And the parasol went up and up in the sky all the afternoon, and, try
as he would, Kernel Cob could not get it to stop.
"I wonder what the fairies are sending us up here for?" shouted Kernel
Cob.
"Maybe they're in Heaven," said Sweetclover, and just then the parasol
went skimming through a beautiful white cloud, and the sun was dancing
on it, making it look like pink eiderdown.
And soon they came out of the cloud and were in the blue sky again.
And up and up they sailed. And the sun dipped down in the sea, and its
light went out, and the stars came out and began to peep through the
sky like little fire-flies, and the moon came up, too, to see what was
going on, and it grew bigger and bigger till it was nearly as big as
the old Earth.
And then they came to the Moon and could see little people running
around the edge waving their hands excitedly, and they were all
dressed in silver clothing, and when Kernel Cob and Sweetclover were
landed the Moonpeople ran to them and wondered.
And everything about them was silver. Churches and houses and rocks
and rivers and trees and everything.
And the Moonpeople ran ahead in great confusion to show them the way.
And Kernel Cob formed them into line and put himself at the head of
the column, as a general does, and they marched in step and everything
until they came to the Palace of the King, which was of silver with
turrets and spires of diamonds, and glittered so you could scarcely
see.
And the King and the Queen were sitting on thrones, and when the King
saw how Kernel Cob had formed his people in order, he was greatly
pleased and said to himself, "Here is a fine General. I will put him
at the head of all my armies."
And Kernel Cobb and Sweetclover were invited to a great banquet, as
splendid as ever you could imagine.
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]