"You've got arms, haven't you? They'll do just as well for a short distance, and if you get tired I'll lend you a claw. Now, come along. Just shut your eyes and jump, and you'll find you're as right as rain."
Elsie thought that there could be no great harm in trying, so she closed her eyes, and jumped up in the air as high as ever she could. Of course, she expected to come down again bang, but to her great surprise she did nothing of the kind. She found herself floating gently upwards, and, opening her eyes, discovered that she was already on a level with the roof of the house. The rook was fluttering lazily alongside.
"Don't look down," he said, "or you'll get giddy. Keep your eyes on the nests, and we'll be there in no time. How do you like it?"
"It's very nice," said Elsie. "I had no idea it was so——"
She had just made a most startling discovery.
"I seem to be getting smaller and smaller!" she exclaimed in a frightened voice.
"Naturally," answered the rook. "Everything does when it goes up in the air. Haven't you ever watched a balloon?"
"But you're just the same size," protested Elsie, for by this time the rook was almost as big as herself.
"Oh, I'm used to it!" he answered carelessly. "You see, after a bit, when one's always flying about, it ceases to have any effect."
By this time they were getting quite near the nests, and Elsie was beginning to feel rather tired.