Sky Island Read online

  A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE

  CHAPTER 3.

  They had early breakfasts at Trot's house, because they all went to bedearly and it is possible to sleep only a certain number of hours if oneis healthy in body and mind. And right after breakfast Trot claimedButton-Bright's promise to take her to town with the Magic Umbrella.

  "Any time suits me," said the boy. He had taken his precious umbrella tobed with him and even carried it to the breakfast table, where he stoodit between his knees as he ate; so now he held it close to him and saidhe was ready to fly at a moment's notice. This confidence impressedCap'n Bill, who said with a sigh:

  "Well, if you _must_ go, Trot, I've pervided a machine that'll carry youboth comf'table. I'm summat of an inventor myself, though there ain'tany magic about me."

  Then he brought from the shed the contrivance he had made the nightbefore. It was merely a swing seat. He had taken a wide board that wasjust long enough for both the boy and girl to sit upon, and had boredsix holes in it--two holes at each end and two in the middle. Throughthese holes he had run stout ropes in such a way that the seat could notturn and the occupants could hold on to the ropes on either side ofthem. The ropes were all knotted together at the top, where there was aloop that could be hooked upon the crooked handle of the umbrella.

  Button-Bright and Trot both thought Cap'n Bill's invention very clever.The sailor placed the board upon the ground while they sat in theirplaces, Button-Bright at the right of Trot, and then the boy hooked therope loop to the handle of the umbrella, which he spread wide open.

  "I want to go to the town over yonder," he said, pointing with hisfinger to the roofs of the houses that showed around the bend in thecliff.

  At once the umbrella rose into the air; slowly, at first, but quicklygathering speed. Trot and Button-Bright held fast to the ropes and werecarried along very easily and comfortably. It seemed scarcely a minutebefore they were in the town, and when the umbrella set them down justin front of the store--for it seemed to know just where they wanted togo--a wondering crowd gathered around them. Trot ran in and changed theyarn, while Button-Bright stayed outside and stared at the people whostared at him. They asked questions, too, wanting to know what sort ofan aeroplane this was, and where his power was stored, and lots of otherthings; but the boy answered not a word. When the little girl came backand took her seat Button-Bright said:

  "I want to go to Trot's house."

  The simple villagers could not understand how the umbrella suddenlylifted the two children into the air and carried them away. They hadread of airships, but here was something wholly beyond theircomprehension.

  Cap'n Bill had stood in front of the house, watching with a feeling akinto bewilderment the flight of the Magic Umbrella. He could follow itscourse until it descended in the village and he was so amazed andabsorbed that his pipe went out. He had not moved from his position whenthe umbrella started back. The sailor's big blue eyes watched it drawnear and settle down with its passengers upon just the spot it hadstarted from.

  Trot was joyous and greatly excited.

  "Oh, Cap'n, it's gal-lor-ious!" she cried in ecstasy. "It beats ridin'in a boat or--or--in anything else. You feel so light an' freean'--an'--glad! I'm sorry the trip didn't last longer, though. Onlytrouble is, you go too fast."

  Button-Bright was smiling contentedly. He had proved to both Trot andCap'n Bill that he had told the truth about the Magic Umbrella, howevermarvelous his tale had seemed to them.

  "I'll take you on another trip, if you like," said he, "I'm in no hurryto go home and if you will let me stay with you another day we can maketwo or three little trips with the family luck."

  "You mus' stay a whole week," said Trot, decidedly. "An' you mus' takeCap'n Bill for an air-ride, too."

  "Oh, Trot! I dunno as I'd like it," protested Cap'n Bill, nervously.

  "Yes, you would. You're sure to like it."

  "I guess I'm too heavy," he said.

  "I'm sure the umbrella could carry twenty people, if they could befastened to the handle," said Button-Bright.

  "Solid land's pretty good to hold on to," decided Cap'n Bill. "A ropemight break, you know."

  "Oh, Cap'n Bill! You're scared stiff," said Trot.

