“I can't get out, your Majesty,” he said; “and besides, I'm not allowed to swear, so it wouldn't be any use to get out for that.” “Indeed!” cried the king in a great rage. “Indeed! Haven't I conquered your whole world and brought you here prisoner?” “Why, no,” answered Bobbie, frightened to see the king so very angry. “You haven't conquered my world at all. You don't think this little bubble is a world, do you? It's nothing but soap and water and air--a fairy balloon, my mother says--though why it's grown so big and sailed off with me like this, I'm sure I don't; know.” “Oh, it's water, is it? Well, then, why don't you say flowing? Say flowing, not sailing. Water doesn't sail, it flows,” cried the king. “Your language is something terrible. The whole thing's a case for the naval authorities. Admiral, scuttle this water balloon so the prisoner cannot flow away, and put the enemy under guard. But mind you don't wreck the water balloon. We'll use it as a model for our new fleet.” Poor little Bobbie! He had stuck a pin in a soap bubble one day, and he remembered how suddenly it collapsed into a little spot of soapy water. If they scuttled his bubble now, how would he ever get home? The king's funny little special guard was rushing forward with his spear to pierce the bubble, and Bobbie was almost ready to cry, when he heard a tinkling voice, and looking up he saw the daintiest of little fairies standing before the king. Without a doubt she was queen of the fairies. Bobbie seemed to know her quite well, he had seen her picture often in his picture books at home. [Illustration: 0030] “Your Majesty,” she was saying, “this little boy is no enemy of yours. His mother was quite right; what you thought was his world is indeed a fairy balloon, and though he didn't know it, he is on his way to Flowerland at the special wish of the fairies. Will you not let him go?” [Illustration: 0032] Now the King of Mars well knew the power of the fairies, and he usually listened to what they said; but it made him so angry to think he'd made such a mistake as to believe the fairy balloon a new world he shouted, “No! I'll not let him go! Put him under guard. Put 'em both under guard--put--” But before he could say another word, with a great buzzing and whirring, a whole host of fairy soldiers had fallen upon him. They stabbed the poor king right and left with their sharp little sabers and bayonets, so that he shrieked with pain and rage and--quite forgetting his bandaged foot--rushed down from his throne toward the door of the palace. Then the fairy soldiers fell upon the king's funny little admiral, and all the king's men, and drove them off helter skelter. The soldiers followed swiftly after them, and when they rushed past Bobbie, to his surprise he saw they were a swarm of bees! [Illustration: 0035]