THE CONQUEST OF TIME AND SPACE 



multitude that gathered about the starting-point found 

 only an immense cloth bag about thirty-five feet in 

 diameter, without machinery or wings, and capable of 

 containing some twenty-two thousand cubic feet of air, 

 which the Montgolfier brothers and their assistants 

 were inflating with heated air. As the bag filled, 

 one of the brothers announced with all seriousness, 

 that as soon as it was completely filled it would "rise to 

 the clouds," carrying with it a frame weighing some 

 three hundred pounds. 



This announcement was not received with the same 

 seriousness with which it was given. The idea of ex- 

 pecting anyone to believe that an ordinary cloth bag 

 would fly excited the risibilities even of the more serious 

 members of the crowd. Nevertheless, as the great globe 

 filled it became evident to the spectators that it was 

 tugging at the restraining ropes in efforts to rise, in 

 a most extraordinary manner; and when, at a signal 

 from the inventors, the ropes were cast off and the 

 monster shot skyward, the crowd's smiles were turned 

 to expressions of gaping astonishment. Straight into 

 the air the monster mounted, and then, wafted by a 

 gentle breeze, it continued to soar and rise until in ten 

 minutes it had reached an altitude of six thousand feet, 

 sailing easily in a horizontal direction for a short dis- 

 tance, then gradually descending and alighting some 

 eight thousand feet from the starting-point. 



The news of this triumph travelled quickly to Paris, 

 and the Parisians clamored to see the wonderful per- 

 formance repeated in the capital. The king and court 

 were as interested as the savants and the populace, and 



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