  "I ain't, mate; it ain't that at all. But I don't see that humancritters has any call to fly in the air, anyhow. The air were made forthe birds, an'--an' muskeeters, an'--"

  "An' flyin'-fishes," added Trot. "I know all that, Cap'n; but why wasn'tit made for humans, too, if they can manage to fly in it? We breathe theair, an' we can breathe it high up, just as well as down on the earth."

  "Seein' as you like it so much, Trot, it would be cruel for me to gowith Butt'n-Bright an' leave you at home," said the sailor. "When I wereyounger--which is ancient history--an' afore I had a wooden leg, I couldclimb a ship's ropes with the best of 'em, an' walk out on a boom, orstand atop a mast. So you know very well I ain't skeert about thehighupness."

  "Why can't we all go together?" asked the boy. "Make another seat,Cap'n, and swing it right under ours; then we can all three rideanywhere we want to go."

  "Yes, do!" exclaimed Trot. "And, see here, Cap'n; let's take a day offand have a picnic. Mother is a little cross, to-day, and she wants tofinish knitting your new stockin'; so I guess she'll be glad to get ridof us."

  "Where'll we go?" he asked, shifting on his wooden leg uneasily.

  "Anywhere; I don't care. There'll be the air-ride there, an' theair-ride back, an' that's the main thing with _me_. If you say you'llgo, Cap'n, I'll run in an' pack a basket of lunch."

  "How'll we carry it?"

  "Swing it to the bottom of your seat."

  The old sailor stood silent a moment. He really longed to take theair-ride but was fearful of danger. However, Trot had gone safely totown and back and had greatly enjoyed the experience.

  "All right," he said; "I'll risk it, mate, although I guess I'm an oldfool for temptin' fate by tryin' to make a bird o' myself. Get thelunch, Trot, if your mother'll let you have it, and I'll rig up theseat."

  He went into the shed and Trot went to her mother. Mrs. Griffith, busywith her work, knew nothing of what was going on in regard to the flightof the Magic Umbrella. She never objected when Trot wanted to go awaywith Cap'n Bill for a day's picnicking. She knew the child was perfectlysafe with the old sailor, who cared for Trot even better than her motherwould have done. If she had asked any questions to-day, and had foundout they intended to fly in the air, she might have seriously objected;but Mrs. Griffith had her mind on other things and merely told the girlto take what she wanted from the cupboard and not bother her. So Trot,remembering that Button-Bright would be with them and had proved himselfto be a hearty eater, loaded the basket with all the good things shecould find.

  By the time she came out, lugging the basket with both hands, Cap'n Billappeared with the new seat he had made for his own use, which heattached by means of ropes to the double seat of the boy and girl.

  "Now, then, where'll we go?" asked Trot.

  "Anywhere suits me," replied Cap'n Bill.

  They had walked to the high bluff overlooking the sea, where a giganticacacia tree stood on the very edge. A seat had been built around thetrunk of the tree, for this was a favorite spot for Trot and Cap'n Billto sit and talk and watch the fleet of fishing boats sail to and fromthe village.

  When they came to this tree Trot was still trying to think of the mostpleasant place to picnic. She and Cap'n Bill had been every place thatwas desirable and near by, but to-day they didn't want a near-by spot.They must decide upon one far enough away to afford them a fine tripthrough the air. Looking far out over the Pacific, the girl's eyes fellupon a dim island lying on the horizon line--just where the sky andwater seemed to meet--and the sight gave her an idea.

  "Oh, Cap'n Bill!" she exclaimed, "let's go to that island for ourpicnic. We've never been there yet, you know."

  The sailor shook his head.

  "It's a good many miles away, Trot," he said; "further than it looks t
obe, from here."

  "That won't matter," remarked Button-Bright; "the umbrella will carry usthere in no time."

  "Let's go!" repeated Trot. "We'll never have another such chance, Cap'n.It's too far to sail or row, and I've always wanted to visit thatisland."

