remained silent.

The clock struck twelve! This was the hour. My _compagnons du voyage_
had not appeared. I sent to the dwelling of each, and learned that one
had started for Hamburg, another for Vienna and the third, still more
fearful, for London. Their hearts had failed them at the moment of
undertaking one of those excursions, which, since the ingenious
experiments of aeronauts, are deprived of all danger. As they made, as
it were a part of the programme of the fête, they had feared being
compelled to fulfil their agreements, and had fled at the moment of
ascension. Their courage had been in inverse ratio to the square of
their swiftness in retreat.

The crowd, thus partly disappointed, were shouting with anger and
impatience. I did not hesitate to ascend alone. To re-establish the
equilibrium between the specific gravity of the balloon and the weight
to be raised, I substituted other bags of sand for my expected
companions and entered the car. The twelve men who were holding the
aerostat by twelve cords fastened to the equatorial circle, let them
slip between their fingers; the car rose a few feet above the ground.
There was not a breath of wind, and the atmosphere, heavy as lead,
seemed insurmountable.

"All is ready!" exclaimed I; "attention!"

The men arranged themselves; a last glance informed me that everything
was right.

"Attention!"