The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1902-09-05


matter? And as puzzled, / received
another start The earth was a thou
sand feet beneath, and yet / heard a
child crying softly. and seemingly
very close at hand. And though the
Little Nassau" was shooting skyward
like a rocket, the crying did not grow
fainter and fainter and die away.
confess | was almost on the edge of a
funk, when, unconsclously following
up the noise with my eyes / looked
above nae and saw a boy astrlde the
sandbag which was to bring the Lit
tie Nassau" to earth. And 1t was the
same little boy l had seen struggling
with the two girls-his sisters, as
afterward learned.
There he was, astrlde the sandbag
and holding on to the rope for dear
life A puff of wind heeled the bal
loon slightly and he swung out into
space for 10 or a dozen feet, and back
again, fetching up against the tight
canvas with a thud which even shook
me, 30 feet or more beneath
thought to see him dashed loose, but
he chung on and whimpered. They
told me afterward, how, at the mo-
ment they were casting off the bal
Icon, the little fellow had torn away
from his sisters, ducked under the
rope, and deliberately jumped astride
the sandbag. 1t has always been a
wonder to me that he was not jerked
off in the first rush.
Well ! felt sick all over as | looked
at him there, and | understood why
the balloon had taken longer to right
itself, and why George had called Of
ter me to ride her down. Should
cut loose with the parachute the bag
would at once turn upside down, emp
ty itself, and begin its swift descent
The only hope lay in my riding her
down and in the boy holding on. There
was no possible way for me to reach
him. No man could climb the SLIM
closed parachute; and even if man
could, and make the mouth Of the bal
loon, what could he 40? Straight out,
and Is feet away, trailed the boy on
his ticklish perch, and those is feet
were empty space.
| thought far more quickly than it
takes to tell all this, and realized on
the instant that the boys attention
r1ust be called away from his terrible
Canger. Exercising all the self-contro!
1 possessed, aud striving to make my
self seem very calm, | said cheerily
Hello, up there, who are you?"
He looked down at me, choking back
his tears and Frightening up, but just
the the balloon ran into a cross-cur-
ront turned half around and lay over.
Thsi set him swinging back and forth,
and he fetched the canvas another
bump. Then he began to cry again.
Isn't it great?" I asked heartily, as
though it was the most enjoyable thing
in the world and without waiting FOR
him to answer, Whats your name?'
Tommy Dermott," he answered.
Glad to maze your acquaintance
Tommy Dermott," ] went on. "But
I'd like to know who said you could
ride up with me?"
He laughed and said ne just thought
he'd ride up for the fun of it. And Sc
we went on, | sick with fear for him
and cudgeling my brains to keep VI
the conversation, | knew that it was
all | could do, and that his life depend
ed upon my ability to keep his mine
Oft his danger. / pointed out to hin
the great panorama spreading away
to the horizon and 1000 feet beneath
US, There lay San Francisco bay like
great placid lake, the haze Of smokt
over the city, the Golden Gate, tn,
, ocean fog-rim beyond and Mt. Tam
alpias over all, clear-cut and sharl
against the sky. Directly below us
, could see a buggy, apparently crawl
ing, but l know from experience tina
the men in it were lashing the horse
on our trail.
But he grew tired of looking around
end I could see he was beginning t
' get frightened.
3 How would you like to go IN TO
! the business?' / asked.
! He cheered up at once, and asked
do you get good pay?"
But the Little Nassau" beginnin
to cool, had started on its long dc
9 scent, and ran into counter current
+ which bobbed it roughly about Thi
4 swung the boy around pretty livel!
7 smashing MIN into the bag quite 81
+ yorely. His lip began to tremble {
/. this, and he was crying again. trie
! to joke and laugh, but it was no us
n His pluck was Oozing out, and at an
i moment l was prepared 10 see him 8
n shooting past me.
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