y!"

"Well, those lads want to hurry if this balloon isn't to go sailing off
by itself! My, but the wind is blowing hard! I've a good notion to call
this off. I'm afraid we're in for a bad storm."

"We can't stop it now," said the second man. "The crowd expects us to go
up, and we'll have to go."

"Well, we'll try it. But we must tie the balloon down and put in more
gas. It won't go up very far only half filled as it is."

Suddenly some voices cried:

"One side! One side if you please!"

It was the men coming up with ropes to tie the balloon down.

Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey tried to gather the children close to them, to get
them out of the way of the men. But, in some manner, Flossie and
Freddie turned to one side, and before they knew it they were separated
from their friends. And then Flossie and Freddie found themselves pushed
close up against the balloon basket.

"Oh, let's get in!" cried Freddie.

"We'll just sit down for a minute and then get out," agreed Flossie.

The crowd was so excited, trying to get out of the way of the men with
the coils of rope, that no one noticed what the small Bobbsey twins did.
And so Freddie and Flossie climbed into the balloon basket and snuggled
down in the blankets.

"Quick now with those ropes!" cried the head man. "She's going to tear
loose! Feel that wind!"

There came a heavy blow, causing the balloon to sway back and forth.

"Look out!" cried another voice. "There she goes!"

Almost as he spoke there was a further scramble on the part of the
crowd, and the balloon tore loose from the holding ropes before the men
had time to put on the new ones.

"There she goes!" echoed the crowd. "Up goes the balloon!"

And up it went, taking Flossie and Freddie with it! Up and up it rose,
shooting above the heads of the crowd.

"Oh, Freddie!" cried Flossie, "what's going to happen?"

"We're going up in a balloon!" shouted Freddie, and then he laughed. He
thought it was fun.

"Oh, I want to get down!" screamed Flossie. She looked over the edge of
the basket, as did her brother, and just then Mrs. Bobbsey glanced up.

"Oh, my children! Flossie and Freddie!" she gasped, pointing. "They're
in the balloon!"

CHAPTER XVI

ON THE ISLAND

There was great excitement down on the ground when the cry of Mrs.
Bobbsey told her husband, the other children, and the big crowd that
Flossie and Freddie had been carried away in the balloon. At first some
did not believe it, and