"Can Grandnurse really think there is a man in the moon?" pondered Monica as she gazed up at it; and confusedly she thought on: "I wonder if there is, after all. Can he be going to bring the baby? I should so like to know, and when, or who is going to—I wish he'd tell me—perhaps if I were to ask—who spoke about bumping up against the moon? Ah!!"
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.
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.