t so
ceremoniously ordered as Balmoral; but still Sarah was a little surprised
at Naomi, till she said, 'There's a balloon-ship up above Ousebank, and
you never saw such a funny thing in your life. Come and see it, Miss
Sarah.'

'I suppose she means an air-ship,' said Sarah; but as she had nothing
else to do, and time was hanging heavy on her hands, she followed Naomi
into the garden. 'Yes, it is an air-ship,' she said. 'I wonder what it is
doing up here.'

'It's going towards the hill--over Balmoral. We shall see where it goes
if we go up to the roof, Miss Sarah,' said Naomi, who had never seen such
a thing before, and was all agog with curiosity.

To please her, Sarah went up to the roof lookout.

'Yes, it is over Balmoral, and they seem to be descending and doing
manoeuvres over the house. I suppose they are going to look at it closer;
but they won't be allowed in to-day, for Sykes is suspicious of a bird
even. We really might be in Russia, to judge by the state of siege we are
in,' she observed.

She had still more reason to make the comparison a little later, for as
the two stood and watched and commented on the movements of the air-ship
something dropped from it.

'What was that, Miss Sarah?' asked Naomi.

'Fire! They've outwitted us after all!' said Sarah, and she fled
downstairs as hard as she could.--Uncle Howroyd, ring up the
fire-brigade. They've set fire to Balmoral!' she panted.

[Illustration: As the two stood and watched the air-ship something
dropped from it.]

'How do you know? Who told you so?' he inquired, evidently unbelieving,
as well he might, for there was a posse of police guarding the house and
grounds.

'We have seen it. They dropped fire out of an air-ship. Do send for the
brigade!' cried Sarah, stamping her foot with rage at the delay.

For a moment her uncle stared at her in stupefaction; then he clapped his
hand to his forehead. 'It's that agitator scoundrel that's put them up to
it!' he cried; and he rang up the brigade, only to drop the receiver with
a gesture of despair. 'They've had a call some miles off,' he cried.

'Uncle Howroyd, we must do something.'

'Yes,' he agreed. 'Wait a bit.'

Presently Sarah heard the mill-bell ring, and saw her uncle standing
bareheaded at a window looking on his yard, in which the hands summoned
from their work were gathered.

'My friends of many years, I have to ask a favour of you. My brother's
house is burning, and the brigade is aw