Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 1.djvu/249

 the aëronaut, started from Paris at eleven o'clock at night a balloon, on which was inscribed in golden letters, 'Paris, 25th month, 13th year, coronation of the Emperor Napoleon by Pope Pius the Seventh.' The following morning, at five o'clock, the inhabitants of Rome perceived the identical balloon hovering above the Vatican; it crossed the Campagna, and fell into the Lake of Bracciano. So you see, gentlemen, that a balloon can exist in such a rapid transit."

"A balloon, yes; but how about a man?" Kennedy asked.

"Just as well. For a balloon is always motionless, in consequence of the air surrounding it. It is not the man who moves, it is the mass of the air itself; so that, if you were to light a candle in the car, the flame would not flicker. An aëronaut in Garnerin's balloon would not have suffered by the rate of progression. However, I do not propose to try such a rapid flight, and if I can anchor during the night to some tree or to some uneven ground, I shall be all right. We shall carry, moreover, provisions for two months, and nothing will prevent our skillful sportsman here from shooting any quantity of game when we get to the ground."

"Ah, Mr. Kennedy, you will, indeed, have some splendid sport," said a young midshipman, with an envious glance at the Scotchman.

"Without counting the double pleasure of partaking in the glory of the expedition," said another.

"Gentlemen," replied Kennedy, "I am very sensible of your kind compliments, but I cannot accept them, I fear."

"Hallo, what's this!" was heard on all sides. "Do you not intend to go?"

"I shall not go."

"You will not accompany Doctor Ferguson?"

"Not only shall I not go with him, but I am here for the express purpose of stopping him even at the last moment!"

Everyone looked at the doctor.

"Don't listen to him," said Ferguson calmly. "It is a subject we never need discuss with him. He knows perfectly well at heart that he will go!"

"By St. Andrew," cried Kennedy, "I swear"

"Don't swear, Dick, my friend; you have been measured and weighed, you and your powder and shot, your guns and your rifles, so there is no use talking about it."

And it is a fact that, from that day until the day they