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It was a lovely June morning in the year 1783, and a great crowd gathered in the square to see this first ascent. The balloon itself looked just like folds of paper; but when a fire was kindled underneath, instead of burning up it began to rise higher and higher till at last "it was out of sight! For ten minutes it hung suspended in the air, then floated gently down and landed in a vineyard -- a mile and a half from the city.

Well, after this, the two brothers made a large bag, fastened a little basket to it, and into the basket they put a sheep, a cock, and a duck. These were the first living creatures that ever went "up in a balloon;" and they evidently enjoyed their funny ride in the air, for all three were bright and lively when the balloon came down to earth again. The cock's wing to be sure, was just a little lame, but that probably came about from his uneasy fluttering.

Now, certain courageous Frenchmen began to wonder if it wouldn't be possible for themselves to take an air-voyage in just the same way.

The wise and the cautious shook their heads and said it was a very fool-hardy, dangerous experiment; but Pilatre de Rozier, a young French naturalist, was determined to run the risk.

At last, he persuaded the Marquis d'Arlandes to go with him, and on the twenty-first of November, that very same year, (1783) they made their first ascent.

Of course, this was a much larger balloon than any of the others, and I think the bag was made of silk, dipped into a solution of Indian-rubber. Then, instead of being filled with heated air like the Montgolfier balloons, it was inflated, if I remember rightly, with hydrogen gas.

It was a dull, cloudy day when the two men got into the little car that was fastened to this mysterious air bag. 1 don't wonder the Marquis was a little frightened when the cords that held the balloon to the ground were cut away, and up up, three thousand feet they rose -- as if on the wings of some great bird!

There was a crowd watching them from the chateau gardens of Muette, where the balloon had been fastened; but Rozier and the Marquis soon lost sight of them. Six miles of space they traversed in twenty-five minutes, and when they were ready to come down the balloon was resting over the Boulevards.

O! so many questions as they had to answer when, safe and sound, they fairly reached the ground.

The curious people flocked around them, like as many magpies, and those who had croaked loudest about the "wild goose scheme" were now ready to try the venture themselves.

Since that ascent, there have been many others far more wonderful, but not one of greater interest or importance; for this, you know, was the very first ascent that anyone had dared to make; and to do what nobody else has ever done before always takes a deal of noteworthy courage and enterprise.

But we have wandered away from Pedro, and his little toy balloons. He is back at his post on the Common now; and there is a little girl not far away from him, who is selling balloons too.

Really, I am afraid he will find her a dangerous "rival in trade."

Sometimes, you will see the little empty bags taken about in a basket.

There is a boy -- or rather man, I have seen on Washington Street, who has a wooden box slung over his neck with a leather strap; and in the box he carries, among other articles, a new- fashioned kind of balloon that he sells at twenty-five cents apiece.

It is shaped and colored just like Pedro's, but I see there are two holes instead of one, in the empty rubber bag. A little metal tube is thrust into the first hole, and into the second a sort of flute whistle made of some bright colored wood.

When I saw him, he was showing a young girl how to use it; first, he blew up the bag by means of the little metal tube, and then as the air began to escape he moved his fingers rapidly up and down the long piece of colored wood.

O dear, such an unearthly noise as it made! I suppose he called it "music," but it sounded more like an Indian war-whoop than anything else I could think of.

Perhaps "the boys" may enjoy this noisy toy, but I know the little girls like Pedro's balloons a great deal better.

Why, it is most as good as a kite, to have one of these light pretty balls that float so quietly high up in the air.

Sometimes they are fastened to a long stick that will easily bend without breaking; but a good, stout string answers every purpose if the balloon is well inflated.

It is a pretty sight to see the children at play with these bright toys on the Common and Public Gardens. In and out among the trees and shrubbery, they look like colored lights when the sunshine falls upon them. But, woe to the unfortunate balloon that gets caught and torn in the branches! A hole as big as a pin's head is enough to burst the brilliant bubble; and no doubt it is a very good thing for the trade that these pretty delicate toys are, at best, but short-lived.

THE STREET PEDDLERS.

Did you ever think what the word "peddler," comes from? Sometimes we see it spelt "pedlar "and "pedler;" but the first way is the best -- at least so the big dictionary says, and of course it knows better about such things than anybody else.