Just as the narrator starts the ascent of his balloon, a stranger jumps into its car. The unexpected passenger only intent is to take the balloon as high as it will go, even at the cost of his and pilot's life. The intruder takes advantage of the long journey to recount the history of incidents related to the epic of lighter-than-air travel. This short story foreshadows Verne's first novel, Five Weeks in a Balloon.
