Poe, Edgar Allen - The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe Read online

  a fire wanted fanning, it could readily be fanned with a newspaper,

  and as the government grew weaker, I have no doubt that leather and

  iron acquired durability in proportion, for, in a very short time,

  there was not a pair of bellows in all Rotterdam that ever stood in

  need of a stitch or required the assistance of a hammer. This was a

  state of things not to be endured. I soon grew as poor as a rat, and,

  having a wife and children to provide for, my burdens at length

  became intolerable, and I spent hour after hour in reflecting upon

  the most convenient method of putting an end to my life. Duns, in the

  meantime, left me little leisure for contemplation. My house was

  literally besieged from morning till night, so that I began to rave,

  and foam, and fret like a caged tiger against the bars of his

  enclosure. There were three fellows in particular who worried me

  beyond endurance, keeping watch continually about my door, and

  threatening me with the law. Upon these three I internally vowed the

  bitterest revenge, if ever I should be so happy as to get them within

  my clutches; and I believe nothing in the world but the pleasure of

  this anticipation prevented me from putting my plan of suicide into

  immediate execution, by blowing my brains out with a blunderbuss. I

  thought it best, however, to dissemble my wrath, and to treat them

  with promises and fair words, until, by some good turn of fate, an

  opportunity of vengeance should be afforded me.

  "One day, having given my creditors the slip, and feeling more than

  usually dejected, I continued for a long time to wander about the

  most obscure streets without object whatever, until at length I

  chanced to stumble against the corner of a bookseller's stall. Seeing

  a chair close at hand, for the use of customers, I threw myself

  doggedly into it, and, hardly knowing why, opened the pages of the

  first volume which came within my reach. It proved to be a small

  pamphlet treatise on Speculative Astronomy, written either by

  Professor Encke of Berlin or by a Frenchman of somewhat similar name.

  I had some little tincture of information on matters of this nature,

  and soon became more and more absorbed in the contents of the book,

  reading it actually through twice before I awoke to a recollection of

  what was passing around me. By this time it began to grow dark, and I

  directed my steps toward home. But the treatise had made an indelible

  impression on my mind, and, as I sauntered along the dusky streets, I

  revolved carefully over in my memory the wild and sometimes

  unintelligible reasonings of the writer. There are some particular

  passages which affected my imagination in a powerful and

  extraordinary manner. The longer I meditated upon these the more

  intense grew the interest which had been excited within me. The

  limited nature of my education in general, and more especially my

  ignorance on subjects connected with natural philosophy, so far from

  rendering me diffident of my own ability to comprehend what I had

  read, or inducing me to mistrust the many vague notions which had

  arisen in consequence, merely served as a farther stimulus to

  imagination; and I was vain enough, or perhaps reasonable enough, to

  doubt whether those crude ideas which, arising in ill-regulated

  minds, have all the appearance, may not often in effect possess all

  the force, the reality, and other inherent properties, of instinct or

  intuition; whether, to proceed a step farther, profundity itself

  might not, in matters of a purely speculative nature, be detected as

  a legitimate source of falsity and error. In other words, I believed,

  and still do believe, that truth, is frequently of its own essence,

  superficial, and that, in many cases, the depth lies more in the

  abysses where we seek her, than in the actual situations wherein she

  may be found. Nature herself seemed to afford me corroboration of

  these ideas. In the contemplation of the heavenly bodies it struck me

  forcibly that I could not distinguish a star with nearly as much

  precision, when I gazed on it with earnest, direct and undeviating

  attention, as when I suffered my eye only to glance in its vicinity

  alone. I was not, of course, at that time aware that this apparent

  paradox was occasioned by the center of the visual area being less

  susceptible of feeble impressions of light than the exterior portions

  of the retina. This knowledge, and some of another kind, came

  afterwards in the course of an eventful five years, during which I

  have dropped the prejudices of my former humble situation in life,

  and forgotten the bellows-mender in far different occupations. But at

  the epoch of which I speak, the analogy which a casual observation of

  a star offered to the conclusions I had already drawn, struck me with

  the force of positive conformation, and I then finally made up my

  mind to the course which I afterwards pursued.

  "It was late when I reached home, and I went immediately to bed. My

  mind, however, was too much occupied to sleep, and I lay the whole

  night buried in meditation. Arising early in the morning, and

  contriving again to escape the vigilance of my creditors, I repaired

  eagerly to the bookseller's stall, and laid out what little ready

  money I possessed, in the purchase of some volumes of Mechanics and

  Practical Astronomy. Having arrived at home safely with these, I

  devoted every spare moment to their perusal, and soon made such

  proficiency in studies of this nature as I thought sufficient for the

  execution of my plan. In the intervals of this period, I made every

  endeavor to conciliate the three creditors who had given me so much

  annoyance. In this I finally succeeded -- partly by selling enough of

  my household furniture to satisfy a moiety of their claim, and partly

  by a promise of paying the balance upon completion of a little

  project which I told them I had in view, and for assistance in which

  I solicited their services. By these means -- for they were ignorant

  men -- I found little difficulty in gaining them over to my purpose.

