Icarriedthreehundredpoundsofballast， inbags； thecar， perfectlyround， fourfeetindiameter， andthreefeetinheight， wasconvenientlyattached； thecordwhichsustaineditwassymmetricallyextendedfromtheupperhemisphereoftheaerostat； thecompasswasinitsplace， thebarometersuspendedtotheironhoopwhichsurroundedthesupportingcord， atadistanceofeightfeetabovethecar； theanchorcarefullyprepared， allwasinreadinessforourdeparture.
Amongthepersonswhocrowdedaroundtheenclosure， -occupationneverlefthim； heeagerlycontemplatedthecuriousmachine， whichrestedmotionlessatafewfeetfromtheground， andremainedsilent.
Theclockstrucktwelve！ ， andlearnedthatonehadstartedforHamburg， anotherforViennaandthethird， stillmorefearful， ， which， sincetheingeniousexperimentsofaeronauts， ， asitwereapartoftheprogrammeofthefete， theyhadfearedbeingcompelledtofulfiltheiragreements， .
Thecrowd， thuspartlydisappointed， -establishtheequilibriumbetweenthespecificgravityoftheballoonandtheweighttoberaised， ， letthemslipbetweentheirfingers； ， andtheatmosphere， heavyaslead， seemedinsurmountable.
"Allisready！ " exclaimedI， "attention！ "
Themenarrangedthemselves； alastglanceinformedmethateverythingwasright.
"Attention！ "
Therewassomemovementinthecrowdwhichseemedtobeinvadingthereservedenclosure.
"Letgo！ "
Theballoonslowlyascended； ， Ifoundmyselffacetofacewithanunexpectedvoyager—thepaleyoungman.
"Monsieur， Isaluteyou！ " saidhetome.
"Bywhatright？ "
"AmIhere？ Bytherightofyourinabilitytoturnmeout."
； ， ：
"Myweightwilldisturbyourequilibrium， Monsieur ： willyoupermitme？"
Andwithoutwaitingformyassent， helightenedtheballoonbytwobagsofsandwhichheemptiedintotheair.
