There had been a good deal of delay at the start, and the breeze had been light from the south during most of the afternoon, though the sky had been threatening. The wind had strengthened, however, as it hauled to the south-west, and at dusk it had freshened to a gale. Then the darkness had come on quickly, almost suddenly, as it does even on land, when the sky blackens with heavy clouds just at sunset. It was now quite impossible to distinguish anything on the face of the earth below, but all around the horizon there was a faint belt of grey, which was not light, but was not quite pitch darkness. The ominous moaning of the wind amongst the trees began to make itself heard. “It’s not wildly gay here,” said Lady Dorothy. “Can’t you manage to get above the clouds?” Bob pointed to the inky sky overhead. “Those clouds are half a mile thick,” he said quietly. “There you are! We’re in another!” “How are we off for ballast?” inquired Anne, as the chilly fog filled the car. “Six bags gone already, and only two left,” Bob answered with grim calm. “Not really?” cried Dorothy in some dismay. “Yes. How can you expect any balloon to keep up in this rain? She’s being battered down by it. We are getting lower every minute.” At that moment the balloon shivered like a live thing, and flapped her loose sides. Bob shovelled some sand overboard. “We’ll keep the last bag,” he said; “but to-morrow’s breakfast must go. Pass me the bottle of milk--that’s heavy.” Jocelyn got a big stoneware bottle from the basket by the light of the electric lamp, and gave it to Trevelyan. “Don’t murder anybody below,” he said. Bob dropped the thing overboard, and almost immediately a dull thud was heard out of the darkness as it struck the earth. But there was no sound of breaking; they were over a meadow or a ploughed field. “Give me that pie,” said Bob. “Wasn’t there a magnum of champagne somewhere? It’s got to go too.” “Hullo! What’s that?” cried Anne joyfully. “I believe it’s the moon, and we’re out of the clouds!” “By Jove!” ejaculated Jocelyn, who was not easily surprised, and was not at all enthusiastic about the beauties of nature. The inky cloud had not been so deep as Bob had supposed, and the balloon, responding the instant her ballast was lightened, had struck upwards to the clear outer air; the moon had risen, and was still almost full, and in the far sky, beyond her radiance, the stars twinkled softly as on a summer night. The four young people almost held their [Illustration: “The huge black shadow of the balloon ran swiftly over it.” ]