UP WENT THE BASKET CARRYING THE THREE CADETS WITH IT
“Hold fast!” gasped Jack. “If you don’t, you’ll be killed!”
He clutched at the rim of the basket and so did the others. Almost before they knew it they were a hundred feet above the crowd.
“The balloon has gone up!”
“Three of those cadets are in it!”
“Andy, Jack, and Pepper!” came from Stuffer. “Hi! come back you!” he added.
“I wish we could,” murmured Pepper.
The balloon attendants were clutching at a rope that was trailing along the ground. Dale and Stuffer leaped forward to aid them, and all were quickly raised from their feet. Seeing they could not stop the balloon, they dropped to the ground, Dale landing on Paxton’s shoulders and sending him to the grass with a thud.
The excitement on the exhibition grounds was intense, one half of the folks gathering around the exploded cannon and the other half watching the sailing balloon. Fortunately it was found that nobody had been seriously hurt by the wrecking of the field-piece, for which everybody was thankful.