and you will be dragged down and drowned. So be very careful! When you
are flying high it is often difficult to know where the land ends and
the sea begins, especially on moonless nights. But you can always be
certain of one thing: if there are no sounds below you--hoofs, voices,
wheels, wind in trees--you are over the sea."

"Yes," said the child, listening with great attention. "And what else?"

"The next thing is: _Don't fly too high._ Though we fly like birds,
remember we are not birds, and we can fly where they can't. We can fly
in the ether----"

"Where's that?" he interrupted, half afraid of the sound.

She stooped and kissed him, laughing at his fear.

"There is nothing to be frightened about," she explained. "The air gets
lighter and lighter as you go higher, till at last it stops altogether.
Then there's only ether left. Birds can't fly in ether because it's too
thin. We can, because----"

"Is that why it was good for me to get lighter and thinner?" he
interrupted again in a puzzled voice.

"Partly, yes."

"And what happens in the ether, please?" It still frightened him a
little.

"Nothing--except that if you fly too high you reach a point where the
earth ceases to hold you, and you dash off into space. Weight leaves you
then, and the wings move without effort. Faster and faster you rush
upwards, till you lose all control of your movements, and then----"

Miss Lake hesitated a moment.

"And then----?" asked the fascinated child.

"You may never come down again," she said slowly. "You may be sucked
into anything that happens to come your way--a comet, or a shooting
star, or the moon."

"I should like a shooting star best," observed the boy, deeply
interested. "The moon frightens me, I think. It looks so dreadfully
clean."

"You won't like any of them when the time comes," she laughed. "No one
ever gets out again who once gets in. But you'll never be caught that
way after what I've told you," she added, with decision.

"I shall never want to fly as high as that, I'm sure," said Jimbo. "And
now, please, what comes next?"

The next thing, she went on to explain, was the _weather_, which, to all
flying creatures, was of the utmost importance. Before starting for a
flight he must always carefully consider the state of the sky, and the
direction in which he wished to go. For this purpose he must master the
meaning and character of the Four Winds and be able to recognise them in
a moment.

"On