“What is that pointed hole for,” said Polly.

“The end of the balloon fits in that when these two square catches (Q, R, Figure 5) are put through the slits you made for the tail,” Donald answered. (Q, R, Figure 2.) Polly looked for the slits and found that one was on the top edge and one on the bottom edge of the back end of the balloon.

“Now we will hitch it on,” said Donald, taking the balloon from Polly and adjusting the tail. He opened the slit between the catches, pushed the catch Q down through the top slit Q, and the catch R up through the bottom slit R, and the tail could not slide out of place. “The wings must stand out at the sides,” he added, bending each wing down where it joined the balloon.

“Is this the car?” Polly inquired, taking up the little box. (Figure 6.)

“Yes,” said Donald, “but I haven’t put the propeller on yet.”

The car Donald made is pointed at each end. It is three inches long from point to point, one inch wide and one inch high. Each side of the car is two inches long and the ends are double. Figure 7 is the pattern of the car. The entire length of one side of Figure 7 is five inches, while the entire length of the other side is but four and three-quarters inches. The difference is at the ends. The end divisions on the left of Figure 7 are three-quarters of an inch from top to bottom, while the end divisions on the right are only five-eighths of an inch from top to bottom. The other divisions of the two ends are exactly alike, each three-quarters of an inch from top to bottom. The slits V, W, T, U, are one-eighth of an inch from the inner edge and are three-eighths of an inch long. V and U are one-eighth of an inch from the end edges and the slits W and T are one-quarter of an inch from V and U.

Donald made a catch at either end of the left side of Figure 7 (Y, X). The necks of these catches are one-quarter of an inch long. Then he bent up the points V, W, U, T, along the dotted lines, which made the floor of the car pointed at each end. He bent the sides up and the ends in, according to the dotted lines. The points V, W, U, T, he pushed through the corresponding slits from the inside of the car, V through V, W through W, U through U and T through T. Then he fitted the other end pieces on the outside, covering the points, and fastened the catches Y and X in the slits Y and X. This held the point securely between the double ends and made all snug and tight.

“I can put the ropes on now,” said Polly, and threading a needle with soft cotton twine she pushed the needle through the double end of the car just beyond the side bend and near the top edge, as shown in Figure 6. She drew the string through and tied it at the end. Threading the needle again, she fastened another string to the other end of the car; then, with the needle still threaded, she took a stitch in the bottom edge of the balloon at the middle of one of the bend-overs. The place is indicated by the two dots on Figure 4. Bringing the needle down again, she ran it through the opposite side of the car, unthreaded it and tied the end of the string to the car.

This made a loop which passed from one side of the car through the bottom edge of the balloon to the other side of the car. The string used for the loop was three and one-half inches long. The other end of the car Polly attached to the balloon in the same way and the little passenger car hung suspended from the balloon by four ropes. (Figure 8.)

“I have the propeller ready now,” said Donald.

“What a good idea to use a pinwheel for a propeller!” exclaimed Polly. “How will you fasten it on?”

“This way,” said Donald, and he ran a hatpin through the pinwheel, pushed a small cork up on the pin, leaving one inch between the cork and the head of the pin so that the wheel would turn easily. (Figure 9.) Then he forced the pin in through the middle of the forward end of the car and out the middle of the back, allowing a space of one-quarter of an inch between the cork and the car. (Figure 8.)

“Why, Donald, you have put the propeller in front of the car!” cried Polly.

“That is all right,” Donald assured her. “It won’t spin around if we have it at the back; and, besides, Santos Dumont, who has made some of the finest airships in the world, put the propeller at the front of some of them. He says it draws the ship along instead of pushing it.”

Donald made the pinwheel for his propeller of a two-inch square of paper. He folded the square diagonally first one way, then the other, and cut slits along the folds almost to the center, as I am sure you all know how to do. Then he took up the alternate points and, turning them over to the center, ran the pin through them and the center of the wheel in the way you have done scores of times.

“Now, Polly,” said Donald, “how are you going to make the thing fly?”

“I will show you,” said Polly, and she threaded a needle with a piece of strong black linen thread ten inches long. Then she took a stitch through the top edge of the balloon at the forward end, drew the thread through and tied the end fast. She took a stitch through the top edge of the balloon at the other end, where she tied the last end of the thread. This made a loop extending upward from the top of the balloon. (Figure 8.)

