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at his ease.
"Dick," said the doctor, "come with Joe; I want to
know how much you both weigh."
"But--"
"You may keep your hat on. Come!" And Kennedy went.
They repaired in company to the workshop of the
Messrs. Mitchell, where one of those so-called "Roman"
scales was in readiness. It was necessary, by the way,
for the doctor to know the weight of his companions, so
as to fix the equilibrium of his balloon; so he made Dick
get up on the platform of the scales. The latter, without
making any resistance, said, in an undertone:
"Oh! well, that doesn't bind me to any thing."
"One hundred and fifty-three pounds," said the doctor,
noting it down on his tablets.
"Am I too heavy?"
"Why, no, Mr. Kennedy!" said Joe; "and then, you
know, I am light to make up for it."
So saying, Joe, with enthusiasm, took his place on the
scales, and very nearly upset them in his ready haste.
He struck the attitude of Wellington where he is made to
ape Achilles, at Hyde-Park entrance, and was superb in
it, without the shield.
"One hundred and twenty pounds," wrote the doctor.
"Ah! ha!" said Joe, with a smile of satisfaction
And why did he smile? He never could tell himself.
"It's my turn now," said Ferguson--and he put down
one hundred and thirty-five pounds to his own account.
"All three of us," said he, "do not weigh much more
than four hundred pounds."
"But, sir," said Joe, "if it was necessary for your
expedition, I could make myself thinner by twenty pounds,
by not eating so much."
"Useless, my boy!" replied the doctor. "You may
eat as much as you like, and here's half-a-crown to buy
you the ballast."
CHAPTER SEVENTH.
Geometrical Details.--Calculation of the Capacity of the Balloon.--The
Double Receptacle.--The Covering.--The Car.--The Mysterious Apparatus.
--The Provisions and Stores.--The Final Summing up.
Dr. Ferguson had long been engaged upon the details
of his expedition. It is easy to comprehend that the balloon
--that marvellous vehicle which was to convey him
through the air--was the constant object of his solicitude.
At the outset, in order not to give the balloon too
ponderous dimensions, he had decided to fill it with
hydrogen gas, which is fourteen and a half times lighter
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