Towns > Stirling > 1897, 1903, 1906, 1909 - Cook and Wylie's Stirling Directory > 1897

KEEPING FROM FALLING IS BETTER THAN HELPING UP."
the feelings of all present were
strung up into excitement and en-
thusiasm, when, to the amazement
of all, the Laureate added, without
the slightest pause, and without
the least change of tone in his
voice, "and the beggars only gave
me £300 for it, when it was worth,
at least, £500 or more."
15.— Lockhart tells us that some
of Scott's senses were decidedly
"blunt," and one seems to recognise
this in the simplicity of his romantic
effects.
"It is a fact," he says, "which
some philosophers may think worth
setting down, that Scott's organisa-
tion, as to more than one of the
senses, was the reverse of exquisite.
He had very little of what musicians
call an ear; his smell was hardly
more delicate.
" I have seen him stare about,
quite unconscious of the cause,
when his whole company betrayed
their uneasiness at the approach of
an overkept haunch of venison ;
and neither by the nose nor the
palate could he distinguish one wine
from another.
"He could never tell Madeira
from sherry ; nay, an Oriental friend
having sent him a butt of sheeraz,
when he remembered the circum-
stance some time afterwards, and
called for a bottle to have Sir John
Malcolm's opinion of its quality, it
turned out that his butler, mistak-
ing the label, had already served up
half the bin as sherry.
"Port he considered as physic ;
... in truth, he liked no wines
except sparkling champngne and
claret ; but even as to the last he
was no connoisseur, and sincerely
preferred a tumbler of whiskey-
toddy to the most precious ' liquid-
ruby ' that ever flowed in the cup of
a prince."
17.— Frederick the Great was the
son of Frederick William I., and
was born on the 24th of January,
1712. He was an author as well as a
warrior ; but his writings are all in
French, which language he pre-
ferred to German. Though he was
a tolerable poet, as he evinced in
his didactic piece on the art of war,
he excelled in history. He well
understood the art of managing a
great kingdom, but his principles
were Machiavelian.
27.— Thomson, notwithstanding
his eloquent rebuke—
"Falsely luxtiriousl will not man
awake," etc.
was so extremely indolent that half
his mornings were spent in bed.
Dr. Burney having called on him
one day at two o'clock, expressed
surprise at finding him still there,
and asked how he came to lie so
Ions:.
" Ecod, mon, because I had no
mot-tive to rise," was his sole
answer.
HE KNEW.
He took her hand ; she let him ;
He watched those eyes of blue ;
She didn't say she loved him,
But just the same, he knew.
The madman indicated with his finger the upper part of the
balloon. He commenced to climb up the cords which held
the car attached to the balloon. M. Godard,who had before
trembled for himself, trembled now for the madman.
"But, miserable man, you will kill yourself. You will be
seized with vertigo ! " he exclaimed.
"No remarks," hissed the madman, seizing him again
by the collar, "or I will at once pitch you into the abyss
beneath."
"At least," observed M. Godard, "allow me to put this
cord round your body, so that you may remain attached to
the balloon."
"Be it so," said the madman.
Furnished with his cord of safety, the madman commenced
to climb among the ropes with the agility of a squirrel. He
reached the top of the balloon, and placed himself astride
the semicircle, as he had said. He then rent the air with
a shout, and drew his knife from his pocket.
" What are you going to do ? " asked M. Godard, who feared
that he might rip open the balloon.
" To make myself comfortable," was the reply.
Uttering these words, the madman slowly separated the
cord which M. Godard had attached to his body. With a
single puff of wind to shake the balloon, the miserable creature
must inevitably have rolled over.
"And now," yelled forth the madman, brandishing his
knife, " we are going to have some fun I Ah, robber, you
thought to make me descend ! But it is you who are going
to tumble down in a moment 1 "
M. Godard had not time to make the slightest movement or
to put in a single word. Before he was able to divine the
intention of the madman, the latter, still astride of the semi-
circle, had cut— oh, horror !— four of the cords which
suspended the car to the balloon. The car inclines horribly
— it only holds by two.
" A word—a single word ! " cried M. Godard.
" No— no pardon I " vociferated the madman.
" I do not ask for pardon ; on the contrary "
" What is it you wish, then ?" said the madman.
" At this moment," continued the aeronaut, hurriedly, " we
are at a height of 5,000 feet."
"Good," said the madman. " It will be charming to tumble
down from such a height."
" It is still too low," added M. Godard.
" How so? " asked the madman, stupefied.
"Why," said M. Godard, "my experience as an aeronaut
has taught me that death is not certain to ensue from a fall
from this elevation. Tumble or no tumble, I much prefer to
fall from such a height as will kill me outright, rather than
to risk being only lamed. Have the charity to precipitate me
from a height of 9,000 feet."
" Ah ! that'll do ! " said the madman, whom the mention of
a more horrible fall charmed amazingly.
M. Godard heroically follows his purpose, and throws over
an enormous quantity of ballast. The balloon makes a
powerful bound, and mounts 500 feet in a few seconds. While
the madman surveys this operation, the aeronaut is thinking
how he can manage to outwit his adversary.
The quick eye of M. Godard had remarked among the cords
spared by the madman the one leading to the valve. His
resolve is taken. He pulls this cord, it opens the valve
fixed in the upper part of the balloon for the purpose of
allowing any excess of the hydrogen gas to escape, and
the result which he hoped for was not long in making itself
apparent.
Little by little the madman becomes insensible from the
vapours of the gas which surrounds him. M. Godard allows
the balloon to descend slowly to the earth.
The drama is finished. Arrived on terra firmxt, M. Godard
hastened to restore his companion to animation, and had him
conveyed, hands and feet bound, to the neighbouring station.