"Hans Phaall" - читать интересную книгу автора (Poe Edgar Allan)

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