THE JOURNEY TO THE WREATH—A SPIN IN A HUMMING-TOP—AN UNKNOWN FRIEND  
The plane had to be an exceedingly large one to accommodate Snythergen’s great length. With much squirming he managed to get out of his tree suit, and now he lay face down, his feet hanging out over the tail. In this position his hands came just right for the controls. Sancho Wing’s compartment was next to Snythergen’s ear and Squeaky occupied a basket on the opposite side. Sancho would[100] have liked going back a little way for a last look at the bear, just to make sure they had left him on the ground but the wind created by their great speed was too strong for a finch to fly in, and the little bird would have been blown away had he ventured out. For some strange reason the nose of the plane kept pointing up in spite of Snythergen’s efforts to keep the machine horizontal.
“Either there is something wrong with the steering gear,” said Snythergen, “or there is some unusual weight behind that keeps heading the bow up by pulling the tail down. I can’t point her below that big star—the one that looks like a flaming doughnut.”
“You will have to keep her on the star then,” said Sancho, “for if anything is riding under the tail it isn’t safe for any of us to go back to see what it is.”
All night long Snythergen steered toward the blazing doughnut, which grew bigger and bigger, they were approaching it so rapidly.
“It must be some new planet floating very near the earth. Maybe we can land on it to-morrow,” said Snythergen to Squeaky, but the pig did not answer, nor even look up. He was rolled up in a tight ball, his head under his body, fast asleep.
[101]
 
“Some unusual weight behind that keeps heading the bow up by pulling the tail down”
 
[102]
By daylight the star seemed very near, but it[103] no longer sparkled. Now it resembled a huge Christmas wreath, tied with a gorgeous bow of red silk ribbon which hung down in vast folds. Snythergen steered for the center of the hole, then turning and mounting to the top he made a landing along the shady side of a grove of pines. The jolt when they struck the ground wakened Squeaky, and glancing around he thought he saw a prowling shadow alight from the rear of the plane and disappear into the woods. The others looked but saw nothing.
“It looked like a bear,” said Squeaky with a shudder.
“Nonsense, you’ve got bear on the brain,” said Snythergen.
Near where they had landed an enormous boy was playing marbles with bowling balls. He was nearly as tall as Snythergen and heavier.
“Hooray! There’s some one I can talk to without bending down to the ground,” cried Snythergen joyfully. “I can play with him without being afraid of stepping on him.” And he strolled up to watch him play marbles while Sancho Wing and Squeaky remained at a safe distance, a little awed by the bigness of two such giant boys.
[104]
“Want to play?” asked the boy, whose name was Blasterjinx.
“Yes,” said Snythergen, and the two shot the big ten pin balls about as if they were peas.
“Let’s spin tops,” said Blasterjinx after Snythergen had won most of his marbles and paid back what he had borrowed.
“This is a hummer,” said the boy, taking a colored top from under his blouse and winding it with a string as thick as a clothes-line. He hurled it through the air and it landed upright on its point, spinning so rapidly it seemed standing still, and as it spun it sang.
Interested in the big top, Sancho Wing and Squeaky edged closer and closer.
“Why, it sounds like canary birds!” cried Snythergen delighted.
“It ought to!” said Blasterjinx.
“Why?”
Taking the top in his hand Blasterjinx unscrewed the upper part. “See,” said he. Snythergen looked inside, and beheld a flock of canaries singing and flying about.
[105]
 
“This is the only kind of humming-top to have”
 
[106]
“This is the only kind of a humming-top to have,” said Blasterjinx. “For you can change the music any time you want to. I’ve tried violinists, pianists, story-tellers, singers, harpists—almost everything you can think of, but I like[107] canaries best. Wouldn’t your friends here like to take a spin?” he asked, pointing to Squeaky and Sancho Wing.
It happened to be just what they wanted most, so Blasterjinx opened a trap door in the floor of the room inside the top, and shooed the canaries downstairs into the ............