Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1891-10-23
TWO YEARS VAcA TON
RY JULES VERNE.
ehoY OF ''1'he 7'o1r o. the World IN m
Days" go, 900 Leagnes Under
the Seas" Ito,


let out the rope, while Garnett, who hac
charge of the signal line, allowed IL Il
glide slowly through his fingers In ter
seconds the Giant of the Air" had again
disappeared IN the darkness. not In the
midst OF the noisy hurrahs which had at
tended Its former departure, but In pro
found silence,
The brave governor Of this little colony
he generous Brian, had disappeared with
II.
Meanwhile, the ascent Of the kite was
GLOW and ateady; SO steady indeed that II
leaned neither 10 one side or the other. In
fact there were none Of those oscillations
which would have rendered Brian's posi-.
ton so dangerous, so he stood perfectly
motionless, with both hands grasping tho
ropes by which the basket was suspended
from the kite.
What Il strange sensation he experienced
when he first felt himself suspended in
mid-air from this huge inclined plane,
that trembled under the action OF the
aerial currents. 1t seemed TO him that he
was being lifted heavenward by some gi-
gantic bird Of prey, or rather attached to
tho wings Of mn immense bat; but thanks
to his resolute nature, he managed to
maintain the GOODNESS and solf-control his
trying position demanded.
Ten minutes after the kite left the
ground, u slight jerk indicated that the
upward movement had ended, and the al.
titude attained must consequently be be-
tween six and seven hundred feet; 80
stendylng himself by Rrnspng one Of the
ropes with one hand, he raised his marine
rluga Ia hiQ ava with tIa pthpr
In the darkness, the lake, forests, and
cliffs before him formed u confused, chu0uI
mass, In which no single object was dis
cernible The island itself, however, could
be easily distinguished from the water
that surrounded 1t; and II BrInn could
have made the ascent In the daytime, he
very possibly would have been able TO see
either other islands or perhaps even u con.
tnent, that Ia II there were either within
forty or lllty miles-the probable limit OF
his range Of vision.
Though tho sky TO the north, south dhd
west was too cloudy for him TO he able to
nee anything; this was not the case in the
east, where u little corner OF the heavens
was free from clouds for tho moment and
glttering with stars. And In THIS very
place bright light that wmI reflected In
the lowest strata of cloud attracted Brian's
attention.
"rhnt IA certainly the light from fire."
he said to himself "Can IL be that Wal.
ston has established his camp thcreP No,
this fire Is too far Off, II must certainly
be quito u distance beyond the island.
Possibly ii is u volcano In state of erup-
tiou. In that case there must be land to
the east of ua"
A recollection Of the white spech no had
seen on his first visit to Deception Bay
flashed across his mind, and almost at the
Same instant, much nearer him--probaby
only five or SIX miles or, and consequent,
ly upon the island-another light was
shining amid the trees TO the east Of Fam.
lily Lake.
"rhat Is In the Forest" he said TO him,
Belf, cor rather on tho border Of itneXt the
-Coast. "
There was indeed u campfire there not
far from the mouth of East River; so Wal
ston and his hnnd were cucamped there
near the little harhur of Boar Rock.
Tho mulincers OF tho Severn had not
abandoned the island, The young colon
ieta were stIll In danger of an attack from
them.
Having concluded his obscrvations,
Brian deemed II useless to proloug his
stay IN The realms of air. so lac prepared to
descend The wind was increasing very
"rCept,hly, and the basket began to sway
and fro In u rather disngreeahlc fashion
as Brian loosed the leaden ball, which was
speedily ia Garnotts hand, tor In II few
seconds the Windlass began to draw the
Kite carthward,
As the kite was descending BRIAN again
glanced In the direction Of the lights he
had previously noticed, and ngnin boheld
lhe light of the supposed volcano, then
nuch nearer, aud upon the coast the light
II n campfire.
The Impotence with which Gordon and
his companions had awaited the signal for
his descent can be easily imagined. How
long the twenty minutes which Brian had
spent In the regions of upper mir seemed
30 thpml
Donovan BAXTER Wilcox, Service, and
Webb were turning the hnndlo of the
windlass vigorously, They too had OBJ
served that the wind was not only incroas
iug in violence hut blowing with much
less regularity; and rs they noted the fire..
qucnt jerking of the rope they Thought
with keen anxiety of Brian, who must eN'
periencc the reaction,
The Wiudass was turned as quickly as
possible to draw IN the twelve hundred
feet of rope that had haan mrairl but
the wind continued tujutroase IN violence,
aud IN three quarters of any hour after tho
signal given by Brian, 1t was blowing very
heavily
Al chat time the Kite must stt have
been moro than hundred feet above the
lake Suddeulya violent jerk was felt,
and Wilcox, Donovan. Service, Webb and
Baxter were nearly thrown to the ground.
Tho rope chat held tho Kite had broken,
and tho next instant Erian's name was
twenty times repeated with cries Of terror.
A few minutes aGtorward Brian sprung
upon the beach, and shouted TO them IN a
loud voice.
Brother, brotherp' cried Jack, who was
tho first 20 fold him in his arms,
"Walstou Il still here"
These were Brian's first words whom his
comrades joined him,
When the rope broke. the basket began
10 descend, not vertically put opnquely,
and rather slowly-the kite acting rs n
sort of parachute above him, Very soon
II occurred to him that the important
thing TO do would hp to diSpnyalrp hfmseli