Louis--balloon _Great Republic_--report me as down--will drop in few
minutes!"

They caught every word, although the man's voice seemed husky, and weak,
as if he might have been long exposed and suffering. And as they stood
and watched the balloon drift steadily away, lowering all the time,
every one of those eight scouts felt moved by a great feeling of pity
for the valiant man who had risked his life and was now in such a
desperate situation.

"There she goes down, fellers!" cried Eben, excitedly.

"And what d'ye know, the bally old balloon has taken a crazy notion to
drop right in the worst part of the Black Water Swamps, where we were
just saying nobody had ever been before!"

CHAPTER X

DUTY ABOVE ALL THINGS

"Gee! whiz! that's tough!"

Fritz gave vent to his overwrought feelings after this boyish fashion;
and his words doubtless echoed the thought that was in the mind of every
fellow in that little bunch of staring scouts.

True enough, the badly damaged balloon had taken a sudden dip downward,
as though unable to longer remain afloat, with such a scanty supply of
gas aboard; and as Seth said, it certainly looked as though it had
chosen the very worst place possible to drop--about in the heart of the
swamp.

"Now, why couldn't the old thing have dipped low enough right here for
us to grab that trailing rope?" demanded Jotham, dejectedly; for he
immediately began to feel that all manner of terrible things were in
store for the aeronaut, if, as seemed likely, he would be marooned in
the unknown morass, with no means of finding his way out, and an injured
leg in the bargain to contend with.

"Hope he didn't come down hard enough to hurt much," remarked Andy.

"Huh! if half we've heard about that place is true, little danger of
that," declared Seth. "Chances are he dropped with a splash into a bed
of muck. I only hope he don't get drowned before help comes along!"

"Help! what sort of help can reach him there?" observed Fritz, solemnly;
and then once again did those eight scouts exchange uneasy glances.

"As soon as we let them know in Beverly, why, sure they'll organize some
sort of relief expedition. I know a dozen men who'd be only too glad to
lend a helping hand to a lost aeronaut," Andy went on to say.

"Wherever do you suppose he came from, Paul?" asked Eben.

"Say, didn't you hear him say St. Louis?" demanded Seth. "Better take
some of that wax out of your ears, Eben."

"Whee! that's