efore heard that these mountains were inhabited."

"Neither are they," replied Shin Shira. "We are geologists from Baghdad,
and are taking home specimens of the rocks and stones."

"Oh, we're going to Baghdad. Can we give you a lift?" said the voice
kindly, and the balloon descended still further, till at last we were
able to see the two occupants distinctly.

"It's really very kind of you;--I--I think we will accept your offer,"
said I, while Shin Shira frowned disapproval.

"Don't go," he whispered, "we can get some more precious stones if we
wait a little longer."

"But how are we to get back?" I answered.

"The Magic Lamp," said he.

"Oh, but I've left that behind at the hotel," I replied.

"In that case," said Shin Shira regretfully, "there's nothing else to be
done, I suppose."

So we thankfully accepted the aeronauts' kind invitation, and were soon
floating comfortably towards Baghdad.

I must confess that it was far more pleasant than the outward journey
had been.

Before we got to Baghdad, though, Shin Shira had the misfortune to
disappear, much to the horror of the aeronauts, who thought he had
fallen out of the basket, and who would scarcely credit my explanation
when I told them of Shin Shira's peculiar misfortune in this respect.

He left the two bags of precious stones behind him, and they stood
beside mine at the bottom of the basket.

For a few minutes the balloon, being freed from Shin Shira's weight,
rapidly ascended, but presently there was a terrible escape of gas and
we began to descend again at a great rate.

"Throw out the ballast!" cried one of the aeronauts, and the other,
seeing the four bags of what he thought were worthless stones, in his
haste and eagerness thrust them overboard.

I was too alarmed at the moment to notice what he was doing, and it was
only when matters had been put right, by stopping the escape of gas,
that I realised what had happened.

It was useless, however, to cry over spilt milk, and all my thought now
was to get back to the hotel in safety.

This we eventually did, and my ballooning friends accepted my invitation
to take dinner at the hotel with me, so that after my adventure of the
day I had a very pleasant evening. It was not till the next morning that
I discovered that Aladdin's Lamp had vanished--had, in fact, probably
been stolen.

There was nothing left to do now but to set out for England, which I
eventually reached; and on arriving in Lo