The Winslow mail., 1915-01-02

|
ing could avert.
Seven days later Durand, with a
thousand pounds of melinite in his
dirigible balloon, and the parachute
attached to the aluminium stern, rose
slowly above the French camp into
the air.
From the walls of the fortress the
besieged general, glass to his eyes,
watched and wondered at this new
maneuver.
He had sworn never to surrender,
and by heroic privations his men had
managed to conserve still another
days supply of water, though nearly
all their animals were dead of thirst.
1t was the generals intention to cut
his way out at the head of his troops
on the morrow, and die upon the
field-unless it rained
But the scorched heavens refused
to open Day and night we're one
brazen glow of heat. All night heat
lightning played on the horizon, and
sometimes the distant muttering of
thunder was heard, but never a drop
of rain had fallen.
Durand rose slowly into the air,
and, as he did so, the airguns of the
fortress opened fire upon him. But
it is the most difficult thing in the
world to hit a quickly rising balloon,
and neither Durand nor Lamarche had
any fears on that score If the bal.
loon were hit, the melinite would ex.
plode in the air and the balloon and
aviator would vanish-but no harm
would come to the besiegers. At
worst, the experiment would harm no
body.
At an altitude of two thousand feet
the balloon was safe from danger,
Durand smiled as he heard the great
shells whizzing around him. He
knew that only a miracle of marks.
manship could bring him down.
At four thousand feet Durand was
only speck in the sky, hardly to be
discerned even through Lamarche's
glasses. The French camp strained
it's eyes upward. The report of the
broken mans exploit, which was tc
restore his honor and bring, no doubt,
the ribbon of the legion of honor
had become universal. And in the
beleaguered fortress for the first time
an inkling of the airman's intentions
became obvious when a tiny speck
was seen to detach itself from the
slightly larger mass and drop toward
earth.
| Instantly it had begun the swift
descent, while the balloon, relieved of
it's slighter burden, shot upward in
spite of the rapid escape of gas. The
dirigible ascended five hundred feet
before it paused, stood still, and then
began its downward rush.
Durand had planned his descent SO
that it should carry him into the
French lines. But to his horror a
sudden breeze drove the parachute
straight toward the inside of the fort.
ress walls. And then, resigning him
self to the inevitable, he devoted all
his efforts toward saving his life,
rather than attempting to gain the
camp of the besiegers, which would
!
1t was about minute after he had
pulled the cord of the valve when Du,
rand dropped, unharmed, at the feet
of the general in defense of Fort
! Gleichen.
But nobody noticed him, for all eyes
were strained upward to where the
| great balloon came whirling down,
| straight toward the fortress. Here
Durand had not miscalculated. 1t fell
true as an arrow, and the heat light
ming played about it and
Boom!
The most awful detonation that had
ever been heard since war began
! filled the whole air with sound A
coil of cloud enveloped everything
and shut out the sunlight. Slowly it
drifted away. And everyone knew
what had occurred. The dirigible had
been struck by lightning during it's
descent.
An instant later the sun disap-
peared And suddenly, with the sound
| of million bullets, hailstones the
size of pigeons eggs whizzed to the
earth, followed by drenching down
pour.
Never had it rained as it rained that
afternoon. The water fell in torrents.
1t was as though million hoses
were turned earthward from the heav-
ems. In two minutes the camps were
flooded. The streets of the be-
leaguered town ran water. Men flung
themselves upon their faces and wal.
lowed in the precious rain. From
every house buckets, bath tubs, i'm
plements of every kind were out
stretched to hold the life-giving water.
The cisterns overf1owed. The be-
sieged city was saved.
Durand stood before the general
within the fortress. His hope had
failed, by the interposition of the un-
expected element, fate, which sends
so many schemes agley.
He expected death He was not
even in uniform-a hopeless, ragged