The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-05-11


pounds. The man clinging to his arm
must weigh at least 10 pounds.
To make the ascent this way
would be absolutely folly. Su he
! rGdoubled his energies toward
Kicking off the unwelcome pussen-
per. Letting go of one hand he
clung To one swing, bending rope
and with the other hand tried to
Tear apart the mans fingers. kick
ing them madly in the thighs with
his heels.
Drop, drop, you can maze it
yet, called out Scanion. almost
out of breath.
But the man paid no heed hold
ing ON as grimly as death itself
tatChlng hold CT one Of the man :
hands Scanion tore it away The
man freed his hand and fastened il
1T in another place. Surging back
and forth, ScaniOn tried TO wriggle
out OF the mans grasp, the combin-
ed wave sending a wave clear up to
the balloon like a quick jerk trav-
elllng along a rope. Breathing
with quick intakes Of breath. part
ly from exhaustion and partly
llom the effects Of the liquor the
man clunS 70 Scion without
speaking word One iGea was
firmly fixed in his mind and that
was that he must hold on tight and
with the grip and determination of
a drowning man he carried out his
idea
Working his hand up the mans
back ScaniOn got it against the
mans face by quick surge and
pushed madly and blindly, but the
man buried his face in the other
side OF Scanion'S back and the short
advantage was gone.
Rapidly but with startled dignity
the balloon rose into the air each
second adding to the distance that
one OF them must fall. Scanion's
hands sank deep into the bar ropes
and they came down almost to the
level OF the bar, his head was pulled
back until he could see nO;hin. b.'-
the dropping skirts of The par.
cnute and the bulging sides OF ,nu
balloon over him. SqUirmirE ana
Kicking he struggled until h.-
breath was almost spCU., fj-Ni.:.E
against tim". knowing 'I,j each
moment the balloon MS getting
higher and higher.
Finally twisting lis head around.
ScantOn Says that they were fully
800 feet high and that a drop meant
instant uoath. He could see the
crowd standing almost as he had
left it, scarcely making a sound, all
iaces tense and set, silent watchers
of the struggle for life in mid air
Single Chance of Escape.
suddenly the man gave a lunge
and lung an arm over the bar.
then in spite OF all that Scion
could do he swung back and hooked
Knee over it like an acrobat in
show
Scion looked down into the
" n nsNr g FOO
lines of fear and determination. His
eyes were wide open and staring,
but afraid to look down. There
was not the slightest sign of drunk
ennrsS about the face, the terrible
| struggle had completely cleared his
mind. Scion could see that the man
was possessed of but one idea and
that was to hold madly to the
swinging bar. His whole strength
and his whole mind was set on car
rying this out.
AS Scion looked down at the
man he turned over every possible
chance of escape.
/ To drop meant destruction The
parachute was built 20 carry only
one man. Possibly one of them
might go down in the parachute
and the other ride the balloon down
by waiting until the night air chill
/ ed the gas. 1t was but a straw. but
worth seiZing.
All right, it's too late for you
to drop off now" said ScaniOn
gruffly. Swing yourself upon this
bar"
The man looked up at him more
like Il wild animal than human
being, like dog trying to under
stand just what his master means.
SO firmly fixed i'll his mind was the
ldea that he must cling to the bar,
that he could not comprehend what
Scanion meant.
Climb down, damn YOU" growl-
ed Scanion. We've got 10 stick it
out together"
The light of understanding broke
into the mans eyes, ard with rigid.
trembling muscles he drew himself
up on the bar and wound his arm
around the supporting rope The
two sat crowded shoulder to shoul-
der, facing, with scarcely enough
room to move.
Don't hurt me-" whined the man,
speaking for the fist time.
Shut up and don't shake the
balloon" snapped Scanion.
The man kept his eyes on Scan
ion, afraid to look toward the
earth. is it very-very far?"
The Fight for Life.
The man whimpered and shrank
against the rope without looking
| down
What are you going to do about
it, demanded Scanion, taking the
chance to punish the intruder. The
danger now did not seem so immi-
nent, and so Scanion was bound to
impress on the man what he had
done
The man whimpered and shrank
away from the aeronaut. The fight
was gone out of him. He dreaded
the upbraiding more than the
| Linlri NO