Would Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans refuse to be saved by him? They
were quite capable of doing so. But the crew threw themselves on them
and dragged them by force from the "Go-Ahead" to the "Albatross."

Then the aeronef glided off and remained stationary, while the
balloon, quite empty of gas, fell on the trees of the clearing and
hung there like a gigantic rag.

An appalling silence reigned on the ground. It seemed as though life
were suspended in each of the crowd; and many eyes had been closed so
as not to behold the final catastrophe. Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans
had again become the prisoners of the redoubtable Robur. Now he had
recaptured them, would he carry them off into space, where it was
impossible to follow him?

It seemed so.

However, instead of mounting into the sky the "Albatross" stopped six
feet from the ground. Then, amid profound silence, the engineer's
voice was heard.

"Citizens of the United States," he said, "The president and
secretary of the Weldon Institute are again in my power. In keeping
them I am only within my right. But from the passion kindled in them
by the success of the "Albatross" I see that their minds are not
prepared for that important revolution which the conquest of the air
will one day bring, Uncle Prudent and Phil Evans, you are free!"

The president, the secretary, and the aeronaut had only to jump down.