The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1895-09-11

enormous size and of dazzling bright
ness. Now and then, as we rose, we
caught sight also of wondrous ravines
OF curious shape and great depth.
These mountains of clouds, with their
silvery and golden sides, their dark
shadows, their varied tints and sum
mits of dazzling whitencss, presented
to our wondering gaze n scene of sur
passing beauty aud grandeur
This sublime spectacle evoked my
highest admiration, while the silence
and vastnoss of space inspired me with
awe. drank in these exquisite and
varied delights with such avidity and
with such absorbing interest, that ]
had scarcely looked at, or spoken to
my companion since we had started
But an exclamation from him now
diverted my attention, and glancing
at him, | was surprised to see that he
had risen and was much excited.
"What is it, Jack?" / asked.
"Isn't 1t glorious?" he replied. 81
wonder il heaven is much more
beautiful? How delightful it would
be if we could reach it / should see
my Ada again, then"
"My dear fellow" | interposed,
hastily, somewhat alarmed-not SO
much by his words MS by his excited
manner and wild look "you think
too much of these things You have
been brooding over your loss more
than is good for you. Will you-
"At any rate" cried he, vehement
ly, "its worth trying, so here goes, ;"
and seizing one of the sandbags he
threw it over. The lightenei balloon
at once began to rise more quickly.
"What are you doing, Jack?" l
shouted. "For heavens sake, keep
calm. We are good height already.
We shan't be able to breathe ii we go
much higher. It's getting uncomfort-
able as it is
"Shan't we? We shall see about
that I'm going to try, anyhow. Be-
sides, | don't care if | can't breathe.
l want to sec my Ada. That's all l
care about"
l began to fear the worst. Was he
going mad? Were the reports my
wife had heard literally true, aud not
exaggerated after all? What fool
L had been not to be more cautiousl
Whether he was mad or not, he was
in a dangerous mood, and my posi-
ton was far from pleasant. To OPP
pose him would evidently aggravate
him and make matters worse. To
humor him was undoubtedly the wisest
course.
'Look here, jack cried "You
say you want to see Ada. / can tell
you of a better and surer way of going
to her than this. If you will listen
to me-there 1 involuntarily moved
my hand toward the valve-cord If
you will listen to me L"
None of your blarney, man? I'm
boy 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 fiercely at me.
The horrible nature of my situation
was now only too apparent-there
could no longer be any doubt of Tun-
nicliffe's condition. l was in bal
loon with mad man, and about four
miles from the earth. l felt the cold
sweat on my brow, aud my brain be-
gan to rest. Bat with tremendous
effort l pulled myself toye tn er for
my only chance of safety was in re.
tanning my self-possession. To at.
tempt to overpower him was out of
tuc lucsJiOu--tuc btTcuBbu Ol u III tu-
man is so we'll 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 necessity of
prompt action, could think of no
device or ruse that would do any good;
was completely at the mercy of the
madman.
We we're now at such height that
asphyxia was imminent. / could hear
my heart throb quite plainly.
breathed with difficulty, and "a hor-
rible sensation like that OF sea sick
ness came over me. Tho cold was so
intense that l shivered, notwithstand-
ing my wraps. The mental strain
was terrible. / was almost frantic.
Knowing. however. that in n few min