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Title: The Star People
Author: Johnson, Gaylord
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Star People" ***
THE STAR PEOPLE
[Illustration]
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS
ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED
LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.
Toronto
THE STAR PEOPLE
BY
GAYLORD JOHNSON
WITH DRAWINGS ON SAND AND BLACKBOARD
BY "UNCLE HENRY AND THE SOCIETY
OF STAR-GAZERS"
"Why did not somebody teach me the constellations, and
make me at home in the starry heavens, which are always
overhead and which I don't half know to this day?"
--_Thomas Carlyle._
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1921
_All rights reserved_
COPYRIGHT, 1921
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Set up and electrotyped. Published June, 1921.
TO
BABY ANNE
WHAT HAPPENED IN STARLAND
PAGE
FIRST EVENING--
In which the Society of Star Gazers is formed and
discovers Two Bears, one with a stretched tail 1
SECOND EVENING--
The Herdsman's Dogs chase Ursa Major and the terrible
Dragon wriggles away in fright 12
THIRD EVENING--
Uncle Henry's magic turns the Lyre into a Ukelele, and
the Archer's arrow misses the Swan and hits the Scorpion 24
FOURTH EVENING--
The Virgin is too busy feeding her Sky Poultry, so
Cassiopeia gets the Ukelele to play 31
FIFTH EVENING--
In which a Dolphin with an ear for music saves a Poet's
life--and Uncle Henry puts two birds in one poem 41
FIRST WINTER EVENING--
The "Society" learns why Orion needs a club to keep
Frisky Taurus in order, and why we say "By Jimini!" when
we're excited 52
SECOND WINTER EVENING--
In which the dogs of Orion and Gemini follow their
masters, Pegasus escapes as usual, and Andromeda gets a
nice soft bed of hay in place of her hard old rock 61
THIRD WINTER EVENING--
The Sky clouded over, but Peter found the Star People
hiding in the Almanac--Paul found that his head was the
World--and the "Society" found out about the Swastika and
the Zodiac, and how you tell when a Dipper is a Plough
and when it's a Wagon 78
FOURTH WINTER EVENING--
In which the "Society" meets the last of the Star People
and the beginning of Astronomy--and Betty proposes a
"Note" of thanks 99
_TO HELP YOU FIND THE STAR PEOPLE IN THE SKY_
_Whenever Uncle Henry draws a line to point out one of the star people
you will find a figure, close to what he says, like this: (10)._
_Find the same figure on one of the maps inside the front or back cover,
and you will see the line that Uncle Henry drew--and find the star
person or animal easily in the sky._
_Numbers 1 to 17 can be located on the front cover maps. Numbers 18 to
32 can be found on the maps inside the back cover._
_To Use the Maps_
_Face South and hold the map for the proper season over your head--with
the top of the book toward the West and the bottom toward the East. You
will then see the Star People in the same places they appear in the
sky._
_The maps are drawn for 9 o'clock on April 1st, July 1st, October 1st,
and January 1st, but they will be found serviceable in the preceding and
following month. When necessary consult the maps for the season coming
before or after._
WHERE TO FIND THE "PEOPLE" YOU WANT
_Where to _Where to _When You Can
_Names of _How to Look in Look on See Them in
Star People_ Pronounce_ the Book_ the Maps_ the Sky_
Andromeda (an-dromˊ-e-dä) Page 70 Number 25 Sept. to Feb.
Aquarius (a-kwāˊ-ri-us) " 50 " 19 Aug. " Dec.
Aquila (akˊ-wi-lä) " 48 " 17 June " Nov.
Aries (aˊ-ri-ēz) " 75 " 28 Sept. " Feb.
Auriga (â-riˊ-ga) " 105 " 32 Oct. " June
Boötes (bō-ōˊ-tez) " 16 " 2 April " Oct.
Cancer (kanˊ-ser) " 73 " 27 Jan. " June
Canes (kāˊ-nez
Venatici ve-natˊ-i-cī) " 17 " 2 Feb. " Sept.
Canis Major (kāˊ-nis māˊ-jor) " 62 " 22 Jan. " April
Canis Minor (kāˊ-nis mīˊ-nor) " 72 " 26 Dec. " May
Capricornus (kap-ri-kôrˊ-nus) " 49 " 18 Aug. " Nov.
Cassiopeia (kas-i-ō-pēˊ-ya) " 35 " 12 Jan. " Dec.
Cerberus (seerˊ-ber-us) " 38 " 14 April " Nov.
Corona (kō-rōˊ-nä
Borealis bō-rē-aˊ-lis) " 33 " 11 April " Oct.
