Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1890-06-05

NcSi NADSSNs Il hditEu IDf DIuuNDti
return, but \ strange. rushing souuC
forced itself on my ears-a SOUND
which | could not understand.
could lIken it only to the roar Of 4
cyclone. Could it be possible that a
real cyclone was approaching, and
that ] was shut up ia this trap. and
entirely at the storm mercy?
looked through Que of the openings,
expecting to SEE the wooden stzlc-
ture within which BrUnton con-
cealed his secret work.
"God in heaven. What did it
mean? Around the internal ma
chine in which / was iuclOsed Their,
we're no wooden walls. Only the
,pen sky, and now aud then q
bank Of fog, into which / passed
and from whlc h | emerged, al
most as soon as lad entered It
[ was dazed; but in few numents
ne conviction forced itself upon III,
hat the mailman had trapped
ne to make me the means OF
testing his insane conception O.
Dird and fish. Yes, below me wa,
the earth, far far down; a. / looked
the depression aud elevations nf the
.arth were becoming more and
more indistincf. / was rising, a.
well as speeding along as / haC
never Travelled before. I thought Oi
the button which the lunatic had
told me would regulate the ascent
If the bird. But ahead Of me ]
-aw a glittering surface, which l
recognized to be Lake Erie. / was
hurrying toward it with fearful
rapldity. Dare / touch the button?
Higher and higher was ! being car
rIed. The chill Of the atmosphere
vas becoming intOlerJble. Almost
below me was the long, cleaning,
lake; and if the button should guide
me doward into the lake there
could only b. one consequence
death But every instant was
rising aud the chill was becoming
more unbearable. | must die at
any rate II rose much higher. /
could only die If plunged into the
lake. touched the button very
lightly. The effect was like magic.
began to descend not 30 rapidly as
/ had feared, but was decending,
and now the lake was below me.
Ny finger was resting on the button,
and an involuntary movement Of
my fingers turned it little to the
right. The deceuding motion ceas-
ed, and / seemed now to maintain a
fixed height above the water TIE
end Of the lake was near. There
VAS Buffalo, and onward / raced,
faster than cyclone--faster than
anything Of which human beings
had ever dreamed. Onward over
northern New York, and ahead Of
me saw mountains, against which
must he dashed, unless ! IN trying
to control this dcyil's ship. But
there was an uneontrOllable fascina-
tion rising within me AZ / thought
that was the first who had travel
ed as | was now dong. Ipulled | the
button toward me. / did il rashly,
for peak OF the mountains was
just ahead. | rushed upward, and
| raced over the peak high above H.
But again the chill struck me.
pressed on the button, and the
downward motion commenced.
When | reached a desirable eleva-
yation, where ! would not come In
contact with the peaks, and would
also escape the penetrating cold of
the higher atmospheric strata, |
turned the button again to the right,
aud found that now | had full con
troll of my strange air-ship. Des-
pite the danger surrounding me an
indescrihable eXhilaration took pos
session of me. The world below me
was asleep. The Kalamazoo mad
man was not mad after all. But
why had be chosen lac to take the
aerial voyage? Perhaps 1t had been
An accident Perhaps
"But what Is that? The great
Atlantic, "a live. Soon | would
be above It, Yes, here 1t is below
me already. At least two thousand
miles of water were ahead of me.
Would my repelling force carry me
beyond IL, or would | fall into its
depths and never more be heard OFF
Faith II my Kalamazoo lunatic be-
gan TO rise within me. had passed
above two ocean steamers, aud had
seen innumerable crafts near the
coast.
"Ah! What strange impulse is
this? | had read of the wonders of
the Vastly deep, Now | could see
them, If the fish were as reliable rs
the bird. hesitated, but at last my
hand touched the other button.
Down, like a flash went, and
soon realized that was encircled
by the waters of the Atlantic,
Downward, still downward, aud |
began TO fear that | might reach
the bottom or be dashed upon
nank. | Inrnnl Tho hmIInn