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Speaker 1: A desperate adventure by Max Adler wanted four persons who

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were bent upon committing suicide to engage in a hazardous adventure,

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apply et cetera to Captain Cowgill, number blank, blank, blank Street,

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after nine o'clock in the morning. Captain Cowgill inserted the

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above advertisement in three of the morning papers. But the

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result was that, between nine o'clock and noon, five men

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and two women called at his office to inquire respecting

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the nature of the proposed adventure, and to offer their

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services in the event that it should involve nothing of

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a criminal character. Of these seven, Captain Cowgill selected four,

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three men and one young woman, and when he had

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dismissed the others, he shut the door and said to

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the four applicants, what I wanted you for was this.

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I have made up my mind that the North Pole

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can never be reached by an exploring party traveling upon

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ships and sledges. The only route that is possibly practicable

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is through the air, and the only available vehele, of course,

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is a balloon. But an attempt to reach the pole

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in a balloon must expose the explorers to desperate risks.

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And it occurred to me that those risks had better

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be taken by persons who do not value their lives

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than by persons who do. It has always seemed to

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me that a part of the sin of suicide lies

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in the fact that the life wantonly sacrificed might have

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been expended in a cause which would have conferred benefits

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directly or indirectly upon the human race. I have a

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large and superbly equipped balloon which will be thoroughly stocked

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for a voyage to the Arctic regions, and among other things,

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it will contain apparatus for making fresh supplies of hydrogen gas?

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Are you four persons willing to make the required attempt

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in this balloon? All four of the visitors answered yes.

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Were you going to sacrifice your lives at any rate?

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An affirmative answer was given by the four. Permit me

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to take your names, said Captain Cowgill, and he wrote

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them down as follows. William P. Crutter, Doctor, Henry o'hagen,

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Edmund Jarnville, Mary Dermott. Mister Crutter was a man apparently

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of about sixty years, handsomely dressed, manifestly a gentleman, but

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with a flushed face which indicated that he had perhaps

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indulged to some extent in dissipation. Doctor o'hagen was thin, pallid,

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and careworn. He looked as if he was ill, and

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as if all joy were dead in his heart. Mister

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Jarnville appeared to be a working man, but his countenance,

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sad as it was, was full of intelligence, and his

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manner was that of a man who had occupied a

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social position much above the lowest. Mister Mott sat with

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an air of dejection, her hands in her lap, and

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a thin and faded shawl pinned about her, and with

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her pale cheeks suggestive of hunger and mental suffering. My hope,

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said Captain Cowgill, is that you will safely reach your

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destination and safely return, but you fully understand that the

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chances are against you. For my own protection, I will

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ask that you certify in writing that you go with

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full knowledge of the risks. I will inflate the balloon tomorrow.

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Day after tomorrow, come to this office at nine o'clock,

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and you shall then make the ascent at once. On

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the appointed day, the four volunteers appeared, and Captain Cowgill

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drove with them in a carriage to a yard in

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the outskirts of the city, where the balloon, inflated and

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swaying to and fro in the wind, was held to

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the earth by stout ropes. The three men were supplied

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with warm clothing, but mister Mott had only her threadbare shawl,

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and so Captain Cowgill gave her his overcoat and two blankets,

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which he took from the carriage. While the voyagers were

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taking their place in the commodious car attached to the balloon,

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a young man entered the yard and hurriedly approached Captain Cowgill.

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I am going with the balloon, he said, almost fiercely,

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and hardly deigning to look at the captain. Am I possible?

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Said the captain. The crew is made up. You don't

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comprehend our purpose? Yes I do, said the young man.

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These people are would be suicides, and they are starting

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for the pole. I am going along, But my dear sir,

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began the captain, in a tone of expostulation. I will

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go or I will slay myself right here before you.

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These people are not any more tired of life than

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I am. Let him come, said doctor o'hagen gloomily, but

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returned Captain Cowgill I am afraid the balloon will be overloaded.

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I am going anyhow, said the young man, as he

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leaped into the car. Captain Cowgill sighed and said, well,

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have your own way about it. My name is John Wyndon,

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remarked the intruder. I tell you so that you we

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will know if any one inquires after me. But I

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don't imagine anybody will. Then Captain Cowgill bade farewell to

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the party. The ropes were loosed, and the balloon went

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sailing swiftly towards the clouds. Doctor o'hagen was the navigator

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in charge. Presently, a northeasterly current of wind struck the airship,

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and it began to move with great rapidity upon a

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horizontal line. For a long time, nobody in the car spoke. Indeed,

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the voyagers scarcely looked at each other, and none had

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enough curiosity to peer over the side upon the glorious

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landscape that lay bene But after a while, mister Crutter,

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gazing at mister Mott, said, are you fully resolved upon

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self destruction? Yes, she replied, so am, I said, mister Crutter,

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So am, I remarked, mister Wyndon, So am, I observed

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mister Jarnville, and I also added doctor Ohagen. Even if

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we reached the pole safe and return, I shall not

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want to live, said mister Crutter. Neither shall I said

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mister Mont. Nor I remarked mister Wyndon. Nor I added

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doctor Ohagen and mister Jarnville in a breath. Then there

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was silence for the space of half an hour or more.

