red country."

"Well, I'll take your word for it," said the navigator of the balloon
express. "I don't know much about these sky roads, but if you'll kindly
consent to tell me where to steer my air craft, perhaps we'll reach the
moon without a mishap."

"Trust to me," said Puss, Junior, "for I have traveled far and if I
don't know the way to the moon, my name is not Puss in Boots, Junior."

So the owner of the balloon steered the big air craft straight up to the
sky. Oh, dear me! But strange things will happen! For as they were
sailing along as smoothly as could be, there came a sudden gust of
wind, and the balloon, instead of pointing for the big, round moon that
shone like a silver dollar overhead, suddenly swerved to one side and
before anyone could say "Jack Robinson" there was a dreadful explosion
and Puss and his fellow passengers found themselves falling to the
earth.

"Good gracious!" exclaimed Puss. "What's the matter?"

Before his question was answered the balloon crashed into a big willow
tree.

ROCK-A-BY

IT was lucky that the balloon fell into the big willow tree, as I
mentioned in the last story, for otherwise Puss, Junior, and his fellow
passengers might have been badly hurt. As it happened, they were none
the worse except for a few scratches. Puss pulled himself together and
after arranging his clothes, which were torn and mussed by the branches
of the tree, looked about him. Suddenly, he heard the cry of a baby, and
turning around, he saw a little cradle swinging back and forth. It was
fastened securely to a limb, and rocked to and fro as the breeze blew
through the trembling leaves.

"Rock-a-by, baby, upon the tree top!
When the wind blows the cradle will rock;
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall;
Down tumbles baby, cradle and all."

"S-s-sh!" cried the balloon man, "We will wake the baby if we are not
careful."

"Won't it be sad if the bough breaks," said Puss, Junior, "it will be
almost as bad for the baby as it was for us when the balloon fell into
this tree."

"It might be worse," said one of the passengers, who stood near them on
a limb, looking anxiously to the ground.

"Suppose we take down the cradle," said the balloon man.

"Somebody must have hung it up here," said Puss, "we have no right to
take it down; it's not our baby."

"You are perfectly right," said another passenger. "It isn't our cradle
and it isn't our ba