第 9 页

"One thing yet, and we are ready," said Bunbury, who was standing by the mooring-ropes with a sharp knife in his hand. "We need a cask of water."

"I'll get it," volunteered Arthur.

He picked up a keg that Bunbury pointed out to him, and vanished quickly down the path in the direction of the river. Barely three minutes had elapsed when he came dashing back to the clearing, empty-handed, breathless, and with deadly fear stamped on his pale face.

Roden hastened to his brother, and caught hold of him.

* * *

Chapter XIII

"Are you hurt, Arthur?" he cried anxiously.

"No, he's only frightened," Godfrey exclaimed.

"Give him a chance to get his wind."

"What is the matter, my lad?" demanded Bunbury.

"Where is the keg?"

"I - I dropped it," panted Arthur. "We must start —- at once —- there is no time —t o lose. Arabs are coming —- in a boat. They saw me —- when I waded out —- to fill the cask. I couldn't help it."

As he spoke a couple of loud halloos were heard at a distance, and then a dull, rattling noise. The Arabs were evidently forcing their boat through the papyrus reeds.

It was a moment of frightful peril, and every face blanched. Danger to the balloon was most to be feared, since a spear thrust or a rifle ball would prove its ruin.

"It won't do to risk an encounter," cried Arthur, "though the Arabs are no more than a dozen in number."

"No; we must ascend before the devils arrive!" exclaimed Godfrey.

"Ay, that's the only chance," muttered Bunbury.

"Lively now! Up with the stuff."

In hot haste the great heap of luggage was tumbled into the wicker car. Bunbury rushed to the hut, and emerged with the box of bombs, which he stowed carefully away among blankets.

Then he sprang lightly over the side of the car, and was followed immediately by his companions.

At that instant a crashing noise was heard, and a hideous, frizzle-haired dervish appeared at the edge of the winding path. He was evidently somewhat in advance of the rest.

He caught sight of the balloon, and stared at it in comical amazement, forgetting the spear that was poised in his hand.

With a sharp cry, that was echoed by his compan ions, Bunbury whipped out a revolver and fired hastily.

The dervish stumbled on hand and knees, wailing shrilly, and then rolled over lifeless in the sand.

"Hurrah!" shouted Godfrey. "A good shot!"

"Here goes!" cried Bunbury, jerking a sharp knife from his belt. "We'll be up in a second."

Just then a second dervish appeared, who yelled horribly when he saw his dead comrade. He lifted his gun and took aim at the balloon.

Crack! It was Arthur's rifle this time, and the ruffian, dropping his weapon, spun around with a bullet through his right arm.

Hoarse shouting was heard in the thicket, but Bunbury had now severed both ropes that moored the car to the ground, and the liberated balloon shot lightly upward.

At the same time two dervishes came dancing into the clearing, yelling like fiends. A sand-bag, thrown by Bunbury, burst on the head of one, and filled the eyes of both with fine sand.

Thus emptied of part of its ballast, the balloon made a dizzy spurt, and the aeronauts, peering down, had a brief glimpse of howling Arabs swarming into the clearing, and were deafened by an explosion of musketry.

The fugitives were safe, and had nothing more to fear from their cruel foes. Bunbury, who was quite in his element, stood up, and calmly surveyed the dizzy prospect beneath him. Godfrey was less clear-headed, but he made a brave show of looking down. There was keen pleasure and delight in his face.

But Arthur and Roden were, to say the least, dazed by their strange and novel surroundings. They felt, as though they were whirling unsupported through space, and would presently strike somewhere and be dashed to pieces.

For a time they crouched in the bottom of the car, looking up now and then at the great bag of inflated gas, and the meshwork of the strong cords.

"Come, lads," said Godfrey. "You don't know what you are missing. This is the grandest sight that human eyes can behold. I would like to be an aeronaut for the rest of my days."

"They will soon become accustomed to it," added Bunbury kindly. "One always feels dizzy at the beginning. It is a rare novelty."

But the boys protested that they were not dizzy. Indeed, the feeling of insecurity was already wearing off, They were beginning to enjoy the unwonted motion, and the bracing upper currents of air.

