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气球上的五星期|Five Weeks in a Balloon

第3章|Chapter 3

属类： 双语小说 【分类】魔幻小说 -[作者: 儒勒-凡尔纳] 阅读：[3745]
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博士的朋友——追溯他们的友谊——肯尼迪·肯尼迪到伦敦——建议出乎意料，但落实具体让人放心——令人忐忑不安的谚语——有关在非洲殉难者的几句话——气球的优点——弗格森博士的秘密

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弗格森博士有一位朋友，但并不是另一个他（alterego）。因为，两个完全一样的人之间是不可能存在友谊的。不过，肯尼迪与塞缪尔·弗格森的脾气、禀性与才能虽不相同，俩人却心心相印。差异并没怎么妨碍他们的交往，相反倒是更加深了他们的友谊。

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这位肯尼迪·肯尼迪是位地地道道的英格兰人。他性格坦率、处事果断，头脑固执。肯尼迪住在爱丁堡附近的利斯小城。那地方算得上是“老熏炉”①真正的郊区。他有时喜欢捕捕鱼，但无论何时何地最喜欢的还是打猎。这对一位生长在喀里多尼亚②，经常在苏格兰高地的大山中走来走去的孩子来说不足为奇。他是当地公认的优秀射手。他不仅能用枪击中刀刃，把子弹劈成完全相等的两半，而且，如果随后用秤称一称，就会发现甚至两半子弹的重量也分毫不差。

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①爱丁堡的别称。——原注

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②苏格兰的古代名称。

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肯尼迪的相貌很像沃尔特·斯各特③在《修道院》一书中描写的霍尔伯特·格伦丁宁。 他的身高超过6英尺，举止优雅，看上去力大无比。被阳光晒成褐色的面孔，乌黑发亮的眼睛，与生俱来的果断、勇敢，总之，从他整个身上都可以看到苏格兰人根深蒂固的美好东西。

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③1771—1832，苏格兰作家。

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两位朋友是在印度结识的。当时，两人在同一个团里服役。每当肯尼迪去打虎猎象时，弗格森就去采集植物和昆虫标本。每个人都是自己那一行的佼佼者，不止一种稀有植物成了博士的胜利品，其价值与一对大象牙不差上下。

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这两位年青人从没有过机会救对方，也没帮过对方任何忙。但是，他们的友谊始终不渝。命运有时使他们分离，但心灵的相通往往又使他们重逢。

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从印度退役返回英国后，他们两人常常因博士的远途旅行而分开一段时间。不过，博士每次回来，必然去苏格兰朋友家，当然不是去寒喧几句，而是住上几个星期。肯尼迪谈谈往事，弗格森说说未来：一个前瞻，一个后顾。由此看出，弗格森生性不安分，肯尼迪却沉稳、平和。

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西藏之行后，博士几乎两年没谈进行新探险的事。肯尼迪猜想他的旅行瘾和冒险欲在渐渐淡下来。肯尼迪为此非常高兴。他认为旅游探险总有一天会送命。一个人不论多么有经验，也不可能总是安然无恙地穿行于食人者和猛兽之间，因此，肯尼迪极力劝阻弗格森别再去探险。况且，他为科学贡献得够多了，早已远远超过人们给他的荣誉。

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对这番劝告，博士不作任何回答。他依然想他的事，埋头于他那深奥的计算，一夜夜地摆弄着数据，实验着仪器。没人能弄明白他那些希奇古怪的机械玩意儿是什么。显然，他的脑海中正在孕育着一个伟大的想法。

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正月里，弗格森离开了肯尼迪返回伦敦时，肯尼迪心里犯起了嘀咕：“他又在打什么主意？”

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一天早晨，肯尼迪从《每日电信报》上得到了答案。

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“我的天哪！”他叫道，“他简直疯了！真是个神经病！竟然想乘气球穿过非洲！亏他想得出！弄了半天，这两年他都在想这事！”

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如果把这些惊叹号看成肯尼迪狠狠打在脑袋上的拳头，你就能想象得到诚实的肯尼迪当时这么说话时的心情了。

