An immense bell had imprisoned the atmosphere and deprived it of movement; not a breath of wind was there, high or low.

The aerostat maneuvered without encountering any resistance, seeming very small owing to the distance, much as if she were being looked at through the wrong end of a telescope.
Suddenly there was a shout among the crowd, a shout followed by a hundred thousand more.

All hands were stretched towards a point on the horizon.

That point was the northwest.

There in the deep azure appeared a moving body, which was approaching and growing larger.