It was a bright sunny day, and Polly the Parrot said to Benny the Bear, “I think we ought to do something special today. What do you want to do?”
Benny the Bear thought and thought and thought and then said, “I want to make a great big balloon and have a balloon adventure.”
“A balloon adventure! What a nice idea!” cried Polly the Parrot. “And you are just the bear to make it, too!”
So off they went, and in a little while they came to Benny’s workshop.
“I have all I want right here,” cried Benny the Bear, and jumped round with joy, because he was so pleased at the thought of making his great big balloon. So Benny set to work, and very soon he had made a lovely great big balloon.
“It is very beautiful,” said Polly the Parrot. “Now how are we to get it up? I could not possibly lift it down.”
“That’s all right,” said Benny the Bear. “I have a basket to tie underneath it, and I shall get in it and take hold of some long strings. You will take hold of the strings as well and then we shall both lift it up—up, up into the air.”
“Oh, wonderful!” said Polly the Parrot. “I never had such a nice adventure in all my life. Now I will go and put on my best clothes.”
So away went Polly the Parrot, and he dressed himself in the most beautiful clothes you can think of. And when he came back it was all ready.
“Now, are you both ready?” said Benny.
“Yes,” said Polly. “One, two, three up we go!”
And they both lifted up till the great big balloon was floating in the air without touching the ground.
“Now let us get in,” said Benny the Bear.
So they both got into the basket and took their places. Benny the Bear took hold of some strings and Polly took hold of some strings. “Now let us get up,” said Benny. “One, two, three up we go!”
And up they went. Higher and higher and higher they flew till they could just see their house like a little dot on the ground.
“I can see the door-mat now,” said Benny. And flying higher still, they could see the toadstool that was nailed up near their front door.
And higher still and higher still till at last they came to the big blue roof of the sky. There they rested for a little while, looking about them to see if they could make out where the sun went to bed at night.
“It must look so lovey-dovey, all pink and blue and peach color and everything, up there,” said Polly the Parrot. “Just like an apple-blossom in the spring. I should so love to go there tonight.”
“Then we will,” said Benny the Bear. “But how shall we get down?”
Now, while they were speaking the wind came on to blow and it blew harder and harder and harder everything round about till it caught hold of Benny the Bear’s balloon and blew and blew and blew and took it away right off over the sea. And the balloon bumped against the sea again and again till it took all the color out of its pretty dress and the balloon was just grey and dirty.
“Isn’t this sea-breeze delightful?” said Polly the Parrot, who did not see how badly off they were.
“Buzz-bum, yes,” said Benny the Bear, who was busy with his eyes peeping over the edge of the basket seeing if there was land anywhere.
“Oh, there it is,” cried Benny the Bear at last, very glad indeed. And they went on flying and flying and at last they came to the new, lovely, big square island which is always floating about between the sun and the moon which nobody but a few floater creepers knows anything about.
What should they see on this square island but all their friends. There was Mr. Crocodile having tea with Mrs. Kangaroo; there was Mr. Frog on the hill singing to Miss Rabbit out of his burrow; Mr. Donkey and Mr. Duck were playing leap-frog; and all the little Scarecrows in their decencyfinery of lace and continued mommethammock had a ball every night, and they all wore nothing but black though they were smiling all the time because they were made of hose and the color was only washed in.
Benny the Bear threw them down a note written in pencil.
“Thank you,” they said, and they invited him to the ball that night. And when Benny the Bear and Polly the Parrot came up to the square island it came round and round on their heads till they lost all idea of the size of it.
Then it was dinner-time and everybody there had plenty of good things to eat, but if you want me to tell you what they had I can’t. Because I don’t know. Nobody does who hasn’t been there.
After dinner, Polly the Parrot and Benny the Bear got in their balloon and went off sailing about. However, one chance of a chance it was always getting blown just to where they wanted to be.
One day they went out; and the balloon was blown over Palm Tree Island; and the pineapples, figs, oranges, and bananas were larger than crab-apples, red and black currants at home.
Once Benny was blown out and got into a boat which had been blown far off from home and away far to sea. And he got in disguise and poked his nose over to see if it was still there.
And one day he was blown over Humpback Hill, where nobody would have thought of.
So they kept travelling all over the world’s coastl which we have not discovered yet.
But if they could not have all these dreadful adventures they would have died of ennui. However, they always got cured in that lovely mellow place. But one day a little wind came when Polly the Parrot had invited all their friends aboard, and took them away all miles and miles and miles, and Benny and Polly could not find their way back. But at last they did got to find it out, and they now live in a haunted swamp far away from everywhere.