Cygnus (sigˊ-nus) " 21 " 4 June " Jan.
Delphinus (del-fiˊ-nus) " 44 " 16 June " Dec.
Draco (drāˊ-ko) " 23 " 5 Jan. " Dec.
Gemini (jemˊ-i-ni) " 59 " 21 Dec. " June
Hercules (herˊ-kū-lēz) " 38 " 14 April " Nov.
Leo (leˊ-o) " 20 " 3 Feb. " July
Leo Minor (leˊ-o mī-nor) " 20 " 3 Jan. " July
Lepus (lēˊ-pus) " 64 " Dec. " March
Libra (līˊ-bra) " 36 " 13 May " Aug.
Lyra (līˊ-ra) " 25 " 6 April " Dec.
Ophiuchus (of-i-ūˊ-kus) " 42 " 15 May " Oct.
Orion (ō-rīˊ-on) " 56 " 20 Nov. " April
Pegasus (pegˊ-a-sus) " 67 " 23 Aug. " Jan.
Perseus (perˊ-sūs) " 102 " 30 Sept. " May
Pisces (pisˊ-ēz) " 76 " 29 Sept. " Feb.
Sagitta (sa-jitˊ-a) " 26 " 16 June " Dec.
Sagittarius (saj-i-tāˊ-ri-us) " 27 " 7 July " Sept.
Scorpio (skórˊ-pi-ō) " 29 " 9 June " Sept.
Serpens (serˊ-pens) " 42 " 15 May " Oct.
Taurus (tâˊ-rus) " 58 " 20 Nov. " April
Triangulum (trī-anˊ-gū-lum) " 75 " 31 Sept. " Feb.
Ursa Major (erˊ-sa māˊ-jor) " 7 " 1 Jan. " Dec.
Ursa Minor (erˊ-sa mīˊ-nor) " 10 " 1 Jan. " Dec.
Virgo (verˊ-gō) " 33 " 10 April " Aug.
STAR PEOPLE ON MAPS BUT NOT TALKED ABOUT BY "THE SOCIETY"
(a) Hydra (hīˊ-dra) (d) Cepheus (sēfˊ-ūs)
(b) Crater (krāˊ-ter) (e) Cetus (sēˊ-tus)
(c) Corvus (kôrˊ-vus) (f) Eridanus (ē-ridˊ-a-nus)
THE STAR PEOPLE
FIRST EVENING
IN WHICH THE SOCIETY OF STAR-GAZERS IS FORMED AND DISCOVERS TWO
BEARS--ONE WITH A STRETCHED TAIL
Uncle Henry sat on the porch of "Seven Oaks" Cottage, watching the new
moon sink into the woods across Sand Lake.
The ripples of the motor-boat that had carried "Sister" and "The
Children's Father" away from the dock had gone from the glassy water.
Over across the lake, at Pentecost station, they would catch the ten
o'clock train, to be gone a week.
Uncle Henry had urged "Sister" to go. He had said he was perfectly sure
of being able to look after Peter and Paul and Betty for just seven
days, but now that "Sister" was really gone Uncle Henry felt the size of
the task he had undertaken.
Of course he wasn't alone. There was big, wholesome Katy, the maid.
"Competent Katy," he had at once named her to himself on his arrival two
weeks before. The sleeping, eating, and dressing of twin ten-year-old
boys and a seven-year-old girl would go on as usual without Uncle
Henry's assistance.
In the daytime he planned to take them fishing, berry-picking, sailing,
and bathing. Target-practice with Peter and Paul's air-rifle would
help, too, and there would be walks in the woods, and up to Brighton's
farm house for the milk every evening.
But between supper and bed was a gap that Uncle Henry thought might be
hard to fill. He must think of some games. He didn't want to be a poor
companion for his adored niece and nephews for even an hour of the time.
Uncle Henry blew a cloud from his pipe and watched it eddy slowly away,
filtering through the leaves of the oak-branches at the side of the
porch. Then he looked up to the vaporous band of the milky way. Stars
hung in it, sparkling. It was like a chiffon streamer with tiny diamond
spangles--or a cloud of smoke, blown, with sparks, from the pipe of Pan.
You will see right away that Uncle Henry was a poet, even if Pan's pipe
wasn't the smoking kind. It might have been, as easy as not. Uncle Henry
was wondering whether this last fancy might be made into a poem for his
college paper, when the children's voices floated up from the beach.
They were sitting on the smooth sand and singing in unison,
"Star bright, star-light--
Many's the star I see tonight.
Star bright, star-light--
Tell me, is it true?
I wish I may, I wish I might
Get the wish I wish tonight--
Star bright, star-light,
Tell me, is it true?"
