“Oh, my darlings!” cried their mamma, waving her hand to them. “I thought I should never see you again! However did you get up there?”
“We got lost this morning, chasing after the fairy mouse,” said Mary, “and the balloon man sold Jiggily Jig, the funny boy, these balloons, and they took us up, and the turkey showed us which was our house, so we’re home again.”
“I’m glad of it!” said their papa. “But why don’t you come down?”
“We can’t, the balloons hold us up,” said Johnny, and he and Tommy tried to pull themselves down, but they couldn’t, because the balloons were so strong.
“You must get a ladder and reach it up to us, and then we can let go of the balloons, and walk down,” said Mary.
So Mr. Trippertrot was hurrying away to get the ladder when Suzette, the maid, said:
“Oh, I know a better way than that. If Miss Mary has a pin she can just make a little pin-hole in her balloon and also in Master Johnny’s and Tommy’s, and let out a little of the gas from the green balloons, and then the children will float safely down.”
“That is a good way,” said Mr. Trippertrot, so he called to Mary to do that. Very carefully she made little holes in the three balloons, and, in another minute, the Trippertrot children were safely down on the balcony over the front porch of their house, and their papa and mamma were hugging and kissing them.
“And you must never go away again,” said their mamma.
“We won’t,” said Mary.