V.
THE AURORA BOREALIS.
The disturbances of the magnetic needle had announced the aurora'spresence even before the sun went down, and the inflation of the balloonwith pure hydrogen gas was begun while the sky showed in the magneticNorth that coloring of golden green which is always the sure indicationof an aurora borealis. The preparations were ended in a couple ofhours. The atmosphere, entirely free from all clouds, was perfectlylimpid, the stars twinkled in the bosom of a sky profoundly dark andwithout a moon; but towards the North a soft light shone in an arc abovea black segment, throwing into the upper atmosphere slight flushes of apale greenish rose color, symbolizing the palpitations of an unknownlife. Iclea's father, who was watching the inflation of the balloon, hadno suspicion that his daughter was going; but at the last moment shestepped into the car as if to inspect it. Spero gave the signal, and theballoon rose slowly, majestically, over the city of Christiania, which,lighted by thousands of lamps, appeared under the eyes of the travellersrising through the air, to diminish in size as it disappeared in thedarkness.
Soon the balloon, taking an oblique ascent, hovered over the darkenedlandscape, and the paling lights also disappeared. The noises of thecity died away at the same time into profound silence: it was thesilence of the upper heights which enveloped the air-ship now. Iclea wasimpressed by this extraordinary stillness, perhaps, above all, by thenovelty of the situation, and clung to her rash lover's side. Theymounted rapidly. The aurora borealis appeared to descend, and spreaditself out under the stars, like an undulating drapery of fleecy goldand purple, overrun with electric flashes. Spero watched hisinstruments, and by the help of a little crystal globe filled withglow-worms, wrote down the indications corresponding to the heightsattained. The balloon went up steadily. What a delight to theinvestigator! In a few moments he would soar to the crest of the auroraborealis; he would find an answer to the question about the aurora'sheight which had been asked in vain by so many philosophers, andespecially by his beloved masters, the two great "psychologists andphilosophers," Oersted and Ampere!
Iclea's emotion had calmed itself. "Were you afraid?" asked her lover."The balloon is safe; you need fear no accident,--everything has beenprovided for. We will go down in an hour; there is not a breath of windstirring on the earth."
"No," she said, while the celestial light threw over her a roseate andtransparent illumination; "but it is so strange, so beautiful, sodivine. It is grand for little me! I shuddered for a moment. It seems tome that I love you more than ever!" and throwing her arms about hisneck, she kissed him in a long, passionate, clinging embrace.
The solitary balloon was moving silently through the aerial heights, aspheroid of transparent gas enclosed in its silken envelope, whosevertical gores, joining each other at the valve on the top, could beseen from the car; the lower part of the balloon being open for thedilation of the gas.
The dusky brightness that falls from the stars, of which Corneillespeaks, would have been sufficient without the gleams from the auroraborealis to enable them to distinguish the whole of the aerial skiff.The car was hung to the net which enveloped the silken vessel by strongropes tied to the basket-work and interlaced under the feet of theaeronauts. The silence was impressively solemn; the beating of theirhearts could have been heard. They were sailing at a height of fivethousand metres, with an unaccustomed gravity; the upper wind wascarrying them along without the faintest breath being felt in thecar, for the balloon floated in the moving air like a simplebubble,--motionless, except as the current carried it along. Ourtravellers--sole inhabitants of these lofty regions, in full enjoymentof the exquisite elation which aeronauts know when once they havebreathed that rare and sublimated atmosphere--looked down upon therealms below, forgetful of all earthly cares and associations, in thesilence of their vast isolation. But they appreciated and enjoyed theirunique situation more than any of those who had preceded them, for theyadded to the pleasures of an aerial voyage the rapture of their ownhappiness. They spoke in low tones, as if afraid of being overheard bythe angels, and of seeing the magic charm dissolved which held them sonear to heaven.... Sometimes sudden flashes came to them,--gleams fromthe aurora borealis; then darkness, deeper and more unfathomable thanbefore, reigned again.
