Jules Verne

Five Weeks in a Balloon Jules Verne

Book Excerpt: ..."You'll stop nothing at all, Mr. Kennedy, with all respect to you, sir. My master is no hare-brained person; he takes a long time to think over what he means to do, and then, when he once gets started, the Evil One himself couldn't make him give it up.""Well, we'll see about that.""Don't flatter yourself, sir--but then, the main thing is, to have you with us. For a hunter like you, sir, Africa's a great country. So, either way, you won't be sorry for the trip.""No, that's a fact, I shan't be sorry for it, if I can get this crazy man to give up his scheme.""By-the-way," said Joe, "you know that the weighing comes off to-day.""The weighing--what weighing?""Why, my master, and you, and I, are all to be weighed to-day!""What! like horse-jockeys?""Yes, like jockeys. Only, never fear, you won't be expected to make yourself lean, if you're found to be heavy. You'll go as you are.""Well, I can tell you, I am not going to let myself be weighed," said Kennedy, firmly."But, sir, it seems that the doctor's machine requires it.""Well, his machine will have to do without it.""Humph! and suppose that it couldn't go up, then?""Egad! that's all I want!"...