  When the Flying Boat was out of sight of the City of Nite, Gran’pa pressed the speed button and the new craft shot through the air like a comet, passing over the mountains and valleys in a flash. In a very few moments it had covered a distance that had taken the travelers long hours to walk. The new Flying Boat whizzed around the bend in the Moon and flew over the side which is always turned towards the Earth. “This must be the Dayland in which you live!” Gran’pa said to David. By shading their eyes from the Sun, Gran’ma, Gran’pa and the children could see a blue-green Star winking and blinking in the sky and could faintly make out the shape of the land and the oceans upon its surface. As they sped along above the Moon, they watched the wonderful changes in coloring below them. They saw many cities and villages and looked into enormous craters of extinct volcanoes. At last they saw in the distance a city of white with wonderful steeples and towers on the great building standing in the center. It was a regular fairy book castle with glistening windows and hanging gardens. “There it is!” David shouted. “Guide the Flying Boat to the balcony at the right of the Palace!” And as Gran’pa brought the Flying Boat to rest as directed, many people rushed out of the Palace, and knelt before David. “Our King has returned!” they shouted. “Long live the King!” And they all came and kissed his hand. When David saw Gran’ma and Gran’pa and Janey and Johnny looking at him in astonishment he put his arms around them and helped them from the boat. “We did not know you were a King!” exclaimed Janey. The King laughed for the first time and it was such a cheery, pleasant laugh they almost forgot that he was a King and Gran’ma gave his hand a squeeze. “There it is!” David shouted. “Guide the Flying Boat to the balcony at the right of the Palace!” (page 154) The King wished them to stay until he had learned how he came to change characters, but as soon as they had finished dinner, Gran’ma said they must leave. “If I can discover just what happened when I walked out to look at the Sun,” the King laughed as he said good-bye, “I will write to you and try to find a way to get the letter into your hands.” “It seems as if you could make a little Flying Boat and put the letter in it and send it to us,” Johnny said. “Then you can expect to hear from me,” the King replied, as he waved good-bye to them. Gran’ma and the children took a nap while Gran’pa guided the Flying Boat on its return trip and when he finally awakened them, the new Flying Boat stood in the back yard near the kitchen door at Gran’pa’s home. “Well,” said Gran’ma as she jumped out of the boat, “the Castle of the Princess was comfortable and beautiful and King David’s Palace was magnificent, but our little old home is the best of all!” “I hope the moths haven’t got in the carpets!” Gran’ma said, as she opened the back door. Janey helped Gran’ma set the table and Gran’pa built the kitchen fire. Then Gran’pa went to the smoke-house and brought in a large ham. “We’ll have some good old ham and eggs!” he said. Gran’ma made the fluffiest biscuits she had ever baked and they sat down to a breakfast which they all enjoyed more than they had ever enjoyed a breakfast before. “Now that we are back home again, doesn’t it all seem far away and strange, like a fairy tale one has read a long time ago?” Gran’ma suggested. “Yes, and like a real fairy tale, it has turned out very happily,” Gran’pa smiled. “I wonder if we shall ever hear from the Princess or from the King,” Johnny said. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the King should marry the beautiful Princess, just as all pretty fairy tales end?” mused Gran’ma. THE END TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
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