ly on these occasions, but Oswald, more
thoughtful for his years, sometimes reviews the events of the day. He
must have been nearly asleep, because he was just reviewing an elephant
that flew with a lamp inside, so that it looked like a fire-balloon,
when Alice suddenly came and woke him up completely.

'Beware!' she said in tones of awe.

And he said, but not crossly:

'Well, what on earth's up now?'

'The fire-balloon!' replied Alice.

'What about it?' he rejoined, still calm and kind, though roused from
his reviews.

'Why, it came to me all in a minute! Oh, Oswald--when it comes
down--there are lots of farms in the march. Suppose it comes down and
sets light to something! It's a crime--arsenic or something--and you can
be hanged for it!'

'Don't be an idiot!' said Oswald kindly. 'The book wouldn't have told
youths how to make them if they were crimes. Go back to bed, for
goodness' sake!'

'I wish we hadn't--oh, I do!' said Alice.

But she did as she was told. Oswald has taught her this.

Next day her fears had stopped, like silent watches in the night, and
we began to make a trap for badgers--in case we ever found one.

But Dicky went to the top of the mill with some field-glasses he had
borrowed from Mr. Carrington to look at distant ships with, and he burst
into the busy circle of badger-trap makers, and said:

'I say, come and look! There's a fire in the marsh!'

'There!' said Alice, dropping the wire pliers on her good elder
brother's foot. 'What did I tell you?'

We all tore to the top of the mill, and sure enough, far across the
sunny green marshes rose a little cloud of smoke, and blue and yellow
flames leaped out every now and then. We all took turns to look through
the glasses.

Then Oswald said:

'This is no time for looking through field-glasses with your mouths
open. We must go and help. We might fetch the fire-engines or something.
The bikes, Dicky!'

Almost instantly we were in the saddle and tearing along the level marsh
towards the direction of the fire. At first we got down at every
crossroad and used the field-glasses to see which way to go; but as we
got nearer, or the fire got bigger, or perhaps both, we could see it
quite plainly with the naked eye. It was much further off than we had
thought, but we rode on undaunted, regardless of fatigue and of
dinner-time, being now long gone by.

We got to the fire at last. It was at Crown Ovender Farm, and we had to
lift the bikes o