In one of these descents it seemed driving straight at the drifting park of balloons in the southeast, and only curved about and cleared them by a sudden recovery of dexterity.

The extraordinary swiftness and smoothness of the motion, the extraordinary effect of the rarefied air upon his constitution, threw Graham into a careless fury.
But at last a queer incident came to sober him, to send him flying down once more to the crowded life below with all its dark insoluble riddles.
As he swooped, came a tap and something flying past, and a drop like a drop of rain.

Then as he went on down he saw something like a white rag whirling down in his wake.

"What was that ?" he asked.

"I did not see." The aeronaut glanced, and then clutched at the lever to recover, for they were sweeping down.