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值得信赖的女人——老埃尔斯拜丝想宽慰他，说这很可能是骗人的。肯尼迪立即叫道：

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“哪能呢！我还不了解我的朋友吗？这难道不是他干的事？空中旅行，亏他想得出！他现在竟然跟鹰比起来了！不，这当然不行！我非阻止他不可！要是由着他的性子来，总有一天他会到月亮上去！”

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肯尼迪又急又气，当晚就在中央火车站上了火车，第二天便到了伦敦。三刻钟后，一辆双轮马车把他带到希腊大街索霍广场弗格森博士的小房子门前。肯尼迪走上台阶，朝门上重重地敲了五下，通报开门。

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弗格森闻讯亲自为他打开了门。“肯尼迪吗？”他问道，脸上并不显得十分惊讶。

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“正是本人。”肯尼迪反唇相讥。

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“怎么，亲爱的朋友，冬天正是打猎的季节，你怎么在伦敦？”

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“是的，在伦敦。”

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“那么，你来干什么？”

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“阻止一件荒唐透顶的荒唐事！”

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“荒唐事？”博士问。

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“这份报上说的可是真事？”肯尼迪边问边把一份《每日电信报》递过去。

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“哦！你说的原来是这回事！这些报也真是的，太不慎重了！好了，亲爱的朋友，请坐吧。”

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“我不要坐。你当真想做这趟旅行？”

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“当真，我的准备工作正在顺利进行，而且我……。”

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“准备的东西在哪儿？让我把它们给毁了！我非把它们砸个稀巴烂不可！”

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这位可敬的苏格兰人确实气极了。

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“安静点，我亲爱的肯尼迪。”博士接着说，“我料到你会生气。你恨我还没有告诉你我的新计划。”

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“你竟把这称作新计划！”

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“我确实太忙。”弗格森不容打断地接着说，“我要做的事太多了！不过请放心，我不会不给你写信就走的……。”

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“嗨！我可不在乎……。”

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“因为我想让你与我一起去。”

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苏格兰人活像一只受惊的岩羚羊敏捷地往前一跳，吃惊地嚷道：

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“啊！居然有这种事！你是想让别人把咱俩关进白特尔汉姆疯人院吗？”

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“亲爱的肯尼迪，我确实指望你去。况且，我早已选中了你，其他好多人要去都被我拒绝了。”

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肯尼迪万分惊讶地呆住了。

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“你听我谈十分钟后，”弗格森博士沉静地继续说，“你会感谢我的。”

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“你说的是正经话？”

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“非常正经。”

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“要是我拒绝陪你去呢？”

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“你不会拒绝的。”

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“如果我非要拒绝呢？”

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“那我就一个人去！”

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“咱们坐下来，平心静气地谈谈。”猎人提议，“既然你不是开玩笑，这事得好好商量商量。”

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“亲爱的肯尼迪，如果你不反对的话，咱们就边吃早饭边谈好了。”

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两位朋友面对面在一张小桌子前坐下。桌上放着一迭三明治和一把大水壶。

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“亲爱的弗格森，”猎人开口道，“你的计划太荒诞！行不通！它完全不象一个正儿八经、切实可行的计划！”

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“这要在我们试了后才知道。”

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“不过，说白了吧，试也不要试。”

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“为什么？请你说说看。”

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“当然是危险多，困难大了。”

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“困难嘛，是人为了战胜它而臆想出来的。”弗格森严肃地说，“至于说危险，谁能保证可以避得开？生活中什么都有危险。在桌子前坐下或把帽子戴到头上也可能是很危险的。再者，应该把可能发生的事看成已经发生过的。只看将来中的现在，不要从现在看将来，因为，将来只不过是距离稍远些的现在罢了。”

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“能这样说？！”肯尼迪耸了耸肩，“你总是宿命论！”

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“是宿命论，但要从这个词的好的意义上去理解。我们因此不要去操心命运给我们安排了什么，也从不忘记我们英国的好谚语：‘命中注定被吊死，就决不会被淹死！’”

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肯尼迪无言以对。不过这并不妨碍他又找出一大堆很容易想到的理由，但他说得太长，这儿无法一一转述。

