torm was fearful, but it was
only a small blot upon a fair landscape when viewed from such a height.

"Yes," mused Mr. Ticks aloud, pulling his energies together. "I know now
what it all means. I know the secret of Russell's unparalleled
disaster."

As he spoke he reached out and shook the professor, then Swift; then he
touched the young lady with gentle deference. The three opened their
eyes, one after another.

"We're saved! Oh, what luck! We're saved!" cried Professor Ariel. Tears
of joy started from his eyes. "Say, mister," his devil-may-care manner
returning to him in the fulness of his ecstasy. "Say," punching Swift,
"you ain't got a chaw about you, have you?"

But Swift, lifting up his bewildered eyes, took in the glorious blue sky
and sun, then his gaze fell upon the horror from which they had
escaped. Mechanically he searched the pockets of his trousers. Out of
his pistol pocket he pulled a flask of brandy--all that survived to him
of his outfit for this ghastly journey. This he had forgotten, otherwise
it would have gone by the rail along with his pocketbook, to lighten the
car.

"Not yet," he said, pushing aside the professor's longing hand, "the
lady first!"

The brandy, the warm sun and the prospect of safety roused the girl
considerably. Possibly Swifts supporting arm hastened her recuperation.

Swift passed the bottle to Mr. Ticks, who drank, and coughed, and drank
again.

"It's St. Croix, vintage of forty-two," said Mr. Ticks, gratefully. The
professor got what he could. But Swift would not touch any. He was
experiencing a finer intoxication. His eyes met those of the girl, who
had been the unconscious cause of all their danger. She seemed to
perceive this, for she soon broke the profound silence by suggesting
with a blush:

"You needn't hold me so tight, sir. I'll try not to fall."

"Can you talk now?" asked Mr. Ticks of their lady companion.

This question deflected a possible embarrassment, but Swift, deeming it
safe to allow no risk, did not relax his hold of the girl.

"Are you a reporter?" he asked, with an unaccountable desire to keep the
conversation in his own hands. "This gentleman and myself are on the
_Daily Planet_, the other man is professor of the balloon."

"How did you know?" she answered with a first approach to a smile. "I
am, or at least I was, society reporter on the _Russell Telegraph_." The
last word started Mr. Ticks up again.

"You witnessed the destruction of R