They finally crept to the edge of the car, and being naturally clear-headed and strong-nerved, they were quickly able to appreciate and marvel at the view.

And what a view it was! No tongue or pen could have begun to do justice to its sublimity, its grandeur, its clear tracing of the geographical features of the earth.

The balloon was fifteen hundred feet in air, and speeding swiftly along in the teeth of a strong breeze. Straight underneath was the broad bosom of the Nile, now gleaming: blue and silvery in the early rays of the sun. To the southwest as far as the eye could reach, the river dwindled away to a tiny sinuous riband.

In the opposite direction the island where the ascent had been made was still in plain view, and on the edge of the reeds, off to the left shore, the boat from which the Arabs had landed could be seen.

It contained a solitary figure. The others were probably plundering the hut in the clearing.

On all sides was the vast African desert-yellow sand heaps, and ridges of volcanic rock, and scattered oases of green palm trees, fading and sloping to the farthermost line of the vague, circular horizon.

And overhead was the pale transparent blue ether, a boundless sea of air that seemed to invite the balloon and its daring occupants to soar still higher into the mystic realms of space.

All, even the stolid Bunbury, were strangely silent and impressed for a time, as though under a spell of enchantment.

Presently, when the island had grown dim, some black specks were discovered on the river about a mile ahead.

"More of our hospitable friends coming to look for us," said Bunbury, with a mocking laugh.

Sure enough, a little later the balloon passed directly over four long boats filled to the gunwales with armed dervishes.

When Godfrey leaned over the car and shouted, every black face was turned upward, and cries of super stitious fear and awe burst from every throat.

These quickly changed to yells of rage as the dervishes discovered that the air-ship held their hated enemies. A number of rifles were fired at it.

But of course the bullets were futile, and in brief time the balloon was far away from the boats and their occupants.

"We are dropping a little," said Bunbury, sitting down and glancing at his barometer. "We are now about thirteen hundred feet above the earth."

"Have we not an unusually heavy load on board?" asked Godfrey.

"Yes, exceedingly so," was the reply, "though the balloon is of extra large dimensions. The ballast will have to go before a great while, and later on we may be compelled to part with much of our luggage."

Bunbury produced a map and compass, and began to study them intently. For a time his companions watched the fleeting landscape beneath. The balloon was still following the upward course of the Nile.

"How fast are we traveling?" inquired Godfrey.

"About forty miles an hour," answered Bunbury, "and straight in the direction of Khartoum. But we may change that at any time. The upper air currents are of a very diverse and contrary nature. They never remain the same for any considerable length."

"How long ought the gas to last?" Roden asked. "The country of the Karibegs must be far away."

"The supply can be depended upon for two days, at least," Bunbury replied. "The balloon is fitted with, several modern inventions which prevent rapid exhaustion. In that time we can travel more than two thousand miles."

"Wonderful" exclaimed Godfrey. "It seems incredible that we can cover in forty-eight hours a distance that explorers have taken months to toil over."

"Yet it is true," said Bunbury. "Science is checked by nothing. Moreover, when our gas is finally exhausted, I have a device by which we can make a fresh supply — of a much inferior sort, I admit and yet sufficient to float us on a short trip. It all depends on our finding certain materials."

"Will that be difficult?" inquired Godfrey.

"It depends on the nature of the country," responded Bunbury. "On a sandy soil we would be helpless, but in a timbered region——"

He paused suddenly, and waved his hand to the southwest."

"Look!" he cried, in an eager tone: "Yonder lies Khartoum !"

Bunbury was right, though his companions could hardly believe their eyes. Half a dozen miles away, where the river forked to right and left, on the misty horizon, a cluster of yellow roofs and domes was clearly visible.

Rapidly the balloon swept on toward the terrible and fanatical city. It would evidently pass directly over the center.

"We are dropping!" cried Arthur. "The river looks to be twice as near."

"You are right," calmly replied Bunbury, glancing at the barometer."

Eight minutes later the car was but four hundred feet above the water, and within half a mile of the town.

"This is madness!" exclaimed Godfrey. "We will fall into the bands of the dervishes again. They will pierce the balloon with bullets."

He reached for a sand-bag.

