"It's only an isolated cloud," remarked the doctor.
"It won't do to count much upon that."
"Look, Dick, its shape is just the same as when we
saw it this morning!"
"Then, doctor, there's to be neither rain nor wind, at
least for us!"
"I fear so; the cloud keeps at a great height."
"Well, doctor, suppose we were to go in pursuit of
this cloud, since it refuses to burst upon us?"
"I fancy that to do so wouldn't help us much; it
would be a consumption of gas, and, consequently, of
water, to little purpose; but, in our situation, we must
not leave anything untried; therefore, let us ascend!"
And with this, the doctor put on a full head of flame
from the cylinder, and the dilation of the hydrogen,
occasioned by such sudden and intense heat, sent the
balloon rapidly aloft.
About fifteen hundred feet from the ground, it encountered
an opaque mass of cloud, and entered a dense
fog, suspended at that elevation; but it did not meet with
the least breath of wind. This fog seemed even destitute
of humidity, and the articles brought in contact with it
were scarcely dampened in the slightest degree. The
balloon, completely enveloped in the vapor, gained a little
increase of speed, perhaps, and that was all.
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