"I am of course at your orders, sir."
"I repeat, my friends, grave though the decision may be, we must sacrifice our apparatus."
"Let us sacrifice it," said Kennedy.
"Let us go to work, then," said Joe.
It was by no means an easy matter, it was necessary to remove the apparatus piece by piece. First the "mixing" chest was got up—then the blow-pipe, and at last the chest in which the decomposition of the water took place. It required the united strength of the travelers to remove the recipients from the bottom of the car in which they were firmly let in; but Kennedy was so powerful, Joe so skillful, and Ferguson so ingenious, that they succeeded at last. The various pieces were successively thrown overboard, and they disappeared, making large fissures in the foliage of the sycamores.
"The negroes will be considerably astonished," said Joe, "at seeing such articles in the woods; they will very likely make idols of them."
At last they were obliged to remove the pipes fastened in the balloon, and which had been attached to the serpentine. Joe cut the joints of the india-rubber some feet above the car, but as to the pipes it was more difficult, for they were fixed at the upper end by brass wire to the rings of the safety-valve itself.
It was at this juncture that Joe displayed his skill; with bare feet, so as not to tear the envelope, he ascended by the netting, and, notwithstanding the oscillation, climbed up to the top of the balloon. There, after much difficulty, holding by one hand to the slippery surface, he detached the screws which fastened the pipes. They were then easily taken down through the lower part of the balloon and the apertures hermetically fastened up. The "Victoria," thus relieved of a considerable weight, rose in the air and tugged hard at the anchors.
At midnight this work was successfully accomplished, with much labor, however. A hasty repast was eaten, consisting of pemmican and cold grog, for the doctor had no heat to put at Joe's disposal.
Joe and Kennedy were overcome with fatigue.
"Lie down and sleep, my friends," said Ferguson. "I will take the first watch. At two o'clock I will wake Ken-