"Stop!" cried Bunbury. "Our ballast is too precious to waste needlessly. We are moving at a stationary altitude now, and will drop no lower."

"But the town," muttered Godfrey. "There is surely danger."

"No; we will skim over it too swiftly," Bun bury replied. "Keep out of sight as much as possible, and if you must peep down, show only your eyes and noses. The inhabitants will be so overcome by superstitious fear that they won't think of making any hostile demonstration."

Bunbury's advice was followed without dispute, though his companions felt far from satisfied.

The balloon was now over the end of the town, and when the aeronauts peeped cautiously from the car they were thrilled to see flat roofs and narrow streets, and groups of half-naked Arabs who were uttering shrill cries.

"Look! look!" suddenly exclaimed Godfrey, who was on the south side. "We are lost. Throw out the ballast, quick!"

Godfrey's companions instantly saw and understood, the cause of his alarm. A short distance ahead, and in line with the balloon's course, was the main square of the town. The palace lay on one side, and in front of it stood a file of twenty Soudanese soldiers, armed with rifles, which they were pointing upward in readiness to fire.

* * *

Chapter XIV

At a little distance were groups of dervishes, all gazing skyward in silence and awe. But the most inter esting figure was the officer in command of the soldiers. He wore a scarlet fez and blouse, and held a gleaming sword.

"It looks like Safid Pasha," muttered Bunbury.

"It is!" exclaimed Godfrey. "It is — the scoundrel himself. He has discovered our approach, and is not to be deceived like his fanatical townsmen. He knows all about balloons."

"What harm can he do?" asked Roden. "We are four or five hundred feet above the town."

"His men are evidently sharpshooters," replied Godfrey, "and are armed with the best of rifles."

"That is true," said Bunbury, with a groan. "The balls will carry three or four hundred yards. The balloon can hardly fail to be pierced."

For an instant the aeronauts were thrilled with horror. They were now nearly over the fatal spot.

"If anything is to be done, it must be done at once," cried Godfrey, in a frightened tone.

"Look!" added Arthur; "they are going to shoot."

As the lad spoke, one of the soldiers took aim and fired. Then another shot, and another. They were evidently testing their powers.

Suddenly a bullet tore diagonally through the bottom of the car, and, narrowly missing Godfrey, buried itself in a can of tinned meat.

Bunbury grabbed up a sand-bag, but instantly dropped it.

"No time for that," he muttered. "We will rise too slowly. I must try the last resource."

He thrust his hand into the box of bombs, and drew one out. As he turned to the edge of the car, his companions peered anxiously over.

The square was now directly beneath. A few yards more would bring the balloon straight above the file of soldiers. They were firing intermittently. The danger was imminent. Bunbury dropped the bomb, and every eye watched the object as it swiftly descended.

It struck the ground in the center of a cleared space, and instantly there was a frightful explosion. The agitated current of air rushed upward, and caused the balloon to sway and toss.

When the smoke and dust cleared, the aeronauts had a plain view of the destructive effects of the bomb.

Dervishes and soldiers were fleeing in all directions, with fearful cries. Part of the front wall of the palace had been demolished, and amid the ruins lay a dozen dead or struggling forms.

Among these was one in a scarlet fez and blouse. The traitorous Safid Pasha had met a well-merited fate.

"He deserved it," muttered Godfrey. "This is the expiation of a long catalogue of crimes."

"I am sick of bloodshed," said Arthur. "I hope we are done with it now."

"Yes," replied Bunbury; "our wrongs have been amply revenged. In all likelihood we have seen the last of Khartoum and its fanatics."

As he spoke the balloon was passing over the prison, and five minutes later the town and its outlying sub urbs were fading in the distance.

The air voyagers now settled down to a peaceful and thorough enjoyment of their novel situation. For hour after hour they chatted, or discussed the future, while the balloon sped swiftly to the southeast.

By midday the Blue Nile and the sandy desert had vanished utterly. The landscape under the car was now varied in character — fields of waving grain, green forests, densely-timbered hills, rich pastures, in which grazed herds of sleek cattle and goats, and scattered villages of conical huts, inclosed [sic] by hedges.