. I gripped
the nearest of my companions, shook
him, and called to him: "Awake.
awake! VIZ are falling Into the ocean,
Then I bent far out again and stared
downward yes, there was a gray mas,
of providing pillows; there it boiled
and seethed and foamed-o one moment
more We should be buried In the food
"Zambeocari!" I shrieked, seizin,
him in . con7ulsive grasp, 1--WE ar
plunging into the seal" and I looked
over again Into our waterv grave.
The Count lifted his head, and wills
pered: "Ballast-out!"- slowly raiset
himself, mechanically seized the bag O
sand that we had In our basket a
cargo; / laid hold Of It, to; Zambsc
c%ri quickly recovered himself, "
worked the bag up, w got II over tn
side; the doctor to himself also, In
moment understood the situation, en-
ergetically hurled barometer, compass
the whole collection OF instrument
and our provisions, all, all overheard
In another moment the basket touches
the water, and we were drenohed b.
the salt water. But at the same In
slant again we flew aloft with til,
speed Of an arrow. WI were In tn
water only long enough to fill our has
ket half full, and wet US to the skin
The balloon had now nothing to carr