ir.

"Oh, dear, I wish I'd never come!" exclaimed the woman standing next to
Jerry. "Aren't you scared, little girl?"

"Oh, but don't you like it?" was Jerry's surprised answer. "I think
it's wonderful. It's almost like being a bird."

Uncle Billy bent down to look at Jerry as they arose higher into the
air.

"Is it as fine as you thought it would be?" he asked.

"Oh, it's heaps nicer," she cried, clapping her hands. "See how small
everything is down there, and do you see the merry-go-round? What would
Mary and Beth think if they knew?"

"Over those hills is Merryvale," he pointed out. "That road winding in
and out leads into the town. It's the one we came by."

"Looks just like a piece of ribbon, doesn't it?" she answered.

"Seems as though we've stopped going up now," she observed a moment
later.

"Well, thank goodness," sighed the woman seated next to her, "I'm sure
it's plenty high enough for anybody. I'm most scared out of my wits
now."

Jerry squeezed Uncle Billy's hand as she looked up at him.

"She's afraid," she whispered.

"Which way is the ocean, Uncle Billy?" she added, a moment later.

"Which one--you know we have two of them?" was his teasing reply.

"Of course I know that, but I mean the Atlantic. That's the one I like
the best because you go to Europe that way."

Uncle Billy then pointed his long arm toward the east.

"Away, way over there," he said.

"My, but the world's an awfully big place," declared Jerry, "and to
think my doll, Togo Sen, has crossed an ocean and I've never even seen
one."

When the ten minutes had passed the balloon commenced to descend.

"It's been a beautiful surprise, Uncle Billy, I'll never forget it,"
said Jerry.

"I thought it would make you happy," was his answer.

CHAPTER VII

UNCLE BILLY'S STORY

"Here they are," cried Beth as Jerry and Uncle Billy came into view.
"We thought you'd never come," she reproved as they drew near. "Where
in the world have you two been?"

"We haven't been anywhere in the world," laughed Jerry, "we've been far
above it."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Mary. "Tell us this minute."

"Well, we've been ballooning," confessed Uncle Billy.

"The very idea," gasped Beth. "Do you mean you dared to go up in one of
those awful things?"

"Well, I'm glad you didn't invite us to go, for we'd never have done
it," declared Mary, as the others laughed.

"Take a chance on a beautiful doll, only ten cents. Won