"No--no, I don't guess so," Freddie answered. He hoped that was not
going to happen. But as he looked down and saw the water seemingly
coming nearer and nearer, though of course it was the balloon going
down, the little boy did not feel at all sure but they would drop right
into the lake.
"We'd better hold on hard to the basket," said Freddie, after thinking
over the best thing to do. "When we get in the lake we can hold on to
the basket until somebody comes."
This idea made Flossie feel a little better. She was glad she had
Freddie with her, and Freddie was glad Flossie was with him.
Down, down the balloon gently dropped. The rain was pouring hard now,
splashing into the lake, which was covered in some places with a blanket
of fog.
Then, just when it seemed that Flossie and Freddie and the balloon would
splash into the water, an island loomed in sight.
"Oh, if we could only land on the island!" cried Freddie.
And that's just what happened! Through the branches of trees the balloon
crashed, this helping to stop it more gently. Down to the island it
fell, the basket banging on the ground. The basket tipped over sideways,
spilling Flossie and Freddie out, but not hurting them as they fell in a
pile of dried leaves. Some of the things in the basket fell out with
them.
Once the children were out of the balloon it rose a little, was blown
along a short distance by the wind, and then, getting tangled in the
tree branches, came to a stop.
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