Year: 1869

One dull day in August, just after
noon, balloon rose in the air at the
foot of elect hills, on the edge of the
central plain of England. 1t was in
fated with the Highest of gases which
chemical skill could produce, and it
rose with amazing velocity. A mile
up and it entered stratum of clouds
more than a thousand feet thick
Emerging from this, the sun shone
brightly on the air-ship; the sky
overhead was of the clearest and deep
est blue, and below lay cloudland-an
immeasurable expanse Of cloud, whose
surface looked as solid as that of the
earth, now wholly lost to view. Lofty
mountains, and deep, dark ravines ap-
peared below; the peaks and sides of
those cloud mountains next the sun
glittered ike snow, but casting shad-
ows as black as if they were of solid
rock. Up rose the balloon with tre-
mendous velocity. Four miles above
earth pigeon was let loose; it drop
ped down through the air as if it had
been stone. The air was too thin to
enable it to fly. it was as if a bark
laden to the deck were to pass from
the heavy waters of the sea into an
inland unsaline lake; the bark would
sink at once in the thinner water
Up, up, still higher! What a silence
profound ! The heights of the sky were
as still as the deepest depths of the
ocean, where, as was found during
the search for the lost Atlantic cable,
the fine mud lies as unstirred from
year to year as the dust which imper-
ceptibly gathers on furniture of a de-
serted house. No sound, no life
only the bright sunshine falling thro'
sky which it could not warm.


Up-tive miles above the earth
higher than the inaccessible summit
Of the Chimborazo or Dawangiri. De-
spite the sunshine everything freezes.
The air grows too thin to support life,
even for a few minutes. Two men
only are in that adventurous balloon
the one steering the air ship, the
other watching the scientific instru.
ments, and recording them with ra-
pldity bred Of long practice. Sudden
ly as the latter looks at his instru-
ments his sight grows dim; he takes
a lens to help his sight, and only
marks from the falling barometer that
they are rising rapidly. A flask Of
brandy lies within a foot of him; he
tries TO reach it, but his arms refuse
to OBEY his will. He tries to call on
his cOmrade, who has gone up into the
ring above; a whisper in that deep
silence would suthce-but no sound
comes from his lips-he is voiceless
| The stcersman comes down into the
Car lac o~--~ his oonlro.dU ia IL owUUu
and teelS his own senses failing him


He saw at once that life and deatf
hung upon few moments. He seiz
ed. or tried to seize the valve in order
to open it and let out the gas. Hi:
hands are purple with intense cold
they are paralyzed, they will not re
spond to his will. He seized the valve
with his teeth, it opened little
once, twice, thrice. The balloon be
gan to descend. Then the swooneC
marksman returned to consciousness.
and saw the steersman standing be
fore him. He looked at his instru
ment; they must have been nearly
miles up; but now the barometer wa,
filling rapidly, the balloon was de
scending. Brandy was used. The,
had been higher above earth than NOR
tai man or any living thing had eve


been before. One minute more oil
ac:ion--of compulsory inaction-ol


the part of the Steersman, whose sen


ses were failing him, and the air ship


with its intensely rarifed gas, woulC


have been floating unattended witt
two corpses in the wide realms Of
space.-Once a Week.