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“不过，总之，”两人争了一个小时后，肯尼迪说，“既然你铁了心要横穿非洲，既然这对你的幸福很重要，你为什么不走正常的路，而非要从空中飞呢？”

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“为什么？”博士兴奋地答道，“因为至今为止，所有从陆地走的尝试都失败了！因为从蒙戈·帕克在尼日尔河被杀到弗格尔在瓦代①失踪，从奥德内死于米尔，克拉珀顿死于萨卡图到法国人麦桑被剁成肉块，从莱恩少校被图阿雷格人杀害到汉堡的罗舍尔1860年初丧命，非洲殉难者名单上已经记下了多少遇害者的名字！因为，与自然力、饥饿、干渴、热病、猛兽作斗争，特别是，与更凶猛的野蛮部落作斗争是不可能的！因为，用这种方式无法办到的事就应该试试另一种办法！总而言之，从中间走不过去的地方就应从旁边绕行，要么就从上面飞过去！”

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①历史上的乍得王国，为现今乍得的瓦达伊地区。

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“如果只是从上面飞过去，那就好了！”肯尼迪反驳道，“但这可是一直飞在上面啊！”

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“怎么！”博士异常冷静地接着说，“有什么要怕的？我已经采取了预防气球掉下来的措施，你会完全同意我的做法的。再说，万一我没了气球，无非像其他探险家们的情况一样，步行前进罢了。不过，我的气球是不会让我失望的。你就别总想着这个啦！”

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“恰恰相反，就应该想到这点。”

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“好了，亲爱的肯尼迪，在到达非洲西海岸前，我根本不打算离开气球。有了气球，什么都可能做到。如果没了它，以前探险队遇到的危险、大自然的困难又都来了。乘上气球，无论酷暑、激流、风暴、沙漠、干热风，有害气候，还是野兽、土人，我都不用怕！如果太热，就升高些；如果太冷，就降低些；遇到高山，就越过它；遇到悬崖绝壁，就穿过去；遇到河流大川，就飞过去；遇到狂风暴雨，爬到它上面；遇到激流，我还可以像鸟儿一样掠过水面！我毫无疲倦地前进，我停下来不是因为需要休息！我在新城上空翱翔！我疾风般地时而飞在最高空，时而紧贴地面滑行。你瞧，非洲地理概貌就像世界上的一幅大地图展现在我眼前。”

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诚实的肯尼迪有些被感动了，不过弗格森博士在他面前提到的场景使他头晕目眩。他又喜又怕地注视着弗格森，感觉到自己仿佛已经在空中摇摆了。

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“得了，悠着点吧，亲爱的弗格森。这么说，你已经有办法操纵气球的方向了？”肯尼迪问。

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“一点没有，这是个幻想。”

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“那你打算飞往……？”

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“听天由命，不过反正是由东往西飞。”

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“为什么？”

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“因为我打算利用信风。因为信风的方向是不变的。”

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“哦！的确如此！”肯尼迪若有所思地说，“信风……当然……，迫不得已时可以……差不多……。”

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“只要是差不多就行！况且，我诚实的朋友，现在是万事俱备。英国政府把一艘运输舰交给了我使用。而且说定了在估计我到达西海岸的那段时间里，有三、四艘船会去那一带海域巡逻。最多三个月我就到桑给巴尔了。在那里我把气球充满气，然后我们就升空……。”

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“我们？”肯尼迪叫道。

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“怎么，看样子你还有什么反对意见？说吧，肯尼迪老友。”

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“反对意见，我有上千条呢！不过，别的暂且不提，先给我说说：既然你打算旅行，既然你想着任意升高降低，那么，不消耗气体，你就不可能做得到！但至今为止，还没有其他不消耗气体的办法呢。正是这点一直阻碍了在空中进行长途旅行。”

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“亲爱的肯尼迪，我只给你说一件事：气体的一个原子，一个分子，我也不会浪费。”

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“那你任意降低呢？”

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“我是要任意降低。”

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“你怎么做？”

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“这可是我的秘密。肯尼迪老友。请相信我。让我的座右铭也成为你的座右铭吧：excelsior！”

