Still he crept on, and still the great silken fabric
heeled over, as if it resented his boldness and would crush him.

Once his foothold gave way, and he dropped to his full length, retaining
only his hand-grip of the thin cords, which nearly cut his fingers in
two under the strain of his whole weight. I thought he was gone; I
thought I had lost him for ever. It seemed impossible he could keep his
hold, and even if he did the weak netting must give way. It stretched
down where he grasped it into a bag form and increased his distance
from the balloon, so that he could not reach with his feet, although he
drew his body up and made many a desperate effort to do so.

[Illustration: "CLINGING WITH HANDS AND FEET TO THE NETTING."]

But while I watched him in an agony of powerlessness to help, the
balloon slowly regained the perpendicular, and just as Phillip seemed at
the point of exhaustion his feet caught once more in the netting, and,
with his arms thrust through the meshes and twisted in and out for
security, while his strong teeth also gripped the cord, I saw my husband
in comparative safety once more. I turned to relieve my pent-up feelings
to Kenneth, but he was not in the car--only his boots. He had seen
Phillip's peril, and climbed up on the other side of the balloon to
restore the balance.

But now the wicked thing served them another trick; it slowly lay over
on its side under the weight of the two men, who were now poised like
panniers upon the extreme convexity of the silk. This was very perilous
for both, but the change of position gave them a little rest, and
Phillip shouted instructions round to Kenneth to slowly work his way
back to the car, while he (Phillip) would mount to the top of the
balloon, the surface of which would be brought under him by Kenneth's
weight. It was my part to make them balance each other. This I did by
watching the tendency of the balloon, and telling Kenneth to move to
right or left as I saw it become necessary. It was very difficult for us
all. The great fabric wobbled about most capriciously, sometimes with a
sudden turn that took us all by surprise, and would have jerked every
one of us into space, had we not all been clinging fast to the cordage.

At last Phillip shouted:--

"Get ready to slip down steadily into the car."

"I am ready," replied Kenneth.

"Then go!" came from Phillip.

"Easy does it! Steady! Don't hurry! Get right down into the middle of
the car, both of