The sun., 1909-02-21
on tIsh. but apparently Without atleotins

on tight. but apparently without Affecting
the balloon at all.
-Now look at the statoscope7'
why, II makes US 60 upl' you exolaim
Yes says the. pilot. 1T jars the
uarmest layer of gas In the envelope,
which lies next the skin, and 1t is replaced
by cooler gas. which In turn gets heated
and so we 60 up little"
."Now We will seek a current, get across
those railway tracks and 20 down The
pilot is looking at map. We have been
up three hours and have come thirty-five
miles. We can get q train ats. Pack up.
0bedient you pack your cameras and
field glasses and impedimenta, although
you do not understand just why. But you
learn. Then comes q nervous moment
for the guide takes the cord which runs
through the neck Of the balloon and gives
II . strong pull.
r-r-r-r-r,' which you know is the roar
Of escaping gas, and you wonder. as you
feel the breeze Of falling, what would
happen II that confounded valve didn't
shut again But after long, long three
seconds he let's 1t 20 suddenly, and with
q reassuring snap the doors OF the valve
seat themselves and your moment Of
nerves Is over.
Down, down you CO. and the shadow
becomes clearer and clearer and moves
gently-you are passing through breeze.
Nearer and nearer comes the earth, big
ber and bigger grow the dots Of houses
and here and there q moving speok indi-
press crawl slowly over the landscape
and you say an inward prayer that no
sparks fly from it to you. an imposeibility
at your height.
Down, down, down, down, down. until
you see the end Of the drag rope touch
the ground and lie fifty feet along II,
; hen s,as the balloon %n sSnsy snd yGSSs tSs
road. as you can see by the drag rope.
Men run from neighboring fields and
lay hands on It, and the pilot in gudden
alarm shouts TO them with megaphone
TO let 60. In this ten mile breeze now
blowing II they held the rope you would
Two men insist on holding on, ap-
parently misunderstanding. The pilot
throws cut a little sand and the rope
is twitcbed from their hands. II drags
over a house, chases q chicken. gets
caught In q tree. breaks branch. careen- |
ing the balloon as 1t does 30.
Something has to CO. says the pilot. |
-Tbe rope won't break and the balloon
won't, and we either stop or the obstruc- |
ton gives. Sometimes We tear down |
wires. but this breeze isn't strong enough |
TO wrap the rope about them.' As he
speaks we vault a wire line with our.rope |
and knock down a fence.
Get ready to land, says the pilot.
you get q bag Of sand ready TO dump |
and you drop the anchor when / say
and hang on tight with your hands on
the ropes. will land in that field
The trees are still small. but they are
trees and not speSss. al HOY ,, high
have thought OF height-the first time
you have been but 200 feet up. II Is only
at low attitudes that earthly objects are
big enough for the sense OF comparison
necessary to estimate distance.
Again the valve cord is pulled. again
We go down, on a slant and with a rush.
with the bags; over they go-
with the anchor: over Il
goes-twenty, ten, bump We are down
and together in a tumble OF sand bags,
ca ameras, cans and coats. No wonder We
packed up II landing Is always as siren
uous as this.
Hang on Tight shouts the pilot. and
iol the balloon, rebounding. goes q hum
dred feet In the air. jerking our arms and
piling US In the other end Of the basket.
Down we 60 again. down. down. down
bump! Then up. up, up-etop down.
Up. up. stop. down, down,
bump! UP. stop down, bump'-bump
At last we lie almost still and you start
to get out. Don't novel shouts the
pilot; III you get out she will get away
He is hanging on to the valve cord.
Slowly. so slowly. the balloon gets
smaller and smaller. nabbier and fabbier.
,mellier and smellieri- We arc sur {
rounded by a crowd OF wondering natives.
Down and down the great bag sinks until
Z lies spread out upon the grass. We
step out, take q long breath
"Oh, iminy!' you say. Il want to 20
pack! I want to fly againl'
But the balloon trip is over,