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Mister Crutter then remarked, do you know I find this

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to be a rather pleasant experience, sailing along here through

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the ether, calmly, far above the distractions of the world.

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If I were not so miserable, I think I should

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really enjoy it. I am too unhappy to enjoy anything,

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said mister mont. But this, I confess, is not unpleasant.

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Pleasant enough, remarked mister Wyndon. If a man had no

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anguish in his soul, I had no idea that there

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was so much exhilaration in the upper regions of the atmosphere,

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said doctor Ohagen rather cheerily. I think I feel better myself,

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said mister Jarnville. It is very strange, observed mister Crutter,

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addressing mister Mott, that young people like you and mister

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Wyndon here should be weary of life. That an old

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man like me should long for death is comprehensible. But

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why do you wish to die? Neither mister Wyndon nor

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mister Mott made any response. I'll tell you, said doctor o'hagen,

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throwing a bag of ballast overboard to check the descent

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of the balloon. We are all going to destruction together,

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and why should we, not, as companions in misery, unfold

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our grease to each other. It would be very proper,

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I think, said mister Crutter, And I will begin, if

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the rest will consent to follow. The other four travelers

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agreed to do so. Well, I haven't much to tell,

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said mister Crutter. In fact, I have always had plenty

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of money with which to live in idleness and luxury,

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and I have so lived. I have tried every kind

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of pleasure life can afford and money can buy, and

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I have reached a condition of saciety. Moreover, I have

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ruined my digestion, and I am now a sufferer from

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chronic dyspepsia of a horrible kind. This makes existence a burden.

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I am eager to quit it. That is the whole story.

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How strange the difference between us, said doctor o'hagen. I

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have been deeply engaged in a practice of my profession

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for many years, and I am utterly worn out and

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broken down with overwork. I am nervous, exhausted, irritable and wretched.

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But I have lost my savings in a speculative venture

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and cannot rest. I must either work or die. That

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is partly my case, said mister Mont. I am friendless

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and poor, and I cannot earn enough by sewing to

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buy sufficient food. And I can no longer face the

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misery that I have endured for so many years. I

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prefer death a thousand times. And I, said mister Jarnville,

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am a disappointed inventor. I have for years labored upon

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the construction of a smoke consumer, but now that it

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is done, I have not money enough to pay for

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a patent, and I am starving. After trying everywhere to

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obtain assistance, I have resolved to give up the struggle

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and to find refuge in the grave. Mister Wyndon cleared

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his throat once or twice before beginning his story. He

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seemed to labor under some embarrassment. The truth is, he said,

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I was rechecked last night by a young lady whom

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I love, and I made up my mind that life

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without her would not be worth having. Nobody spoke for

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some time, and then doctor o'hagen said, the balloon is falling,

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and instead of throwing out ballast, I think it might

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be better perhaps to let it come down and to

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tie it to a tree and make a fresh start

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with additional gas in the morning. The other aeronauts gave

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their approval to this plan, and doctor O'Hagan threw out

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the grapinal. It caught upon a tree top, and after

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some difficulty, the balloon was brought down tied fast while

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the whole party stepped out of the car. It was

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a wild and desolate place, but the four men started

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a fire, and while mister Wyndon and mister Jarnville prepared supper,

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Doctor o'hagen and mister Crutter went to work to arrange

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some kind of shelter for mister Mott for the night.

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After supper, the five people gathered about the fire, and

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there really seemed to be a growth of cheerfulness in

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the party. I've been thinking, said mister Crutter, what an

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outrageous shame it is that this poor child here, pointing

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to mister Mott, should actually be in want of food,

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while I have more money than I know what to

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do with. I'll tell you what, mister Mott. If you

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will agree to go back, you can have my whole fortune.

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I've left it to an asylum, but I'll write a

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new will now and tell you where you can find

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the other one, so as to tear it up. I

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don't want to go back, said mister Mott. I would

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if I were you, said mister Wyndon. It's a shame

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for you to go upon such an awful journey as this.