Uncle Henry took his feet off the porch-railing and allowed his chair
to use all of its feet again. Then he leaned out by a post and looked
straight up into the blue-black vault of a moonless July night sky. The
stars were beautifully clear.
Evidently Peter, Paul, and Betty were singing praise to the fact. They
had clapped enthusiastically for themselves, and were now beginning the
encore--a repetition of "Star bright, star-light."
Uncle Henry's face had become thoughtful, and now he stepped down from
the porch, and strolled down the boards to the dock. There he stood
craning his neck backward and looking up, until the children had once
more finished the verse, laughing and clapping. Evidently the applause
for themselves was not enough this time, for there was no encore.
Peter, his eye on Uncle Henry, flopped down on his back and began gazing
upward, too. In a moment he called,
"Uncle Hen?"
"Yes, Pete," from the dock, where Uncle Henry was star-gazing in the
opposite direction.
"Why do they call 'the big dipper' the 'great bear'--and _is_ there any
'little dipper'? Betty says there isn't, 'cause she never saw it."
Uncle Henry stepped off the dock upon the smooth sand, kneeled down, and
without answering began collecting little smooth pebbles.
Peter sat up and asked in surprise,
"Don't _you_ know, Uncle Hen?"
Surely this genius, who could make new kinds of kites, and
willow-whistles that "worked fine," was not going to fail now. The
other children turned to him, expectant too. Betty herself was willing
to be proved wrong about the existence of the "little dipper," rather
than admit a limit to Uncle Henry's wisdom.
"Let's make a nice, smooth place on the sand," said Uncle Henry, his
hands now full of those mysterious pebbles. These he put into his pocket
and began, on all fours, to smooth sand industriously.
"Come on, youngsters," he invited, "and I'll let you settle the
questions yourselves. We'll make a game of it," he added.
The trio breathed easier. Uncle Henry _did_ know, and was going to
tell--in a new, interesting way. Three pairs of hands started smoothing
sand, with some waste of energy, but with rapid results.
"Now," said Uncle Henry, squatting down before the leveled place, and
pouring out the pebbles in a little pile, "how many stones do you need
to make the dipper, Pete? We'll draw it on the sand, with pebbles for
stars."
Three necks craned upward in unison, and the two boys' voices answered,
almost together,
"Seven."
Betty gazed a moment longer, and said,
"Eight."
Uncle Henry looked interested.
"Where do you see the eighth, Betty?" he asked.
"Right close where the handle bends," announced Betty.
"Correct," said Uncle Henry, "that shows you have good eyes. The Arabs
used to call that little star 'the proof,' because it is a test of good
eyesight to see it. The star at the bend of the handle is also called
'the horse,' and that faint little star over it 'the rider.' You can
make the dipper itself with seven pebbles, though. Go ahead and do it,
Peter," Uncle Henry finished, "and take good-sized stones, to show that
they're bright stars."
When Peter had finished, the smooth patch of sand looked like this in
the light from Uncle Henry's pocket electric torch.
[Illustration]
Betty insisted upon adding a tiny stone above "the horse," to represent
her discovery, "the rider."
"Now," said Uncle Henry, looking upward, "I'll help you this much in
finding all of 'the great bear.' The handle of the dipper is his tail.
Everybody try to find the rest of him. Put down a pebble in the right
spot for every star; big ones for bright ones, and little stones for
faint ones."
"Ooh," interrupted Betty, "I got his nose!"
Here is where Betty put it.
[Illustration]
"--and his shoulders!" she added in a moment, putting them in with small
pebbles.
"I got his front leg!" announced Paul excitedly, adding three pebbles
rapidly.
Then the bear looked like this.
[Illustration]
It was Peter who contributed his hind legs and his "skeleton," made of
finger-drawn lines in the sand. Like this.
[Illustration]
And when Uncle Henry had drawn an outline in the sand with his finger,
the "great bear" was done to everybody's satisfaction.
[Illustration]
While they were all looking at it, Uncle Henry recited,
"_Ursa Major_'s Latin--
And it means, 'the greater bear.'
_Ursa_'s 'bear,' and _Major_'s 'bigger,'
If you want to see his 'figger,'
At the dipper's handle stare--
That's the tail of _Ursa Major_.
Find his shoulders, nose, and toes--
Who first named him, no one knows."
"Did you say, 'Noah'--or 'no one,' Uncle Henry?" asked Betty.
"I said, 'no one,' but have it 'Noah' if you like," said Uncle Henry.
"Maybe Noah named him. He was interested in animals, and Adam ought not
to have the only right to name them."
"Now let's find the little dipper!" urged Peter, anxious for a victory
over Betty's doubts of its existence.
