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this point, and, on the other side, the slope presented a less declivity.
The car just touched the level of this plane, which happened to be quite
even, and it glided over a soil composed of sharp pebbles that grated as it
passed.
"We're over it! we're over it! we're clear!" cried out an exulting voice
that made Ferguson's heart leap to his throat.
The daring fellow was there, grasping the lower rim of the car, and running
afoot over the top of the mountain, thus lightening the balloon of his whole
weight. He had to hold on with all his strength, too, for it was likely to
escape his grasp at any moment.
When he had reached the opposite declivity, and the abyss was before him,
Joe, by a vigorous effort, hoisted himself from the ground, and, clambering
up by the cordage, rejoined his friends.
"That was all!" he coolly ejaculated.
"My brave Joe! my friend!" said the doctor, with deep emotion.
"Oh! what I did," laughed the other, "was not for you; it was to save Mr.
Kennedy's rifle. I owed him that good turn for the affair with the Arab! I
like to pay my debts, and now we are even," added he, handing to the
sportsman his favorite weapon. "I'd feel very badly to see you deprived of
it."
Kennedy heartily shook the brave fellow's hand, without being able to utter
a word.
The Victoria had nothing to do now but to descend. That was easy enough, so
that she was soon at a height of only two hundred feet from the ground, and
was then in equilibrium. The surface seemed very much broken as though by a
convulsion of nature. It presented numerous inequalities, which would have
been very difficult to avoid during the night with a balloon that could no
longer be controlled. Evening was coming on rapidly, and, notwithstanding
his repugnance, the doctor had to make up his mind to halt until morning.
"We'll now look for a favorable stoppingplace," said he.
Five Weeks in a Balloon
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CHAPTER FORTYFIRST.
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"Ah!" replied Kennedy, "you have made up your mind, then, at last?"
"Yes, I have for a long time been thinking over a plan which we'll try to
put into execution; it is only six o'clock in the evening, and we shall have
time enough. Throw out your anchors, Joe!"
Joe immediately obeyed, and the two anchors dangled below the balloon.
"I see large forests ahead of us," said the doctor; "we are going to sweep
along their tops, and we shall grapple to some tree, for nothing would make
me think of passing the night below, on the ground."
"But can we not descend?" asked Kennedy.
"To what purpose? I repeat that it would be dangerous for us to separate,
and, besides, I claim your help for a difficult piece of work."
The Victoria, which was skimming along the tops of immense forests, soon
came to a sharp halt. Her anchors had caught, and, the wind falling as dusk
came on, she remained motionlessly suspended above a vast field of verdure,
formed by the tops of a forest of sycamores.
CHAPTER FORTYSECOND.
A Struggle of Generosity.The Last Sacrifice.The Dilating Apparatus. Joe's
Adroitness.Midnight.The Doctor's Watch.Kennedy's Watch. The Latter falls
asleep at his
Post.The Fire.The Howlings of the Natives.Out of Range.
Doctor Ferguson's first care was to take his bearings by stellar
observation, and he discovered that he was scarcely twentyfive miles from
Senegal.
"All that we can manage to do, my friends," said he, after having pointed
his map, "is to cross the river; but, as there is neither bridge nor boat, we
must, at all hazards, cross it with the balloon, and, in order to do that,
we must still lighten up."
"But I don't exactly see how we can do that?" replied Kennedy, anxious about
his firearms, "unless one of us makes up his mind to sacrifice himself for
the rest,that is, to stay behind, and, in my turn, I claim that honor."
"You, indeed!" remonstrated Joe; "ain't I used to"
"The question now is, not to throw ourselves out of the car, but simply to
reach the coast of Africa on foot. I
am a firstrate walker, a good sportsman, and"
"I'll never consent to it!" insisted Joe.
"Your generous rivalry is useless, my brave friends," said Ferguson; "I
trust that we shall not come to any such extremity: besides, if we did,
instead of separating, we should keep together, so as to make our way across
the country in company."
"That's the talk," said Joe; "a little tramp won't do us any harm."
"But before we try that," resumed the doctor, "we must employ a last means
of lightening the balloon."
Five Weeks in a Balloon
CHAPTER FORTYSECOND.
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