Part 28 (1/2)
”What do you still apprehend?” queried Kennedy ”The balloon can't descend without your permission, and even were it to do so-”
”Were it to do so, dick? Look!”
They had just passed the borders of the forest, and the three friends could see some thirtybournouses They were ar , on their quick, fiery little steeds, the direction of the balloon, which was ht of the aeronauts, they uttered savage cries, and brandished their weapons Anger and menace could be read upon their swarthy faces,beards Meanwhile they galloped along without difficulty over the low levels and gentle declivities that lead down to the Senegal
”It is, indeed, they!” said the doctor; ”the cruel Talabas! the ferocious marabouts of Al-Hadji! I would rather find myself in the middle of the forest encircled by wild beasts than fall into the hands of these banditti”
”They haven't a very obliging look!” assented Kennedy; ”and they are rough, stalwart fellows”
”Happily those brutes can't fly,” reuson, ”those villages in ruins, those huts burned down-that is their work! Where vast stretches of cultivated land were once seen, they have brought barrenness and devastation”
”At all events, however,” interposed Kennedy, ”they can't overtake us; and, if we succeed in putting the river between us and theuson; ”but we lanced at the barometer
”In any case, Joe,” added Kennedy, ”it would do us no harm to look to our fire-arms”
”No harm in the world, Mr dick! We are lucky that we didn't scatter the the road”
”My rifle!” said the sportsman ”I hope that I shall never be separated fro, Kennedy loaded the pet piece with the greatest care, for he had plenty of powder and ball reht are we?” he asked the doctor
”About seven hundred and fifty feet; but we no longer have the power of seeking favorable currents, either going up or co down We are at the mercy of the balloon!”
”That is vexatious!” rejoined Kennedy ”The wind is poor; but if we had come across a hurricane like soands would have been out of sight long ago”
”The rascals follow us at their leisure,” said Joe ”They're only at a short gallop Quite a nice little ride!”
”If ithin range,” sighed the sports a few of them”
”Exactly,” said the doctor; ”but then they would have you within range also, and our balloon would offer only too plain a target to the bullets frouns; and, if they were to e what our situation would be!”
The pursuit of the Talabas continued all ; and by eleven o'clock the aeronauts had made scarcely fifteenfor the least cloud on the horizon He feared, above all things, a change in the ater, ould become of him? Besides, he remarked that the balloon tended to fall considerably Since the start, he had already lost al must be about a dozen miles distant At his present rate of speed, he could count upon travelling only three hours longer
At this moment his attention was attracted by fresh cries The Talabas appeared to betheir horses
The doctor consulted his barometer, and at once discovered the cause of these sy?” asked Kennedy
”Yes!” replied the doctor
”The ht Joe In the lapse of fifteen minutes the Victoria was only one hundred and fifty feet above the ground; but the as er than before
The Talabas checked their horses, and soon a volley of musketry pealed out on the air
”Too far, you fools!” bawled Joe ”I think it would be well to keep those scamps at a distance”
And, as he spoke, he aimed at one of the horsemen as farthest to the front, and fired The Talaba fell headlong, and, his coained upon them
”They are prudent!” said Kennedy
”Because they think that they are certain to take us,” replied the doctor; ”and, they will succeed if we descend her into the air”
”What can we throw out?” asked Joe
”All that remains of our stock of peht to carry”
”Out it goes, sir!” said Joe, obeying orders
The car, which was now alain, amid the cries of the Talabas; but, half an hour later, the balloon was again falling rapidly, because the gas was escaping through the pores of the covering
Ere long the car was oncethe soil, and Al-Hadji's black riders rushed toward it; but, as frequently happens in like cases, the balloon had scarcely touched the surface ere it rebounded, and only caain a mile away
”So we shall not escape!” said Kennedy, between his teeth
”Throw out our reserved store of brandy, Joe,” cried the doctor; ”our instruht, even to our last anchor, because go theyout the barometers and thermometers, but all that amounted to little; and the balloon, which had risen for an instant, fell again toward the ground
The Talabas fleard it, and at length were not more than two hundred paces away
”Throw out the tling-pieces!” shouted Ferguson
”Not without discharging them, at least,” responded the sportsman; and four shots in quick succession struck the thick of the advancing group of horsemen Four Talabas fell, amid the frantic howls and imprecations of their comrades
The Victoria ascended once uh the air A strange sight it was to see these unfortunate e aerial strides, and seeth every time they touched the earth But this situation had to ter eated for flaccid, and floated loosely in the air, and the folds of the silk rustled and grated on each other
”Heaven abandons us!” said Kennedy; ”we have to fall!”
Joeintently at his master
”No!” said the latter; ”we have more than one hundred and fifty pounds yet to throw out”
”What can it be, then?” said Kennedy, thinking that the doctorto the network There we can hang on in the meshes until we reach the river Quick! quick!”
And these daring men did not hesitate a moment to avail themselves of this last desperate means of escape They clutched the network, as the doctor directed, and Joe, holding on by one hand, with the other cut the cords that suspended the car; and the latter dropped to the ground just as the balloon was sinking for the last tily, as the Victoria, once ht of three hundred feet