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“好吧，Excelsior就Excelsior！”猎人应道。他对拉丁语一窍不通。

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不过，他还是下定决心要尽一切可能与他朋友的出发计划唱反调，因此，他表面假装同意弗格森博士的意见，其实仅仅是袖手观望而已。至于弗格森，立即又去忙他的准备工作了。

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The Doctor’s Friend.--The Origin of their Friendship.--Dick Kennedy at London.--An unexpected but not very consoling Proposal.--A Proverb by no means cheering.--A few Names from the African Martyrology.--The Advantages of a Balloon.--Dr. Ferguson’s Secret.

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Dr. Ferguson had a friend--not another self, indeed, an alter ego, for friendship could not exist between two beings exactly alike.

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But, if they possessed different qualities, aptitudes, and temperaments, Dick Kennedy and Samuel Ferguson lived with one and the same heart, and that gave them no great trouble. In fact, quite the reverse.

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Dick Kennedy was a Scotchman, in the full acceptation of the word--open, resolute, and headstrong. He lived in the town of Leith, which is near Edinburgh, and, in truth, is a mere suburb of Auld Reekie. Sometimes he was a fisherman, but he was always and everywhere a determined hunter, and that was nothing remarkable for a son of Caledonia, who had known some little climbing among the Highland mountains. He was cited as a wonderful shot with the rifle, since not only could he split a bullet on a knife-blade, but he could divide it into two such equal parts that, upon weighing them, scarcely any difference would be perceptible.

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Kennedy’s countenance strikingly recalled that of Herbert Glendinning, as Sir Walter Scott has depicted it in "The Monastery"; his stature was above six feet; full of grace and easy movement, he yet seemed gifted with herculean strength; a face embrowned by the sun; eyes keen and black; a natural air of daring courage; in fine, something sound, solid, and reliable in his entire person, spoke, at first glance, in favor of the bonny Scot.

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The acquaintanceship of these two friends had been formed in India, when they belonged to the same regiment. While Dick would be out in pursuit of the tiger and the elephant, Samuel would be in search of plants and insects. Each could call himself expert in his own province, and more than one rare botanical specimen, that to science was as great a victory won as the conquest of a pair of ivory tusks, became the doctor’s booty.

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These two young men, moreover, never had occasion to save each other’s lives, or to render any reciprocal service. Hence, an unalterable friendship. Destiny sometimes bore them apart, but sympathy always united them again.

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Since their return to England they had been frequently separated by the doctor’s distant expeditions; but, on his return, the latter never failed to go, not to ASK for hospitality, but to bestow some weeks of his presence at the home of his crony Dick.

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The Scot talked of the past; the doctor busily prepared for the future. The one looked back, the other forward. Hence, a restless spirit personified in Ferguson; perfect calmness typified in Kennedy--such was the contrast.

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After his journey to the Thibet, the doctor had remained nearly two years without hinting at new explorations; and Dick, supposing that his friend’s instinct for travel and thirst for adventure had at length died out, was perfectly enchanted. They would have ended badly, some day or other, he thought to himself; no matter what experience one has with men, one does not travel always with impunity among cannibals and wild beasts. So, Kennedy besought the doctor to tie up his bark for life, having done enough for science, and too much for the gratitude of men.

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The doctor contented himself with making no reply to this. He remained absorbed in his own reflections, giving himself up to secret calculations, passing his nights among heaps of figures, and making experiments with the strangest-looking machinery, inexplicable to everybody but himself. It could readily be guessed, though, that some great thought was fermenting in his brain.

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"What can he have been planning?" wondered Kennedy, when, in the month of January, his friend quitted him to return to London.

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He found out one morning when he looked into the Daily Telegraph.

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"Merciful Heaven!" he exclaimed, "the lunatic! the madman! Cross Africa in a balloon! Nothing but that was wanted to cap the climax! That’s what he’s been bothering his wits about these two years past!"

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Now, reader, substitute for all these exclamation points, as many ringing thumps with a brawny fist upon the table, and you have some idea of the manual exercise that Dick went through while he thus spoke.

