And I saw something else; I saw that already we were above them-we were rising-and I knew that Perry had tricked me.

I whipped out my gun and leveled it at him. "Bring her down!" I snapped; but he only laughed. There was a strange note in his laughter that sort of chilled me.

"Shoot and be damned!" he cried, "but if you do, you're as good as dead. You don't know how to handle her; you could never ground her."

I knew that he was right, and I saw that I could not bluff him. I slipped my gun back into its holster and turned back into the main cabin. The door of the gondola was still open and I crossed to it. Leaning out, I called down to the officers below, telling them what had happened. Then, without warning, Perry attacked me from the rear; he hurled himself against me, trying to push me through the doorway. I don't know why he didn't succeed; I thought I was gone, but I clung desperately to the frame of the doorway. He was pushing hard against the small of my back; then his feet slipped, and he went to his knees. That was all that saved my life.

I leaped to one side as he scrambled to his feet and charged me again; but I had had time to draw my gun, and as he closed with me I struck him across the left temple with the barrel. He dropped like a log. Behind him, against the far wall of the cabin, I saw several pieces of luggage; three suitcases and two big Gladstones. Without opening them, I knew that they contained the swag.

Again I glanced down from the doorway. It was a quiet morning, with little or no wind, and we had risen almost vertically. I guess we must have been about four or five hundred feet above the ground by this time. I could see the crowd, with the officers, standing craning their necks upward. Then I got an idea.

Stepping over the unconscious Perry, I crossed the tiny cabin and seized a couple of the suitcases and carried them to the doorway. Looking out again, I saw some of the crowd that had been following the ship almost directly beneath.

"Look out below!" I yelled. I don't know whether they understood what I said or not; then I dropped the two suit cases overboard. A moment later I heaved the other suitcase and the two Gladstones after them. I might never bring my prisoner back, but I had returned what he had stolen.

As I looked out again I had the unique experience of seeing a million dollars scattered over a couple of acres of ground. I saw the officers and the crowd running hither and thither gathering up securities, currency, and coin; then I closed the door so that Perry wouldn't be tempted to try to push me through it again when he regained consciousness and turned my attention to him where, he lay sprawled on the floor.

He was only stunned and soon regained consciousness. I helped him to his feet and into a chair. He held on to his head, which I guess was aching pretty badly.

"Now Perry," I said, "when you feel a little better get busy and bring this boat back to earth."

"And go to the pen? Not on your life! I've got a million dollars aboard, and I'm going somewhere where there's no extradition treaty and take it easy the rest of my life; and you're going with me-you can't help yourself. If you behave I'll split a part of the million with you."

"You haven't got a million," I told him.

"The hell I haven't! What makes you think so?"

"Because I just threw it overboard; it's probably on its way back to the bank right now. "

He took one look at where his bags had been sitting, and then he let out a yell like somebody'd knifed him. What he called me I wouldn't want to put in anybody's biography, not even a pirate's. After he'd finished he seemed to feel a little bit better.

"Better bring her down now," I suggested. "As long as they got the swag back they may let you off easy.