  "Matters being thus arranged, I contrived, by the aid of my wife and

  with the greatest secrecy and caution, to dispose of what property I

  had remaining, and to borrow, in small sums, under various pretences,

  and without paying any attention to my future means of repayment, no

  inconsiderable quantity of ready money. With the means thus accruing

  I proceeded to procure at intervals, cambric muslin, very fine, in

  pieces of twelve yards each; twine; a lot of the varnish of

  caoutchouc; a large and deep basket of wicker-work, made to order;

  and several other articles necessary in the construction and

  equipment of a balloon of extraordinary dimensions. This I directed

  my wife to make up as soon as possible, and gave her all requisite

  information as to the particular method of proceeding. In the

  meantime I worked up the twine into a net-work of sufficient

  dimensions; rigged it with a hoop and the necessary cords; bought a

  quadrant, a compass, a spy-glass, a common barometer with some

 
important modifications, and two astronomical instruments not so

  generally known. I then took opportunities of conveying by night, to

  a retired situation east of Rotterdam, five iron-bound casks, to

  contain about fifty gallons each, and one of a larger size; six

  tinned ware tubes, three inches in diameter, properly shaped, and ten

  feet in length; a quantity of a particular metallic substance, or

  semi-metal, which I shall not name, and a dozen demijohns of a very

  common acid. The gas to be formed from these latter materials is a

  gas never yet generated by any other person than myself -- or at

  least never applied to any similar purpose. The secret I would make

  no difficulty in disclosing, but that it of right belongs to a

  citizen of Nantz, in France, by whom it was conditionally

  communicated to myself. The same individual submitted to me, without

  being at all aware of my intentions, a method of constructing

  balloons from the membrane of a certain animal, through which

  substance any escape of gas was nearly an impossibility. I found it,

  however, altogether too expensive, and was not sure, upon the whole,

  whether cambric muslin with a coating of gum caoutchouc, was not

  equally as good. I mention this circumstance, because I think it

  probable that hereafter the individual in question may attempt a

  balloon ascension with the novel gas and material I have spoken of,

  and I do not wish to deprive him of the honor of a very singular

  invention.

  "On the spot which I intended each of the smaller casks to occupy

  respectively during the inflation of the balloon, I privately dug a

  hole two feet deep; the holes forming in this manner a circle

  twenty-five feet in diameter. In the centre of this circle, being the

  station designed for the large cask, I also dug a hole three feet in

  depth. In each of the five smaller holes, I deposited a canister

  containing fifty pounds, and in the larger one a keg holding one

  hundred and fifty pounds, of cannon powder. These -- the keg and

  canisters -- I connected in a proper manner with covered trains; and

  having let into one of the canisters the end of about four feet of

  slow match, I covered up the hole, and placed the cask over it,

  leaving the other end of the match protruding about an inch, and

  barely visible beyond the cask. I then filled up the remaining holes,

  and placed the barrels over them in their destined situation.

  "Besides the articles above enumerated, I conveyed to the depot, and

  there secreted, one of M. Grimm's improvements upon the apparatus for

  condensation of the atmospheric air. I found this machine, however,

  to require considerable alteration before it could be adapted to the

  purposes to which I intended making it applicable. But, with severe

  labor and unremitting perseverance, I at length met with entire

  success in all my preparations. My balloon was soon completed. It

  would contain more than forty thousand cubic feet of gas; would take

  me up easily, I calculated, with all my implements, and, if I managed

  rightly, with one hundred and seventy-five pounds of ballast into the

  bargain. It had received three coats of varnish, and I found the

  cambric muslin to answer all the purposes of silk itself, quite as

  strong and a good deal less expensive.

  "Everything being now ready, I exacted from my wife an oath of

  secrecy in relation to all my actions from the day of my first visit

  to the bookseller's stall; and promising, on my part, to return as

  soon as circumstances would permit, I gave her what little money I

  had left, and bade her farewell. Indeed I had no fear on her account.

