He briefly narrated to the
Duke of Chartres some incidents of the voyage.
"'But this is not all, monseigneur. I am going away again,'
added Charles.
"'What! Going away!' exclaimed the duke.
"'Monseigneur, you will see. When do you wish me to come back
again?' I said.
"'In half an hour.'
"'Very well: be it so. In half an hour I shall be with you
again.'
"M. Robert descended from the car, and I was alone in the
balloon.
"I said to the duke, 'Monseigneur, I go.' I said to the peasants
who held down the balloon, 'My friends, go away, all of you, from
the car at the moment I give the signal.' I then rose like a
bird, and in ten minutes I was more than 3,000 feet above the
ground. I no longer perceived terrestrial objects; I only saw
the great masses of nature.
"In going away, Charles had taken his precautions against the
possible explosion of the balloon, and made himself ready to make
certain observations. In order to observe the barometer and the
thermometer, placed at different extremities of the car, without
endangering the equilibrium, he sat down in the middle, a watch
and paper in his left hand, a pen and the cord of the
safety-valve in his right.
"I waited for what should happen," continues he.
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