In Figure 2 you will see just where the needle was put through the edge of the balloon. At the middle of the loop Polly tied another piece of thread about two feet long, and at the end of the long thread she tied a short loop.

“Watch it now, Donald!” she cried, as, grasping the short loop tightly in one hand and holding it at arm’s length, she began to swing the airship around in a circle. Slowly it went at first; then, gathering speed, it began to fly in earnest. The little propeller spun around busily and the ship seemed sailing by its own power. As the supporting thread was black, it was hardly visible, and the wings that were lifted and lowered by the movements of the ship appeared, like a bird’s wings, to buoy it up.

“Isn’t it perfectly lovely?” Polly exclaimed. “See how I can make it dip and rise again, just like a real airship.”

“Yes, it is certainly good,” he said; “and one of the best things about it is the way the tail acts as a rudder. Don’t you see how it keeps the ship going always forward? Here—let me see if I can make it back.” And, taking the thread from Polly’s hand, he swung the ship in a straight line, first one way then the other, but at each end of the course the balloon turned and started over the route again, bow forward.

“It is all right, Polly,” he declared. “Put some of your little dolls in the car for passengers and we will give them a ride.”

Sand Toys

By Adelia Belle Beard

One of the Authors of Little Folks’ Handy Book

“What can we do with this beautiful sand, Donald?” asked Polly as she let the dry white sand of the beach sift through her fingers.

“Make a sand wheel,” answered Donald with sudden inspiration. “And we can do it now.”

Polly was more than willing, so they were soon hard at work in their out-of-door Kraft Shop on the back porch of their summer home.

“First we must make the wheel and next a high reservoir to hold the sand,” Donald announced.

“I will make the wheel if it doesn’t have to be wood,” said Polly.

“Bristolboard will do, and the wheel must be a good deal like a water wheel, you know, Polly.”

“Yes, of course,” and Polly placed a smooth piece of bristolboard on the table and took her school compass from the drawer, while Donald disappeared into the house in search of a flat-sided cocoa can which he had decided would answer for his reservoir.

Polly made her wheel in this way: First she drew a straight, horizontal line six inches long on the bristolboard (E B, Figure 1), then she put the point of her compass directly on the middle of the line and drew a circle that just touched each end of the line. This gave her a circle six inches in diameter. (Figure 1.) Keeping the point of her compass on the middle of the line, she drew another circle inside the first, making the second circle five and one-quarter inches in diameter and three-eighths of an inch from the outer circle. Inside the second circle, with the point of the compass still on the middle of the line, she drew a third circle two inches in diameter. This left just one and five-eighths inches between the two inner circles. Dividing the second circle into six equal parts, she proceeded to draw the lines F C, A D, and a little to the right of these, also by the side of the horizontal line, she drew parallel lines. “These,” Polly explained, “are the slots to hold the steps of my wheel.”

“Buckets, Polly, not steps,” protested Donald.

“Well, buckets; I am going to have six buckets between the two wheels.”

“There is only one wheel; the sides are called disks,” again corrected Donald.

“Disks, then, and I will fasten the buckets on with bolts. You see, the outer edge of each bucket is to be turned up to hold the sand. I suppose that is why it is called a bucket,” said Polly.

“You know what you are doing, go ahead,” said Donald; and Polly went ahead. She made another disk exactly like Figure 1 and cut both out carefully. She used a sharp pocketknife for cutting the slots and a ruler to guide the knife along the lines. Then she made her buckets, six of them, like Figure 2. First she drew a square that measured exactly two inches on each edge. This was for the bottom of the bucket. On each side of the square she added extensions three-eighths of an inch wide and one and one-half inches long, placing them at equal distances from the top and bottom edges of the square. (G G, Figure 2.) At the top of the square she added an oblong one-half inch wide and extending all the way across. The dotted line in Figure 2 shows where this oblong is to be bent up to form the front of the bucket. Along each side line of the square, at equal distances from the ends of the extension, she made slots five-eighths of an inch long. (H H, Figure 2.) The bolts, two for each bucket, she made like Figure 3. The upper part of each bolt was one inch long and three-eighths of an inch wide and the lower part was half an inch square.