Monica had conceived a grand idea. Quietly she stole to the table, snatched up the empty hatbox which ought to have been tidied away, and then--and then she crept stealthily downstairs--everything was quiet--stealthily out into the night she went. Now she was in the great shed, where the airship was--quite an old friend. She had seen her father start on his journey in it, and had heard it all explained. The precious bandbox was placed in the car, and the next moment Monica was beside it. She touched a button. The great structure moved. She held her breath, and her heart thumped surprisingly. Then she clapped her hands with delight--the airship slowly moved forward out of the shed, and when she pulled a lever thing, close at hand, she was soaring like a bird right out into the night, soaring right up towards the heavens. She was going to ask the Man in the Moon to be kind enough to give her the new baby she had come to fetch. [Illustration:_She was soaring like a bird right out into the night_] How cold and crisp the air was! Monica was glad to have on her coat and cap of fur. Higher, higher she went until she lost consciousness of everything except the cold and a sense of loneliness. And the airship rose upwards, upwards, carrying its pretty burden with eyes fast closed, and the curly brown head lay helplessly low, supported by the staring white empty bandbox. * * * * * Bump! There was a crunching noise as of carriage wheels on a gravel path. The airship was aground on something, and Monica realised she must get her wits about her. She quickly pushed back the lever thing and the noise ceased, the movement also. In the brilliant light, like sunlight, Monica saw she had alighted on some rocks, whilst round about was nothing but mountains, craters, caverns, and awful stillness. There was not a creature about, nor a sign of anything living. It was dreary to a degree. "Wherever am I?" exclaimed little Monica. She scrambled out of the car, and slung the bandbox on her arm--somehow there was company in that. Above her a moon was shining--not _the_ moon she was accustomed to see, but one about four times larger, as though suffering from a swollen face, with a pattern on it like the map of Europe. [Illustration: _Round about was nothing but mountains, craters, caverns_] "That does look queer," she muttered aloud. "Bumped against the moon!" she thought to herself unconsciously. For now she remembered her father having told her what the earth must look like from there; and she realised that she had reached her destination, and was actually walking about in the moon, and that the larger moon was really the earth. This fact was so exciting that she sat down to consider it, enjoy its importance, and decide what to do. She determined to go on, and so she rose and went gaily forward, the bandbox swinging from her arm. But it was very difficult walking, steep and rocky.