And when they were seated, Sweetclover saw some flowers on the banquet table which were very beautiful, white with silver calyx, and they were called Silverfloss, and Sweetclover whispered to Silverfloss: "Do you understand Earth talk?" "Ting-a-ling," answered Silverfloss, and it sounded like the tinkling of a little silver bell. "What did she say?" asked Kernel Cob. "It must be Moonflower talk," said Sweetclover, and she looked about and saw some Edelweiss and she was very glad and said: "Edelweiss, Edelweiss, how came you here?" Now you must know the Edelweiss is a little white flower that grows away up in the snow of the mountains of Switzerland. "One night I was blown up here in a great snow storm and I've been here ever since," said Edelweiss. "Can you speak Moonflower talk?" asked Sweetclover. "Yes," said Edelweiss. "Very well," said Kernel Cob, "we are trying to find Jackie and Peggs' motheranfather and we came all the way from the Earth on a parasol to do so. Maybe you can help us." "I would if I could," replied Edelweiss. "But I am afraid they are not here. I've been here over four seasons and I've never seen a human being, and even if they were here they couldn't live here because it's too cold." "You bet it is," said Kernel Cob, and he shivered till the medals on his coat rattled. "Maybe they could be here in some other part of the Moon!" said Sweetclover. "Would you mind looking?" "I would be glad to look," said Edelweiss, for he was a very polite little flower and had very pretty manners. And turning to Silverfloss he asked her if she had seen two earth-people on the Moon. "Ting-a-ling," answered Silverfloss and you would have thought it was two bells tinkling. "She says there never was a human being on the Moon," said Edelweiss. "Well if they are not here," said Kernel Cob, "we had better go before we freeze to death," and his teeth chattered. "How'll we get off?" asked Sweetclover. "I'll tell Silverfloss to weave you a strand of silver," and he turned to Silverfloss and said some tinkling words to her. "She's doing it," he said. "It's a thread of silver so thin that it can't be seen and yet it is so strong that it can easily bear your weight." "But I can't climb all the way down," said Kernel Cob. "You won't have to," said Edelweiss. "All you have to do is to catch hold of the end of the silver thread and hang on to it, and, as Silverfloss weaves the thread it gets longer and longer, until you have reached the Earth. You'd better start now, if you are going." So Kernel Cob wound the silver thread around his waist, and, lifting Sweetclover, was ready to start. "Good-bye," said Kernel Cob. "Good-bye," said Sweetclover. "Good-bye," said Edelweiss, "Hold on tight!" "All right," said Kernel Cob. "Thank you very much," cried Sweetclover. And down they went, Kernel Cob hanging to the silver thread and Sweetclover snuggled close against his jacket. [Illustration] [Illustration] CHAPTER IV