They were floating thus in their starry dream when a quick, shrillnoise, like that of a new whistle, sounded in their ears. They listened,leaned far out over the car, and listened again. The noise did not comefrom the earth. Was it an electrical blast from the aurora borealis? Wasit the hiss of some magnetic storm in the upper air? Lightning comingfrom the depths of space flashed about them and disappeared. Theylistened breathlessly again. The sound was quite close to them.... Itwas the gas escaping from the balloon!
Either the valve had partly opened of itself, or they had pressed uponthe connecting rope while incautiously moving about in the car; at allevents, the gas was escaping.
Spero at once detected the cause of the disquieting noise, and itterrified him, for it was impossible to close the valve again. Heexamined the barometer, which had begun slowly to rise, while theballoon was beginning to descend. The fall, slow at first, butinevitable, would increase in mathematical proportion. Trying to fathomthe abyss below them, he saw the flames of the aurora borealis reflectedin the water of an immense lake. The balloon was now descending withgreat rapidity, and was not more than three thousand metres from theground. Outwardly calm, but fully conscious of the certain and impendingperil, the unfortunate aeronaut threw out one after the other the twosacks left for ballast, then the maps, the instruments, the anchor, andemptied the car; but this lightening of the weight was not enough, andserved only to slacken momentarily their accelerated speed. The balloonwas now descending, or rather falling, at a tremendous rate, and was buta few hundred metres above the lake. Strong wind-currents blew up anddown and whistled in their ears.
The balloon twisted about itself, as if whirled by a waterspout. GeorgeSpero felt a sudden and passionate embrace, followed by a long kiss uponhis lips. "My master, my god, my all! I love you," she cried; andthrusting aside two of the ropes, she leaped into the empty air. Theunballasted balloon shot up again like an arrow. Spero was saved.
Iclea's body made a dull, strange, and frightful sound in the midnightstillness as it fell into the deep waters of the lake. Wild with griefand despair, Spero felt his hair bristling with horror. He opened hiseyes wide, but saw nothing. Carried up by the balloon to a height ofmore than a thousand metres, he clung to the valve-rope, hoping to fallagain towards the scene of Iclea's catastrophe; but the rope would notwork. He fumbled and hunted, but without avail. In the midst of all hefelt under his hand his loved one's veil, where it had caught on one ofthe ropes,--a thin little veil, still fresh with perfume, and filledwith the memories of his lovely companion. He stared at the ropes,thinking he could find the imprint of her little clinging hands, andputting his own where Iclea's had been an instant before, he threwhimself out of the car. His foot caught in a rope for a second, but hehad strength enough to disengage it, and fell whirling into space.
The crew of a fishing-boat that had witnessed the closing scenes of thedrama crowded all sail towards the spot in the lake into which the younggirl had fallen, and succeeded in finding and rescuing her. She was notdead; but all the care lavished upon her could not prevent a fever fromsetting in and making her its prey.
In the morning the fishermen reached a little harbor on the borders ofthe lake, and carried her to their humble cot; but she did not regainconsciousness. "George!" she cried, opening her eyes, "George!" and thatwas all. The next day she heard the village bell tolling a funeralknell. "George!" she repeated, "George!" His body was found in aterribly mangled condition a short distance from the shore. His fall wasmore than a thousand metres. It had begun over the lake; but the body,retaining the horizontal impetus given by the moving balloon, had notfallen vertically, it had descended obliquely, as if slipping down arope following the course of the balloon; and like a mass thrown fromthe sky, had falle
n into a meadow near the shore of the lake, making adeep indentation in the soil, and rebounding more than a metre from theplace where it fell. His very bones were crushed into powder, and thebrain protruded through the forehead. His grave had hardly been closedbefore they were obliged to dig another beside it for Iclea, who diedmurmuring in a feeble voice, "George! George!"
A single stone covers both graves, and the same willow-tree shades theirsleep. To this day the dwellers on the shores of beautiful LakeTyrifiorden remember the melancholy episode, which has become almostlegendary; and when the gravestone of the lovers is shown to thetourist, their memory is always associated with a happy, happy dreamthat has vanished.