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And I've been thinking, mister Jarnville, since you spoke about

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your smoke consumer, that my father, who was a wealthy

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iron mill owner, has offered a large reward for a

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perfect contrivance of that sort. If yours is a good one,

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he will help you to a fortune. I wish I

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had known that yesterday, said mister Jarnville. Yes, doctor o'hagen,

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and if I had known that mister Crutter here was

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being driven to suicide by dyspepsia, I could have helped them,

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for I have been very successful in treating that complaint.

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Let me examine you mister Creutter, Yes, said the doctor,

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after expending a few moments looking at and talking to you,

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mister Crutter, I feel certain I can cure you. I

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would have given you half my fortune yesterday for such

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an assurance, said mister Crutter. But it's now too late.

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If I had met you, then, said the doctor, I

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should not have been here. Now. Can't we all go

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back again, said mister Jarnville. Impossible, said doctor o'hagen. I've

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got nothing to go back for, said miss Wyndon. There

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is no remedy for my trouble that I can perceive.

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There are other young ladies who would make good wives,

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said mister Crutter. Oh I know, but said mister Wyndon,

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hesitating and looking furtively at mister Mott. Mister Mott blushed.

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Suppose we rest for the night and sleep on the matter,

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said doctor o'hagen. There's no use being in a hurry.

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Mister Mott retired to sleep beneath the shelter of bows,

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where were strewn some pines and hemlock branches. Doctor o'hagen

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covered her carefully with the blankets, and then the four

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men stretched themselves by the fire and fell asleep. The

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conversation between the travelers must inevitably have had a good effect.

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The sheerst remedy for a morbid propensity to brood over

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one's own troubles is to have our sympathy excited for

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the troubles of other people. After breakfast in the morning,

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mister Crutter said, I have solemnly considered all that was

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said last night, and I have a proposition to make

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Doctor o'hagen, if you will return with mister Mott and

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mister Jarnville. You three may divide my fortune between you

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and mister Wyndon can give a letter to his father

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to mister Jarnville about the smoke Consummer and dear mister

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Wyndon and I will continue this journey together. How will

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that do? I am willing to drop off in return,

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said mister Jarnville. I will go only on condition you

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will go. Also, said doctor o'hagen. I will make you

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a well man if you agree. But said mister Crutter,

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it would be a shame to leave Wyndon here alone

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with this balloon. No, I have had enough of life.

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I'll proceed on the voyage. There is a good deal

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of force in what the doctor says though, remarked mister Wyndon.

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Why you are not thinking I'm of back and out too,

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are you, inquired mister Crutter. Well, I don't know, said

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mister Wyndon, looking half ashamed. It seemed to me last night,

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when I got to thinking about it, that a woman's

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scorn is hardly worth a man's life. And I you're right,

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said mister Crutter. It isn't suppose we put the matter

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in this way. If doctor o'hagen cures me, I will

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pay him fifty thousand dollars in cash, and I will

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go into partnership with mister Jarnville in his invention. We

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can see your father about it, and you can return

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to him while I adopt mister Mott as my daughter.

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I had thought, said mister Wyndon, of a slightly different plan,

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but possibly it could not be carried out. What was that,

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asked doctor o'hagen. Why, said mister Wyndon. I thought perhaps,

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But no, there's no use of mentioning it out with it,

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said mister Crutter. We want the opinions of all hands.

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I did think, said mister Wyndon, that possibly mister Mott,

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instead of becoming your daughter, would consent to become my wife?

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Would you entertain such a proposition, mister Mott. Mister Mott

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hung her head and seemed to be covered with confusion.

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I will think about it, she said. That means she

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will give her consent, said mister Crutter, smiling. Let her

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come with me while she's thinking the matter over. Are

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you all agreed to my plan? Everybody expressed a cent

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to it, and everybody seemed happy. Why what is that,

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suddenly exclaimed mister Mont, pointing to a distant object above them.

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I verily believe that is our balloon, said doctor o'hagen. Yes,

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it is gone. It must have broken loose while we

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were at breakfast. Oh well, said mister crutterer let it go.

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Who cares. I'll pay Captain Cowgill for his losses. And

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now let us see about getting home. Mister Wyndon and

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mister Jarnville started to hunt for a conveyance, and in

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about two hours they returned with one. The nearest railway

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station was thirteen miles away, but in two more hours

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the party reached it, and while mister Crutter purchased tickets

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for the coming train, doctor o'hagen went into the telegraph

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office and sent the following dispatch. Captain W. A. Cowgill

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balloon escaped party, all safe, perfectly happy. Will reach home

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tomorrow morning, Signed Henry o'hagen. End of a desperate adventure.