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When his confidential maid-of-all-work, the aged Elspeth, tried to insinuate that the whole thing might be a hoax--

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"Not a bit of it!" said he. "Don’t I know my man? Isn’t it just like him? Travel through the air! There, now, he’s jealous of the eagles, next! No! I warrant you, he’ll not do it! I’ll find a way to stop him! He! why if they’d let him alone, he’d start some day for the moon!"

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On that very evening Kennedy, half alarmed, and half exasperated, took the train for London, where he arrived next morning.

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Three-quarters of an hour later a cab deposited him at the door of the doctor’s modest dwelling, in Soho Square, Greek Street. Forthwith he bounded up the steps and announced his arrival with five good, hearty, sounding raps at the door.

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Ferguson opened, in person.

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"Dick! you here?" he exclaimed, but with no great expression of surprise, after all.

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"Dick himself!" was the response.

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"What, my dear boy, you at London, and this the mid-season of the winter shooting?"

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"Yes! here I am, at London!"

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"And what have you come to town for?"

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"To prevent the greatest piece of folly that ever was conceived."

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"Folly!" said the doctor.

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"Is what this paper says, the truth?" rejoined Kennedy, holding out the copy of the Daily Telegraph, mentioned above.

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"Ah! that’s what you mean, is it? These newspapers are great tattlers! But, sit down, my dear Dick."

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"No, I won’t sit down!--Then, you really intend to attempt this journey?"

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"Most certainly! all my preparations are getting along finely, and I--"

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"Where are your traps? Let me have a chance at them! I’ll make them fly! I’ll put your preparations in fine order." And so saying, the gallant Scot gave way to a genuine explosion of wrath.

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"Come, be calm, my dear Dick!" resumed the doctor. "You’re angry at me because I did not acquaint you with my new project."

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"He calls this his new project!"

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"I have been very busy," the doctor went on, without heeding the interruption; "I have had so much to look after! But rest assured that I should not have started without writing to you."

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"Oh, indeed! I’m highly honored."

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"Because it is my intention to take you with me."

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Upon this, the Scotchman gave a leap that a wild goat would not have been ashamed of among his native crags.

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"Ah! really, then, you want them to send us both to Bedlam!"

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"I have counted positively upon you, my dear Dick, and I have picked you out from all the rest."

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Kennedy stood speechless with amazement.

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"After listening to me for ten minutes," said the doctor, "you will thank me!"

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"Are you speaking seriously?"

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"Very seriously."

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"And suppose that I refuse to go with you?"

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"But you won’t refuse."

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"But, suppose that I were to refuse?"

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"Well, I’d go alone."

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"Let us sit down," said Kennedy, "and talk without excitement. The moment you give up jesting about it, we can discuss the thing."

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"Let us discuss it, then, at breakfast, if you have no objections, my dear Dick."

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The two friends took their seats opposite to each other, at a little table with a plate of toast and a huge tea-urn before them.

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"My dear Samuel," said the sportsman, "your project is insane! it is impossible! it has no resemblance to anything reasonable or practicable!"

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"That’s for us to find out when we shall have tried it!"

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"But trying it is exactly what you ought not to attempt."

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"Why so, if you please?"

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"Well, the risks, the difficulty of the thing."

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"As for difficulties," replied Ferguson, in a serious tone, "they were made to be overcome; as for risks and dangers, who can flatter himself that he is to escape them? Every thing in life involves danger; it may even be dangerous to sit down at one’s own table, or to put one’s hat on one’s own head. Moreover, we must look upon what is to occur as having already occurred, and see nothing but the present in the future, for the future is but the present a little farther on."

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"There it is!" exclaimed Kennedy, with a shrug. "As great a fatalist as ever!"

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"Yes! but in the good sense of the word. Let us not trouble ourselves, then, about what fate has in store for us, and let us not forget our good old English proverb: ’The man who was born to be hung will never be drowned!’"

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There was no reply to make, but that did not prevent Kennedy from resuming a series of arguments which may be readily conjectured, but which were too long for us to repeat.

