<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</SPAN></span></p>
<h2>THE BROWNIES' BALLOON.</h2>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i055.png" width-obs="402" height-obs="346" alt="The balloon deflated" title="" /></div>
<div class='poem'>
<span class='smcap'>While</span> rambling through the forest shade,<br/>
A sudden halt some Brownies made;<br/>
For spread about on bush and ground<br/>
An old balloon at rest they found,<br/>
That while upon some flying trip<br/>
Had given aeronauts the slip.<br/>
And, falling here in foliage green,<br/>
Through all the summer lay unseen.<br/>
The Brownies gathered fast to stare<br/>
Upon the monster lying there,<br/></div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class='center'>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem and illustrations">
<tr><td align='left'><div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i056a.png" width-obs="200" height-obs="169" alt="Planning" title="" /></div>
</td><td align='left'>And when they learned the use and plan<br/>
Of valves and ropes, the rogues began<br/>
To lay their schemes and name a night<br/>
When all could take an airy flight.<br/>
"We want," said one, "no tame affair,<br/>
Like some that rise with heated air,<br/>
And hardly clear the chimney-top<br/>
Before they lose their life and drop.<br/></td></tr>
</table></div>
<div class='poem'>
The bag with gas must be supplied,<br/>
That will insure a lengthy ride;<br/></div>
<div class='center'>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem and illustration">
<tr><td align='left'>When we set sail 't is not to fly<br/>
Above a spire and call it high.<br/>
The boat, or basket, must be strong,<br/>
Designed to take the crowd along;<br/>
For that which leaves a part behind<br/>
Would hardly suit the Brownie mind.<br/>
The works that serve the town of Bray<br/>
With gas are scarce two miles away.<br/>
To-morrow night we'll come and bear,<br/>
</td><td align='left'><div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i056b.png" width-obs="281" height-obs="271" alt="Tugging it closed" title="" /></div>
</td></tr>
</table></div>
<div class='poem'>
As best we can, this burden there;<br/>
And when inflated, fit to rise,<br/>
We'll take a sail around the skies."<br/></div>
<div class='center'>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="illustration and poem">
<tr><td align='left'><div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i056c.png" width-obs="227" height-obs="181" alt="In a ring" title="" /></div>
</td><td align='left'>Next evening, as the scheme was planned,<br/>
The Brownies promptly were on hand;<br/>
For when some pleasure lies in view,<br/>
The absentees are always few.<br/>
But 't was no easy task to haul<br/>
The old balloon, car, ropes and all,<br/>
Across the rocks and fallen trees<br/>
And through the marshes to their knees.<br/></td></tr>
</table></div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class='poem'>But Brownies, persevering still,<br/>
Will keep their course through every ill,<br/>
And in the main, as history shows,<br/>
Succeed in aught they do propose.<br/></div>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i057.png" width-obs="408" height-obs="491" alt="Balloon draped over a fence" title="" /></div>
<div class='poem'>
So, though it cost them rather dear,<br/>
In scratches there and tumbles here,<br/>
They worked until the wondrous feat<br/>
<span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</SPAN></span>Of transportation was complete.<br/>
Then while some busy fingers played<br/>
Around the rents that branches made,<br/>
An extra coil of rope was tied<br/>
In long festoons around the side,<br/>
That all the party, young and old,<br/>
Might find a trusty seat or hold.<br/>
And while they worked, they chatted free<br/>
About the wonders they would see.<br/>
Said one: "As smoothly as a kite,<br/>
We'll rise above the clouds to-night,<br/>
And may the question settle soon,<br/>
About the surface of the moon."<br/>
Now all was ready for the gas,<br/></div>
<div class='center'> <table class="under" summary="under">
<tr><td align='left'>
<div class='poem'>
And soon the lank and tangled mass<br/>
Began to flop about and rise,<br/>
As though impatient for the skies;<br/>
Then was there work for every hand<br/>
That could be mustered in the band,<br/>
To keep the growing monster low<br/>
Until they stood prepared to go;<br/>
To this and that they made it fast,<br/>
Round stones and stakes the rope was cast;<br/></div>
<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></td>
</tr></table></div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i059a.png" width-obs="454" height-obs="204" alt="Into the air" title="" /></div>
