CHAPTER VIII.—AMONG THE CLOUDS IN A THUNDERSTORM. 

A cry arose. 

“The balloon has gone up!” 

“Why, the balloonist is nothing but a boy!” 

“My! but ain’t it going up fast!” 

Daniel Hawkins could do nothing but stare after the balloon. 

“Foolish boy, he will be killed!” he gasped. 

Ben Barkley was also amazed. 

“He said he would go up,” he murmured, “but I never supposed that he meant it.” 

The crowd continued to shout. They wondered what it all meant, and some asked the men who had had the balloon in charge, but those individuals had no time to explain. 

They sprang into a wagon and prepared to follow the direction of the balloon, supposing it would come down as soon as the hot air began to cool off. 

Meanwhile, what of Leo? 

So sudden was the upward rush of the balloon that the boy was thrown to the bottom of the basket ere he was aware. 

He clutched the sides and then ventured to look down. The earth seemed to be fading away beneath him. 

For a few minutes he was deadly sick at the stomach and there was a strange ringing in his ears. 

The balloon was moving in the direction of Hopsville. Soon it passed over the town. 

Leo could see the few streets and the brook laid out like a map beneath him. 

He was growing accustomed to his novel situation. 

On and on went the balloon. 

The wind appeared to blow stronger the higher he went. 
where was the ringing?
and there was a strange ringing in his ears. 
