They put the broad double seat on the ground, and
then the boy and girl sat 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
the ground.
“Don’t we look funny?” said Trot
with a chuckle of glee. “But hold fast
the 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 air and come back
here,” he said. At once the umbrella rose
into the air, lifting after it first the seat in which
the children sat, and then Cap’n Bill’s
seat.
“Don’t kick your heels, Trot!” cried
the sailor in a voice that proved he 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 long making up his mind
he liked the sensation. When about fifty feet
above the ground the umbrella began moving along the
coast toward Smuggler’s Cove, which it soon
reached. Looking downward, Cap’n Bill suddenly
exclaimed, “Why, there’ 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 over the 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 it to 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, that has
its advantidges, an’ its disadvantiges.
If your ol’ umbrel hadn’t been so obstinate,
we could have saved that boat.”
“Never mind,” said Trot briskly, “here
we are safe back again. Wasn’t it 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,” said Button-Bright
when they had safely landed.
“All right. I’ll tie on the lunch-basket,”
answered the sailor. He fastened it so it would
swing underneath his own seat, and they all took 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, using the name Trot had given him.
The umbrella started promptly. It rose higher
than before, carrying the three voyagers with it, and
then started straight away over the ocean.
