"
"Oh, yes, moderation!" said Sophia.
"But his friends began to prate to him about the shameful way he had
been jilted by Cecilia, and, by constantly reiterating the same thing,
they at last succeeded in persuading him that he was an ill-used man.
His self-esteem being roused by this silly chatter, he began to affect
a ridiculous desolation, and to perpetrate all manner of outrageous
extravagances."
"Bad friends," remarked Willis, "are like sinking ships; they drag you
down to their own level."
"The first absurd thing he did was to purchase a yacht, and when a
storm arose that forced the hardy fishermen to take shelter in port,
he went out to sea, and it is quite a miracle that he escaped
drowning. Then, if there were a doubtful scheme afloat, he was sure to
take shares in it. Nothing delighted him more than to go up in a
balloon; he would have gladly swung himself on the car outside if the
proprietor had allowed him."
"I have often seen balloons in the air," remarked Willis, "but I could
never make out their dead reckoning."
"A balloon," replied Ernest, "is nothing more than an artificial
cloud, and its power of ascension depends upon the volume of air it
displaces.
"Very good, Master Ernest, so far as the balloon itself is concerned;
but then there is the weight of the car, passengers, provisions, and
apparatus to account for.
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