It was not yet 11 o’clock when I had expressed a desire to come down on the great plain which offered us such an immense and propitious terrain for coming to earth. The wind had at that time not yet changed, and we could hope to come down in the fertile plains of Normandy or possibly in the direction of Brittany. Our aeronaut did not share my point of view, and we continued our journey. It was only then, after two hours navigation, that the weather changed. So it is evident that the balloon must have traversed at least twice the distance between Paris and Metz, since it had travelled for two hours at full speed in an opposite direction. The whole journey had been carried out in the space of four hours--from nine in the morning till one in the afternoon. That represented an amazing speed: two or three hundred kilometres an hour. And now for the Belgian frontier! CHAPTER VIII EN ROUTE FOR THE FRONTIER The distance we now had to go was very much shorter, but it was also more difficult, and we only arrived at the frontier the next morning, between ten and eleven. Had it not been for the intelligence and devotion of M. Thiébeaux and his friend M. Charles Jeannot, we should not have arrived at all. It was a long, slow and painful journey, a regular Odyssey, across country entirely occupied by the enemy. It is not my purpose in this short narrative to tell of its events and adventures ... that would take us too far and would only serve to revive sad memories. I only refer to it in token of gratitude to our courageous guides who carried us by night under a drenching rain through the lines of the army of occupation with no less intelligence than courage and presence of mind. It is clear that the Germans saw our balloon as well as M. Thiébeaux and his friends, and they at once set out to capture it. Fortunately for ourselves the forest and the rain prevented their following our movements and taking exact note of the place where we had come down. At midnight we met some of M. Thiébeaux’ friends on the road, returning from a neighbouring fair. “Anything new?” asked our guide. “Yes, a balloon has come from Paris. There were three or four persons in it, and the Uhlans are after them.” “In which direction have they gone?” “I believe they are pursuing them in the direction of Verdun.” “Are there any Prussians in the neighbourhood of...?” “No, they are at ... to-day.” “Good-night.” Our carriage again moved off, while M. Thiébeaux’ friends began to interrogate us as to whether there was anything new on our side. The place where the Uhlans were hoping to catch us was in exactly the opposite direction to the way we were now going, and M. Thiébeaux rubbed his hands with pleasure at the knowledge that they were on a false scent. At eight in the morning we arrived at Montmédy. There we learnt the sad news of the surrender of Metz.