When this broke away, they caught sight of a
majestic rainbow spanning the heavens, its gorgeous colors glinting
brightly in the sun, its arch perfect and unbroken from end to end.
But it was only a glimpse they had, for quickly they dove into
another bank of clouds and the rainbow disappeared.
Here the clouds were not black, nor heavy, but they assumed queer
shapes. Some were like huge ships, some like forest trees, and
others piled themselves into semblances of turreted castles and
wonderful palaces. The shapes shifted here and there continually,
and the voyagers began to be bewildered by the phantoms.
"Seems to me we're goin' down," called Trot.
"Down where?" asked Cap'n Bill.
"Who knows?" said Button-Bright. "But we're dropping, all right."
It was a gradual descent. The Magic Umbrella maintained a uniform
speed, swift and unfaltering, but its path through the heavens was
now in the shape of an arch, as a flying arrow falls. The queer
shapes of the clouds continued for some time, and once or twice Trot
was a little frightened when a monstrous airy dragon passed beside
them or a huge giant stood upon a peak of cloud and stared savagely
at the intruders into his domain. But none of these fanciful, vapory
creatures seemed inclined to molest them or to interfere with their
flight, and after a while the umbrella dipped below this queer
cloudland and entered a clear space where the sky was of an
exquisite blue color.
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