  "What's the name of it?" inquired Button-Bright, while the sailorhesitated how to decide.

  "Oh, it's got an awful hard name to pernounce," replied the girl, "soCap'n Bill and I jus' call it 'Sky Island,' 'cause it looks as if it washalf in the sky. We've been told it's a very pretty island, and a fewpeople live there and keep cows and goats, and fish for a living. Thereare woods and pastures and springs of clear water, and I'm sure we wouldfind it a fine place for a picnic."

  "If anything happened on the way," observed Cap'n Bill, "we'd drop inthe water."

  "Of course," said Trot; "and if anything happened while we were flyin'over the land we'd drop there. But nothing's goin' to happen, Cap'n.Didn't Button-Bright come safe all the way from Philydelfy?"

  "I think I'd like to go to Sky Island," said the boy. "I've always flownabove the land, so far, and it will be something new to fly over theocean."

  "All right; I'm agree'ble," decided Cap'n Bill. "But afore we starts onsuch a long journey, s'pose we make a little trial trip along the coast.I want to see if the new seat fits me, an' make certain the umbrel willcarry all three of us."

  "Very well," said Button-Bright. "Where shall we go?"

  "Let's go as far as Smuggler's Cove, an' then turn 'round an' come back.If all's right an' shipshape, then we can start for the island."

  They put the broad double seat on the ground and then the boy and girlsat in their places and Button-Bright spread open the Magic Umbrella.Cap'n Bill sat in his seat just in front of them, all being upon theground.

  "Don't we look funny?" said Trot, with a chuckle of glee. "But hold fastthe ropes, Cap'n, an' take care of your wooden leg."

  Button-Bright addressed the umbrella, speaking to it very respectfully,for it was a thing to inspire awe.

  "I want to go as far as Smuggler's Cove, and then turn around in the airand come back here," he said.

  At once the umbrella rose into the air, lifting after it, first the seatin which the children sat, and then Cap'n Bill's seat.

  "Don't kick your heels, Trot!" cried the sailor in a voice that provedhe was excited by his novel experience; "you might bump me in the nose."

  "All right," she called back; "I'll be careful."

  It was really a wonderful, exhilarating ride, and Cap'n Bill wasn't longmaking up his mind he liked the sensation. When about fifty feet abovethe ground the umbrella began moving along the coast toward Smuggler'sCove, which it soon reached. Looking downward, Cap'n Bill suddenlyexclaimed:

  "Why, there's a boat cast loose, an' it's goin' to smash on the rocks.Hold on a minute, Butt'n-Bright, till we can land an' drag it ashore."

  "Hold on a minute, Umbrella!" cried the boy.

  But the Magic Umbrella kept steadily upon its way. It made a circle overthe Cove and then started straight back the way it had come.

  "It's no use, sir," said Button-Bright to the sailor. "If I once tell itto go to a certain place, the umbrella will go there, and nowhere else.I've found that out before this. You simply _can't_ stop it."

  "Won't let you change your mind, eh?" replied Cap'n Bill. "Well, thathas its advantidges, an' its disadvantidges. If your ol' umbrel hadn'tbeen so obstinate we could have saved that boat."

  "Never mind," said Trot, briskly; "here we are safe back again. Wasn'tit jus' the--the fascinatingest ride you ever took, Cap'n?"

  "It's pretty good fun," admitted Cap'n Bill. "Beats them aeroplanes an'things all holler, 'cause it don't need any regulatin'."

  "If we're going to that island we may as well start right away," saidButton-Bright, when they had safely landed.

  "All right; I'll tie on the lunch-basket," answered the sailor. Hefastened it so it would swing underneath his own seat and then they alltook their places again.

  "Ready?" asked the boy.

  "Let'er go, my lad."

  "I want to go to Sky Island," said Button-Bright to the umbrella, usingthe name Trot had given him.

  The umbrella started promptly. It rose higher than before, carrying thethree voyagers with it, and then started straight away over the ocean.