  She was what people call a notable woman, and could manage matters in

  the world without my assistance. I believe, to tell the truth, she

  always looked upon me as an idle boy, a mere make-weight, good for

  nothing but building castles in the air, and was rather glad to get

  rid of me. It was a dark night when I bade her good-bye, and taking

  with me, as aides-de-camp, the three creditors who had given me so

  much trouble, we carried the balloon, with the car and accoutrements,

  by a roundabout way, to the station where the other articles were

  deposited. We there found them all unmolested, and I proceeded

  immediately to business.

  "It was the first of April. The night, as I said before, was dark;

  there was not a star to be seen; and a drizzling rain, falling at

  intervals, rendered us very uncomfortable. But my chief anxiety was

  concerning the balloon, which, in spite of the varnish with which it

  was defended, began to grow rather heavy with the moisture; the

  powder also was liable to damage. I therefore kept my three duns

  working with great diligence, pounding down ice around the central

  cask, and stirring the acid in the others. They did not cease,

  however, importuning me with questions as to what I intended to do

  with all this apparatus, and expressed much dissatisfaction at the

  terrible labor I made them undergo. They could not perceive, so they

  said, what good was likely to result from their getting wet to the

  skin, merely to take a part in such horrible incantations. I began to

  get uneasy, and worked away with all my might, for I verily believe

  the idiots supposed that I had entered into a compact with the devil,

  and that, in short, what I was now doing was nothing better than it

  should be. I was, therefore, in great fear of their leaving me

  altogether. I contrived, however, to pacify them by promises of

  payment of all scores in full, as soon as I could bring the present

  business to a termination. To these speeches they gave, of course,

  their own interpretation; fancying, no doubt, that at all events I

  should come into possession of vast quantities of ready money; and

  provided I paid them all I owed, and a trifle more, in consideration

  of their services, I dare say they cared very little what became of

  either my soul or my carcass.

  "In about four hours and a half I found the balloon sufficiently

  inflated. I attached the car, therefore, and put all my implements in

  it -- not forgetting the condensing apparatus, a copious supply of

  water, and a large quantity of provisions, such as pemmican, in which

  much nutriment is contained in comparatively little bulk. I also

  secured in the car a pair of pigeons and a cat. It was now nearly

  daybreak, and I thought it high time to take my departure. Dropping a

  lighted cigar on the ground, as if by accident, I took the

  opportunity, in stooping to pick it up, of igniting privately the

  piece of slow match, whose end, as I said before, protruded a very

  little beyond the lower rim of one of the smaller casks. This

  manoeuvre was totally unperceived on the part of the three duns; and,

  jumping into the car, I immediately cut the single cord which held me

  to the earth, and was pleased to find that I shot upward, carrying

  with all ease one hundred and seventy-five pounds of leaden ballast,

  and able to have carried up as many more.

  "Scarcely, however, had I attained the height of fifty yards, when,

  roaring an
d rumbling up after me in the most horrible and tumultuous

  manner, came so dense a hurricane of fire, and smoke, and sulphur,

  and legs and arms, and gravel, and burning wood, and blazing metal,

  that my very heart sunk within me, and I fell down in the bottom of

  the car, trembling with unmitigated terror. Indeed, I now perceived

  that I had entirely overdone the business, and that the main

  consequences of the shock were yet to be experienced. Accordingly, in

  less than a second, I felt all the blood in my body rushing to my

  temples, and immediately thereupon, a concussion, which I shall never

  forget, burst abruptly through the night and seemed to rip the very

  firmament asunder. When I afterward had time for reflection, I did

  not fail to attribute the extreme violence of the explosion, as

  regarded myself, to its proper cause -- my situation directly above

  it, and in the line of its greatest power. But at the time, I thought

  only of preserving my life. The balloon at first collapsed, then

  furiously expanded, then whirled round and round with horrible

  velocity, and finally, reeling and staggering like a drunken man,

  hurled me with great force over the rim of the car, and left me

  dangling, at a terrific height, with my head downward, and my face

  outwards, by a piece of slender cord about three feet in length,

  which hung accidentally through a crevice near the bottom of the

  wicker-work, and in which, as I fell, my left foot became most

  providentially entangled. It is impossible -- utterly impossible --

  to form any adequate idea of the horror of my situation. I gasped

  convulsively for breath -- a shudder resembling a fit of the ague

  agitated every nerve and muscle of my frame -- I felt my eyes

  starting from their sockets -- a horrible nausea overwhelmed me --

  and at length I fainted away.

  "How long I remained in this state it is impossible to say. It must,

  however, have been no inconsiderable time, for when I partially

  recovered the sense of existence, I found the day breaking, the

  balloon at a prodigious height over a wilderness of ocean, and not a

  trace of land to be discovered far and wide within the limits of the

  vast horizon. My sensations, however, upon thus recovering, were by