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 aëroplane this was, and where his power was stored, and lots of other things; but the boy answered not a word. 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. Cap'n Bill had stood in front of the house, watching with a feeling akin to bewilderment the flight of the Magic Umbrella. He could follow its course until it descended in the village and he was so amazed and absorbed that his pipe went out. He had not moved from his position when the umbrella started back. The sailor's big blue eyes watched it draw near and settle down with its passengers upon just the spot it had started from. Trot was joyous and greatly excited. "Oh, Cap'n, it's gal-lor-ious!" she cried in ecstasy. "It beats ridin' in a boat or--or--in anything else. You feel so light an' free an'--an'--glad! I'm sorry the trip didn't last longer, though. Only trouble is, you go too fast." Button-Bright was smiling contentedly. He had proved to both Trot and Cap'n Bill that he had told the truth about the Magic Umbrella, however marvelous his tale had seemed to them. "I'll take you on another trip, if you like," said he, "I'm in no hurry to go home and if you will let me stay with you another day we can make two or three little trips with the family luck." "You mus' stay a whole week," said Trot, decidedly. "An' you mus' take Cap'n Bill for an air-ride, too." "Oh, Trot! I dunno as I'd like it," protested Cap'n Bill, nervously. "Yes, you would. You're sure to like it." "I guess I'm too heavy," he said. "I'm sure the umbrella could carry twenty people, if they could be fastened to the handle," said Button-Bright. "Solid land's pretty good to hold on to," decided Cap'n Bill. "A rope might break, you know." "Oh, Cap'n Bill! You're scared stiff," said Trot. "I ain't, mate; it ain't that at all. But I don't see that human critters has any call to fly in the air, anyhow. The air were made for the birds, an'--an' muskeeters, an'--" "An' flyin'-fishes," added Trot. "I know all that, Cap'n; but why wasn't it made for humans, too, if they can manage to fly in it? We breathe the air, an' we can breathe it high up, just as well as down on the earth."