Year: 1877




approaching them. A few hundred feet
more were passed, and we struck tho storm
current. The Gypsy ducked and lurched
off.


"' Hold onr Ned shouted, and if we
hadn't held on, we should have gone out
OF the basket, for we got a tremendous
jerk. The balloon bobbed her head and
bolted northeast, right over the straits and
the lake. She drew us after her at the rate
OF sixty miles an hour, perhaps even faster
than that.


" But Lake st. Clair is goodish bit OF
water. We were over it till nearly seven
o'clock, when the woods and houses on the
Canada shore began to come in sight, and
we were soon over them.


"Let's get down. said Ned, who had
been taking a long look at the country.
There is large village ahead. Let's try
for that, and drop as near it as we cam


g looked, and then pulled the rope OF
the valve-which, when open, allows the
gas to escape-so as to drop the balloon
down out of the upper air current in which
we were flying. The escape of gas caused
the Gypsy to descend. She went sagging
down on long incline for perhaps Il
thousand feet, but still continued to fly
rapidly forward.


=" We had come within eight or nine
hundred feet Of the earth, and saw not a
little to our CONSERVATION, that the wind
blew the trees fiercely, and that strong
southeasterly gale was sweeping tho ground.
The wind was more violent than it had
been aloft.


" knew then that we must encounter
some severe humping, but neither of us
anticipated such a gale as that we fell into; {;
for, as we got lower, we were swept on
faster and faster


"At a height of POO feet above the trees
and fences, we were carried along at
certainly twice the speed of race horse.
Fields and farm houses sped under US.
We had passing glimpses of here and there
an astonishing face turned up towards us


This never will dor Ned shouted,
It's death to touch the groundr lie
pitched out bag Of sand. When it struck
the earth it burst like shell. threw out
another.


Just then we were passing a road. A
horse and wagon, containing a man and
woman, were passing. The sand-b
struck the fence, smashing it to splinters.
With Mortified glance the passengers
piled the whip. We left them bounding
away at a gallop.


"The Gypsy vaulted into the air again.
The country flew from under us. Soon
drops of rain drove into the car. A stormy
night was setting in. The rain and mist
saturated the cordage and increased the
weight of the ballon, and we again settled
toward the earth


"Our situation can be imagined-fying
at such speed over a country tho surface of
which could now scarcely be distinguished /!
One bump against the earth, house, or
rock, would probably be fatal to us.


"' We must try the hooks !!


"We had two anchors attached to inch.
and-a-half line that were 200 feet in length.
| cast out one of them, and we lay hold Of
the rope, in the expectation of a sudden
arrest of our fight. We were slowly set.
tling, and it presently caught on some.
thing


"There was prodgious jerk, but the
obstacle we had hooked gave way. The
anchor bounded upward, almost into the
car, and we rose again, but only for
moment or two. Then came a series of
bitches and jerks as the grappel dragged
after us.


Fence poles were hooked up. One
post flew up almost to a level with our
faces. moment after we went over a
farmhouse. The anchor ripped up the
caves and sent the bricks rafting off the
chimney. What the people thought inside
of the hubbab is more than know. Ned
said they might bless their stars that we
had not taken the house with us.


"All at once we heard splashing. We
"SiO pooolhS OTSI pOIlus me ancnOf was
dragging in the water. The pond was
covered with ducks. They rose with sharp
quackings and tremendous rumble of
wings. One flew blindly into the car.


"The next instant we experienced a
terrific jerk. The anchor line snapped.
The balloon bounced from the earth. The
anchor had caught in large tree, and the
chord had broken like thread We threw
out the other ancher 1t was our one
hope.


at had grown very dark and was raining
hard. The anchor caught repeatedly but
did not hold. We were carried in this
manner several miles. Soon the basket
began to Craze the treetops.


"At length we hauled up the line, and
found why the anchor did not catch; both
lukes were broken off | cut it loose,
The balloon rose little.


"Ned then tied the anchor-line to our
last sand-bag, and we threw thatout, hoping
it might hitch round something. Evidently
we were over a forest. l could hear the
heavy bag crashing through the boughs.