I resolved to pull secretly the cord attached to the valve,
while he was talking with animation. I feared to guess with whom I had
to do; it would have been too horrible! It was about three-quarters of
an hour since we had left Frankfort, and from the south thick clouds
were arising and threatening to engulf us.
"Have you lost all hope of making your plans succeed?" said I, with
great apparent interest.
"All hope!" replied the unknown, despairingly. "Wounded by refusals,
caricatures, those blows with the foot of an ass, have finished me. It
is the eternal punishment reserved for innovators. See these caricatures
of every age with which my portfolio is filled."
I had secured the cord of the valve, and stooping over his works,
concealed my movements from him. It was to be feared, nevertheless, that
he would notice that rushing sound, like a waterfall, which the gas
produces in escaping.
"How many jests at the expense of the Abbe Miolan! He was about to
ascend with Janninet and Bredin. During the operation, their balloon
took fire, and an ignorant populace tore it to pieces. Then the
caricature of _The Curious Animals_ called them _Maulant, Jean Mind, and
Gredin_."
The barometer had began to rise; it was time! A distant muttering of
thunder was heard towards the south.
"See this other engraving," continued he, without seeming to suspect my
manoeuvres.
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