Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-26
This is the first instollment
of an intensely interesting
story. Begin it today
In the Clouds
ssDY JOvE," said Rutherford, "the

cable has broken.'
In an instant / was craning over the
side of the basket. Five hundred feet,
ZOO feet. 1000 feet, 2000 feet below us,
the cruiser that had been our only link
with the world of man was diminishing
SO swiftly that. as far as ! remember.
she had shrunk to the lsmallness Of a
tug and then vanished into the haze
( before even answered him.
Anything TO be done?" | asked.
Nothing" said he.
1t had been growing steadily NOR"
misty even down near the water. and
now as the released balloon shot up into
an altitude of 5000, 10000 and pres
emily $4,000 feet, everything in heaven
and earth disappeared except that white
and clammy fog. By a simultaneous
impulse he lit cigarette and I pipe,
and remember very plainly wondering
whether he felt any touch of that self
conscious defiance of fate and deliberate
Intention TO do the coolest thing pos
sible which | am free to confess I felt
myself. Probably not Rutherford was
the real navy and but n zigzag ringed
r. \. V. Il. amateur. Still. the spirit
of the navy is infectious and | made
a fair attempt to keep his stout heart
company.
"What ought TO happen to thing
like this?" | inquired.
IF this wind holds we might con
ceivably make landing somewhere
with extraordinary luck"
"on the other side:'
He nodded and reflected.
1t was toward the end of August,
1914 We were somewhere about the
middle of the North Sea when the oh
servation balloon was sent up, and
had persuaded Rutherford to take me up
with him in the basket. Five minutes
ago l had been telling myself | was
the luckiest r. y. V. Il. sublicutCnant
in the navy, and then suddenly the ap-
palling thing happened. ! may not give
away any naval secrets, but everybody
knows, / presume, that towcd balloons
are sometimes used at sea, and it is
pretty obvious that certain accidents are
liable to happen to them.
In this case the most obvious of all
accidents happened; the cable snapped,
and there we were heading, as far as
could judge, for the stars that twinkle
over the German coast. At least, our
aneroid showed that we were going
upward faster than any bird could
rise, and the west wind was blowing
straight for the mouth of the Elbe when
we last felt it-for, of course, in n
free balloon one ceases to feel wind
altogether.
Neither of us spoke for some time,
and then a thought struck me suddenly
and l asked:
''Did you notice what o'clock it was
when we broke loose?"
Rutherford nodded.
I'm taking the time, he said, and
Z assuming the twenty knot breeze holds
we might risk a drop about 6 o clock.
"a drop" meant jumping into space
and trusting ones parachute to do its
business properly. | felt a sudden
tightening inside me as l thought Of
that dive into the void, but | asked
calmly enough:
"And assuming the breeze doesn't
hold?"
ooh, it will hold all right; it will
rise II anything" he said.
We had only been shipmatcs for n
week, that being the extent of mi
nautical experience, but | had learned
enough about Rutherford in that time
TO know that h, was one of the most
positive and self confident men breath
ing. one ndu 10 hdhe dlioNdh't lOi
this: still, that is the kind Of company
one wants in an involuntary balloon
expedition across the North Sea through
dense fog.
"And where are we likely to c"mp
down." I inquired.
''We might make the German coast
as far south as Borkum or one of the
other islands. or we might land some
where as far north as Holstein."
''Not Holland or Denmark
He shook his head positively. "NC
such luck"
Though this was a triHe depressing
Z II was comforting TO feel that one was
with man who knew his way about
the air so thoroughly. ] looked at om
map, judged the wind, and decided
that be was probably right. The
chances of fetching neutral country
seemed very slender. Curiously enough
the chances Of never reaching an!
country at all had passed out of my
calculations for the moment. Ruther
ford was so perfectly assured.