"It's really very kind of you;--I--I think we will accept your offer," said I, while Shin Shira frowned disapproval. "Don't go," he whispered, "we can get some more precious stones if we wait a little longer." "But how are we to get back?" I answered. "The Magic Lamp," said he. "Oh, but I've left that behind at the hotel," I replied. "In that case," said Shin Shira regretfully, "there's nothing else to be done, I suppose." So we thankfully accepted the aeronauts' kind invitation, and were soon floating comfortably towards Baghdad. I must confess that it was far more pleasant than the outward journey had been. Before we got to Baghdad, though, Shin Shira had the misfortune to disappear, much to the horror of the aeronauts, who thought he had fallen out of the basket, and who would scarcely credit my explanation when I told them of Shin Shira's peculiar misfortune in this respect. He left the two bags of precious stones behind him, and they stood beside mine at the bottom of the basket. For a few minutes the balloon, being freed from Shin Shira's weight, rapidly ascended, but presently there was a terrible escape of gas and we began to descend again at a great rate. "Throw out the ballast!" cried one of the aeronauts, and the other, seeing the four bags of what he thought were worthless stones, in his haste and eagerness thrust them overboard. I was too alarmed at the moment to notice what he was doing, and it was only when matters had been put right, by stopping the escape of gas, that I realised what had happened. It was useless, however, to cry over spilt milk, and all my thought now was to get back to the hotel in safety. This we eventually did, and my ballooning friends accepted my invitation to take dinner at the hotel with me, so that after my adventure of the day I had a very pleasant evening. It was not till the next morning that I discovered that Aladdin's Lamp had vanished--had, in fact, probably been stolen. There was nothing left to do now but to set out for England, which I eventually reached; and on arriving in London, and having the stones which I had brought back in my pockets valued, I found that there were many worthless ones among them, and that the few good ones, when sold, only realised sufficient to pay the rather heavy expenses of my journey to and from Baghdad, with a very little over for myself to repay me for the loss of my time. MYSTERY NO. VIII SHIN SHIRA AND THE MAD BULL The Verrinder children were in a state of great excitement and glee, for we were going to spend the day at Burnham Beeches. The plan was to drive over in a wagonette and have a picnic under the trees in the middle of the day. Lionel was amongst the party, and Lady Betty, a young friend of the Verrinders, so that we were a merry crowd as we scrambled into the wagonette.