aking the spell' 88
'They came hopping in, Paul an easy first' 92
'They stumbled along, supporting the stranger as best they could' 373
''Tis the very man!' 273
Toys from the Streets (Illustrations to), 380, 389, 404

'We charged at the midst of the foe' 405
'We will see where this rat came from' 32
'What is it?--a fire? Speak, boy!' 236
'Who'll buy?' 208
'Wootton stood quite upright on the pinnacle of the steeple' 73
'Would you take a message of importance for me?' 168

'Your Majesty is certainly wrong' 108
'"You shall go," said the captain, "if I lose every passenger"' 65
'You young rascal' 296

Chatterbox.

[Illustration: "It rose at once to the ceiling."]

CRUISERS IN THE CLOUDS.

I.--THE TWO BROTHERS OF ANNONAY AND THEIR PAPER BALLOON.

In the chimney corner of a cottage in Avignon, a man sat one day
watching the smoke as it rose in changing clouds from the smouldering
embers to the sooty cavern above, and if those who did not know him had
supposed from his attitude that he was a most idle person, they would
have been very far from the truth.

It was in the days when the combined fleets of Europe were thundering
with cannon on the rocky walls of Gibraltar, in the hope of driving the
English out, and, the long effort having proved in vain, Joseph
Montgolfier, of whom we have spoken, fell to wondering, as he sat by the
fire, how the great task could be accomplished.

'If the soldiers and sailors could only fly,' he thought, 'there would
be no difficulty.' He looked at a picture of the Rock lying on the table
beside him, and saw many places on its summit very suitable for such
flying foes to settle on. 'But, ah! who could give them wings?' He
turned to the fireplace, and his eyes fell once more on the column of
smoke, silently, silently rising; and yet not so silently as the world
might think, for though he had not yet quite understood its meaning,
Joseph Montgolfier had been striving for some time past to learn the
lesson which he felt sure it was to teach him at last. And to-day the
secret came out. Thoughts so