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 their places, Button-Bright at the right of Trot, and then the
boy hooked the rope 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 his finger to the roofs of the houses that showed
around the bend in the cliff.
At once the umbrella rose into the air, slowly at first, but quickly
gathering speed. Trot and Button-Bright held fast to the ropes and
were carried along very easily and comfortably. It seemed scarcely a
minute before they were in the town, and when the umbrella set them
down just in front of the store--for it seemed to know just where
they wanted to go--a wondering crowd gathered around them. Trot ran
in and changed the yarn, while Button-Bright stayed outside and
stared at the people who stared at him. They asked questions, too,
wanting to know what sort of an aeroplane this was and where his
power was stored and lots of other things, but the boy answered not
a sound. When the little girl came back and took her seat,
Button-Bright said, "I want to go to Trot's house."
The simple villagers could not understand how the umbrella suddenly
lifted the two children into the air and carried them away. They had
read of airships, but here was something wholly beyond their
comprehension.
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