The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-10-23

to be wheedled so, I'm too old bird
for that. Leave the cord alone. can't
you? I'm not going down again to-
day. I'm going to see what's up there,
and don't you try to stop me-" and he
glared tiercely al me.
The horrible nature of my situation
was now only too apparent There
could no longer be any doubt of Tunni-
cliffe's condition. I was in balloon
with a mailman! and about four iailes
from the earth. / felt The cold sweat
on my brow and my brain began 20
reel. But with a tremendous effort
ruled myself together for my only
chance Of safety was in retaining my
self-possesslon, To attempt to over
power him was out of the question.
The strength of a mailman is so well
known. My only hope Of escape was TO
outwit him. But how? Forced into
unnatural activity as my brain was by
my desperate situation and by the ne
cessity of prompt action, l could think
of no device or ruse that would do any
good, I was completely at the mercy
Of the mailman.
The hopelessness of my case para
lyzed my energies, felt unable to
move or speak, and even the power to
think was almost gone. In my despair
I glanced at the valve cord Owing to
the rotary motion Of the balloon it had
unfortunately become tangled. To free
1t should be Obliged to leave the car
and climb into the ring. But to at
tempt such thing, even If I were
physically capable of it. would be GER
tain to lead to struggle which would
as certainly send one or both of us out
of the car.
We We're now at such height that
asphyxia was imminent. I couli hear
my heart throb quite plainly. I
breathed with difficulty, and horrible
sensation like that of seasickness came
over me. The cold was so intense that
| shivered, not withstanding my wraps.
The mental strain was terrible. / was
almost frantic. Knowing, however,
that in few minutes should be IN
conscious. and that then all would be
over with me, nerved myself for one
last effort.
AS I rose from my seat my eye fell on
the grapnel, Fortunately it was on my
side of the car. A sudden idea struck
me. Here was a weapon to hand. 1t
was an awful thought 1t would be a
| terrible deed. But there was now no
alternatives; no time for delay. My
! senses were going. stretched out my
hand. but the madman, who never took
his eye off me, had detected my pur-
pose
! With a sudden movement he darted
forward and seized the grapnel, but in
his }eagerness to forestall me he had
precipitated himself too far over the
| side Of the car and almost lost his bal
ance. He made a desperate effort to
| recover himself; but seized with sud
den and irresistible impulse, / pushed
him over, and, with horrible yell,
which rings in my ears whenever | re-
call the occurrence, the mailman disap-
peared from my sight
| Almost mad myself am not sure
| that I was not quite so just then-I
climbed into the ring to reach the valve
| line. But my hands were so stiff and
numb with the cold that could not
grasp the cord. BY kind of inspira-
ton which seemed providential, I
seized the cord with my teeth, and af-
ter two or three tugs the valve opened
with a loud clang and the balloon be-
gan to descend. Thank heaven, 1 was
saved. My hands being useless, was
obliged to throw UP my arms and drop
| into the car, where lay motionless and
unconscious for awhile.
| My swoon could not have lasted more
than few seconds, for when recov-
cred, the barometer showed that I was
still in high altitude, although the
balloon was descending rapidly.
rubbed and beat my hands until the
circulation was restored. Then / set
about taking the necessary precautions
against too rapid descent. But ]
acted more like an automaton than a
conscious agent, for I seemed in kind
of stupor or trance all the time.
\ How and where I reached the solid
earth cannot say. / have only a dim,
| hazy recollection of being surrounded
| by a crowd of people. Some were bend