“Don’t alarm yourself, Link, we are parting with ballast and shall soon be out of sight and in blue sky, I hope, but we must watch the influence of the north-easterly wind which prevails higher up.”
“You are quite right, Harry,” said Captain Link. “I observed the more lofty clouds going in that direction this morning.”
“What a change!” exclaimed Miss Chain, “and how much darker it is.”
“Yes,” replied the aeronaut, “we are passing through the clouds, and I daresay you feel chilly.”
“Allow me,” said the captain, “to draw your mantle closer around you, Miss Chain.”
“Thank you; it is certainly colder.”
“Eighteen degrees less than when we started,” said Harry.
“But what a charming sight!” exclaimed Miss Chain, as the balloon shot through the lighter vapour into sunshine.
“Quite a sea of clouds beneath us!” said Captain Link.
“Yes, and here we get a fine view of the ‘central blue,’” cried Harry Goodall, rubbing his hands with delight at having changed the scene.