<div class='poem'>
But strong it grew and stronger still,<br/>
As every wrinkle seemed to fill;<br/>
And when at last it bounded clear,<br/>
And started on its wild career,<br/>
A rooted stump and garden gate,<br/>
It carried off as special freight.<br/></div>
<div class='center'>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poem and illustration">
<tr><td align='left'>Though all the Brownies went, a part<br/>
Were not in proper shape to start;<br/>
Arrangements hardly were complete,<br/>
Some wanted room and more a seat,<br/>
While some in acrobatic style<br/>
Must put their trust in toes awhile.<br/>
But Brownies are not hard to please,<br/>
And soon they rested at their ease;<br/>
Some found support, both safe and strong,<br/>
Upon the gate that went along,<br/>
By some the stump was utilized,<br/>
And furnished seats they highly prized.<br/>
<br/>
Now, as they rose they ran afoul<br/>
Of screaming hawk and hooting owl,<br/>
And flitting bats that hooked their wings<br/>
At once around the ropes and strings,<br/>
</td><td align='left'><div class="figcenter"> <ANTIMG src="images/i059b.png" width-obs="105" height-obs="326" alt="weathervane" title="" /></div>
</td></tr>
</table></div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class='poem'>
As though content to there abide<br/>
And take the chances of the ride.<br/>
On passing through a heavy cloud,<br/>
One thus addressed the moistened crowd:<br/>
"Although the earth, from which we rise,<br/>
Now many miles below us lies,<br/>
To sharpest eye, strain as it may,<br/>
The moon looks just as far away."<br/>
"The earth is good enough for me!"<br/></div>
<div class='center'> <table class="lea" summary="lea">
<tr><td align='left'>
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Another said, "with grassy lea;</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And shady groves, of songsters full.—</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Will some one give the valve a pull?"</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And soon they all were well content,</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To start upon a mild descent.</span><br/>
<br/>
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But once the gas commenced to go,</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They lost the power to check the flow;</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The more they tried control to gain,</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The more it seemed to rush amain.</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 25.5em;">Then some began to</span><br/><span style="margin-left: 27em;">wring their hands,</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 25.5em;">And more to volunteer</span><br/><span style="margin-left: 27em;">commands;</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 25.5em;">While some were</span><br/><span style="margin-left: 27em;">craning out to view</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 25.5em;">What part of earth their</span><br/><span style="margin-left: 27em;">wreck would strew,</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 25.5em;">A marshy plain, a rocky</span><br/><span style="margin-left: 27em;">shore,</span><br/>
<span style="margin-left: 25.5em;">Or ocean with its sullen</span><br/><span style="margin-left: 27em;">roar.</span><br/>
<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></td>
</tr></table></div>
<p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</SPAN></span></p>
<div class='center'> <table class="gale" summary="gale">
<tr><td align='left'>
<br/>
It happened as they neared the ground,<br/>
A rushing gale was sweeping round,<br/>
That caught and carried them with speed<br/>
Across the forest and the mead.<br/>
Then lively catching might be seen<br/>
At cedar tops and branches<br/>
<span style="margin-left: 4em;">green;</span><br/>
While still the stump behind<br/>
<span style="margin-left: 4em;">them swung,</span><br/>
On this it caught, to that it<br/>
<span style="margin-left: 4em;">hung,</span><br/>
And, as an anchor, played a<br/>
<span style="margin-left: 4em;">part</span><br/>
<br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/></td>
</tr></table></div>
<div class='poem'>
They little thought of at the start.<br/>
At length, in spite of sweeping blast,<br/>
Some friendly branches held them fast:<br/>
And then, descending, safe and sound,<br/>
The daring Brownies reached the ground<br/>
But in the tree-top on the hill<br/>
The old balloon is hanging still,<br/>
And saves the farmers on the plain<br/>
From placing scare-crows in their grain.<br/></div>
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