What anxiety, what suspense, await that poor young girl?
But what joy will follow the glorious return of her beloved! What firm bonds of affection will bind them together after this long, hard separation!
Oh! how I wish them this happiness with all my heart!
Greatly affected myself, I shake convulsively the hand of my friend, who is leaving all that he holds dearest in the world for the glorious accomplishment of a scientific enterprise, and with a final clasp I promise him once again that his wish will be a sacred duty to me!
He gives me a last letter for his fiancée; then, controlling the emotion which was overcoming him, he rejoins Andrée and Fraenkel, who are also taking leave of their friends.
VIEW OF THE BALLOON TAKEN IMMEDIATELY AFTER ITS DEPARTURE.
Andrée is thanking all the members of the expedition for the help they have rendered him in his enterprise. He gives the captain several telegrams written in haste at the last minute; one, addressed to the King of Sweden, is worded thus:—