The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1936-10-06

to say:
"You can see now, it's I, ]
alone, who must go up. Isn't that
so, repeated Briant, who drew his
brother"
Jacks Conscience
"That's right, Jack, that's
right" brother into his arms.
In face of the admission that
Jack had just made, in face of
that right which he now claimed,
it was in vain that Doniphan and
the others tried to intervene. The
only thing left was to allow him
to go up.
Jack gripped the hands Of his
comrades. Then, ready to take
his place in the nacelle, now
cleared of it's bag of dirt, he
turned towards Briant. The lat
ter was motionleSS, a few steps
behind the capstan. All of a sud-
den, Briant announced:
Wait, I am going up in your
place"
You" cried JACK.
"You! 80. YOU" ... repeated
Doniphan and Service.
Eyes, mel! Whether Jacks
fault be atoned for by his brother
or by himself, what matters! Be-
sides, when I had the idea to
make this attempt, did you think
that I'd allow any one else to go
up?"
Brother, cried Jack. IT beg
you!
mo, jack"
Then" said Doniphan, Il claim
it's my turn"
mo, Doniphan!" replied Briant,
in tone which admitted no inter
ference. It'll go!. I insist"
st had guessed you Alright,
Briant!" said Gordon, pressing the
hand of his friend.
With those words, Briant
stepped inside the nacelle and
gave the order to lift the kite.
It went up slowly at first.
then Baxter, Wilcox, Cross and
Service, standing by the capStan,
paid out the rope at the same time
that Garrett, who held the signal
string, let it glide gently under his
fingers. In ten seconds "the giant
of the air" had disappeared in the
darkness, not to hurrahS, but in
the midst of a profound silence.
The fearless chief of these
young people, the generous Briant,
had disappeared with it.
The kite rose with slow move
ment. The constancy of the
breeze assured it perfect stability.
It hardly moved from one side to
the other. Briant kept motion
less, his hands gripping the cords
which suspended the nacelle to
the kite, as it rocked gently with
the same light movement as a
swing.
What strange impression Briant
experienced when he first felt
himself suspended in space on this
huge kite Shuddering under the
pressure of the wind. 1t seemed
to him that he was taken up by
some fantastic bird of prey, but
he was able to keep the perfect
GOODNESS which the experiment de-
manded.
Ten minutes after the kite had
left the ground, little shock
indicated that its ascension had
ended. The altitude must have
been between six and seven hun
dred feet.
Briant, absolutely master Of
himself, studied his dark sur
roundings. Holding the suspen-
sion cords with one hand, he
held his telescope with the other.
Below him, a profound dark
ness. The lake, the forests. the
cliff. formed a confused mass of
which he could distinguish no
detail, but the island was out
lined on the ocean which sur
rounded it.
If he had made this ascension
In daylight he might have seen
some other island or the shore
of a continent if one existed
within forty or fifty miles.
In the west, the north and the
south the sky was too dark for
him to see anything, but in the
east a few clouds parted, allow
ing some stars to shine through.
And precisely from that side,
an intense light, which reflected
itself right down to the low
strata of the atmosphere, at
tracted the attention of Briant.
"It's the reflection of a big
fire." he said to himself.
Would Walston have eStab-
lished his camp at that place?
.. No! That fire was a long
way off, certainly far beyond the