Next we saw the blimp's water ballast streaming earthward in the sun,
and it was put into a long, steady spiral in pursuit of the parachute,
whose speed--or so it seemed to my agonized gaze--was now noticeably
on the increase. The altitude seemed appallingly great; the blimp's
ceiling, I knew, was only about twenty thousand; and my brother, even
if not frozen to death by that time, would be traveling far faster
then than any climbing speed the blimp could make; as his fall
increased in speed, the climb of the bag decreased.

At last, with a quiver of renewed hope, I saw the blimp narrowing down
its spirals--it was overtaking! Smaller and smaller grew both
objects--but so did the gap between them! At last they merged, the
tiny white dot and the little gray minnow. In one long agony I waited
to see whether the gap would open out again. Lord of Hosts--the blimp
was slanting steeply downward; the parachute had vanished!

Then at last I paid some attention to the totally limp form in my
arms; and a few minutes later, amid an insane crowd, a pitifully
embarrassed and nerve-shaken dirigible navigator was helping me lift
my heavily-wrapped, shivering brother from the gondola, while the
mechanics turned their attention to the overdriven engines and wracked
framing. Did I say "helping me lift?" Such is the force of habit--but
verily, a new nomenclature would have to come into being to deal
adequately with such a life as my poor brother's!

Tristan seized my hand.

"Jim!" he said through chattering teeth, "I'm cured--cured of the
awful fear! That second time he missed, I just gave up entirely; I
didn't care any longer. And then somehow I felt such a sense of peace
and freedom--there weren't any upside-down things around to torture
me, no sense of insecurity. I just was, in a great blue quiet; it
wasn't like falling at all; no awful shock to meet, no sickness or
pain--just quietly floating along from Here to There, with no
particular dividing line between, anywhere. The cold hurt, of course,
but somehow it didn't seem to matter, and was getting better when they
caught me. But now--I can do things you never even imagined!"

* * * * *

Thus began my brother's real public career--he had arrived. After that
he was able to name his own compensation, and shortly during his
tours, began to sport a private dirigible of his own, which he often
used for jumps between stands. He told me jokingly that it