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"Well, then," he said, after an hour’s discussion, "if you are absolutely determined to make this trip across the African continent--if it is necessary for your happiness, why not pursue the ordinary routes?"

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"Why?" ejaculated the doctor, growing animated. "Because, all attempts to do so, up to this time, have utterly failed. Because, from Mungo Park, assassinated on the Niger, to Vogel, who disappeared in the Wadai country; from Oudney, who died at Murmur, and Clapperton, lost at Sackatou, to the Frenchman Maizan, who was cut to pieces; from Major Laing, killed by the Touaregs, to Roscher, from Hamburg, massacred in the beginning of 1860, the names of victim after victim have been inscribed on the lists of African martyrdom! Because, to contend successfully against the elements; against hunger, and thirst, and fever; against savage beasts, and still more savage men, is impossible! Because, what cannot be done in one way, should be tried in another. In fine, because what one cannot pass through directly in the middle, must be passed by going to one side or overhead!"

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"If passing over it were the only question!" interposed Kennedy; "but passing high up in the air, doctor, there’s the rub!"

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"Come, then," said the doctor, "what have I to fear? You will admit that I have taken my precautions in such manner as to be certain that my balloon will not fall; but, should it disappoint me, I should find myself on the ground in the normal conditions imposed upon other explorers. But, my balloon will not deceive me, and we need make no such calculations."

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"Yes, but you must take them into view."

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"No, Dick. I intend not to be separated from the balloon until I reach the western coast of Africa. With it, every thing is possible; without it, I fall back into the dangers and difficulties as well as the natural obstacles that ordinarily attend such an expedition: with it, neither heat, nor torrents, nor tempests, nor the simoom, nor unhealthy climates, nor wild animals, nor savage men, are to be feared! If I feel too hot, I can ascend; if too cold, I can come down. Should there be a mountain, I can pass over it; a precipice, I can sweep across it; a river, I can sail beyond it; a storm, I can rise away above it; a torrent, I can skim it like a bird! I can advance without fatigue, I can halt without need of repose! I can soar above the nascent cities! I can speed onward with the rapidity of a tornado, sometimes at the loftiest heights, sometimes only a hundred feet above the soil, while the map of Africa unrolls itself beneath my gaze in the great atlas of the world."

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Even the stubborn Kennedy began to feel moved, and yet the spectacle thus conjured up before him gave him the vertigo. He riveted his eyes upon the doctor with wonder and admiration, and yet with fear, for he already felt himself swinging aloft in space.

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"Come, come," said he, at last. "Let us see, Samuel. Then you have discovered the means of guiding a balloon?"

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"Not by any means. That is a Utopian idea."

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"Then, you will go--"

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"Whithersoever Providence wills; but, at all events, from east to west."

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"Why so?"

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"Because I expect to avail myself of the trade-winds, the direction of which is always the same."

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"Ah! yes, indeed!" said Kennedy, reflecting; "the trade-winds--yes--truly--one might--there’s something in that!"

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"Something in it--yes, my excellent friend--there’s EVERY THING in it. The English Government has placed a transport at my disposal, and three or four vessels are to cruise off the western coast of Africa, about the presumed period of my arrival. In three months, at most, I shall be at Zanzibar, where I will inflate my balloon, and from that point we shall launch ourselves."

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"We!" said Dick.

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"Have you still a shadow of an objection to offer? Speak, friend Kennedy."

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"An objection! I have a thousand; but among other things, tell me, if you expect to see the country. If you expect to mount and descend at pleasure, you cannot do so, without losing your gas. Up to this time no other means have been devised, and it is this that has always prevented long journeys in the air."

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"My dear Dick, I have only one word to answer--I shall not lose one particle of gas."

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"And yet you can descend when you please?"

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"I shall descend when I please."

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"And how will you do that?"

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"Ah, ha! therein lies my secret, friend Dick. Have faith, and let my device be yours--’Excelsior!’"

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"’Excelsior’ be it then," said the sportsman, who did not understand a word of Latin.

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But he made up his mind to oppose his friend’s departure by all means in his power, and so pretended to give in, at the same time keeping on the watch. As for the doctor, he went on diligently with his preparations.

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