"When we find it," announced Uncle Henry solemnly, "it won't be a dipper
at all; it will be another bear--a little bear. You know that Noah had
two of everything in his ark."
"I told you there wasn't any little dipper!" shrilled Betty at Peter.
"Uncle Henry said we'd find it, though," countered Peter, looking
hopefully at the oracle.
"So we will," laughed Uncle Henry, "the little dipper and the little
bear are the same thing!"
"Come on!" urged Paul, "how do we start, Uncle Henry?"
Uncle Henry got up on his knees and drew a long straight line in the
sand with his forefinger. (1) It went up through both stars in the
middle of the great bear's body, and a long way beyond. Over three times
the distance between the two stars the line went beyond them. Uncle
Henry put down a fair-sized pebble at the end.
"There," he said, "is the tip of the little bear's tail. Go ahead and
find him; but I warn you--it's a very long tail, and you'll have to
imagine his legs and nose."
There was a moment's silence. Then Peter said,
"I can't see any bear, but I _can_ make out a dipper."
"Make it," said Uncle Henry.
[Illustration]
When Peter finished putting down little pebbles the little dipper was
very plain, just above the great bear's back.
Then Uncle Henry solemnly drew an outline around the seven small
pebbles.
[Illustration]
"Oooh, what a funny bear!" laughed Betty, when Uncle Henry's finger had
finished. "His tail is so _long_!"
"Bears always have _short_ tails," said Peter, looking reproachfully at
Uncle Henry, as if that person was responsible. There was, however, a
note of expectancy in Peter's voice. He expected a satisfactory
explanation from Uncle Henry.
"This bear _once_ had as short a tail as any other bear," said Uncle
Henry, quite undisturbed.
"Who stretched it?" inquired Paul breathlessly.
"You will note," began Uncle Henry, "that the tip of the little bear's
tail is a star that is right at the top of the North Pole. You can't
_see_ the pole, but it's there--and long ago somebody tied the tip of
the little bear's tail fast to it. As the earth turned around year after
year, and the pole turned with it, the little bear was swung round and
round by his tail. That would make anybody's tail stretch, wouldn't it?"
There was a moment's quiet. Then Peter said roguishly,
"You can't kid us into believing that, Uncle Hen--but we'll sure
remember it."
All Uncle Henry said was,
"Your mother doesn't like you to talk slang, Peter."
Uncle Henry had scored again, and knew it.
"To-morrow night we'll find the dragon, and the man who drives the great
bear around the pole, and his dogs, and maybe the lions and the swan,"
promised Uncle Henry, as he looked at his watch and stood up.
"Oooh, great!" cried the trio together.
"We'll have a reg'lar Noah's Ark on that sand, won't we?" said Betty.
"We'll call it 'Noah's Ark in the Sky,'" Uncle Henry agreed, as the
children followed him up the walk to Seven Oaks Cottage.
SECOND EVENING
THE HERDSMAN'S DOGS CHASE URSA MAJOR--AND THE TERRIBLE DRAGON
WRIGGLES AWAY IN FRIGHT
The next evening Peter, Paul, and Betty were all down on the beach as
soon as supper was over.
Peter and Paul had that morning made a fence of laths around the sand
drawings of the two bears--big, and little, so that "Rags," their
Airedale puppy, could not spoil them.
Now that "Rags" was asleep under the cottage, Peter and Paul removed
the fence and smoothed the sand carefully for several yards around the
bears, while Betty collected a quite unnecessarily large number of
pebbles to represent the stars that would be found, with Uncle Henry's
help, when the twilight faded.
When all this was done the trio sat down beside the smoothed space and
called to Uncle Henry, on the porch, that one star was already out and
he had better hurry.
"I'll come when you can see _Ursa Major's_ tail," called back Uncle
Henry, and the children had to wait, although they shrilly announced
each new star that glowed into sight in the darkening sky, and
repeatedly urged Uncle Henry to "come on and begin!"
The seven stars of the big dipper were all plainly visible when Uncle
Henry came down the board walk and sat cross-legged on the sand.
The first thing he did was to extend the line joining the last two
pebbles in the great bear's tail until it was about five times as long
as before, and curved slightly downward as it went. (2)
"Now, Betty," he said, "give me a pebble--a good big one. This is a
bright star we'll begin with; see if you can find it," and Uncle Henry
put down the pebble at the end of the line, like this.
[Illustration]
The three exclaimed, "I see it!" almost together.
"All right, then, we'll find '_Boötes_,' the herdsman who drives _Ursa
Major_ round the pole," said Uncle Henry. "He has two dogs to help him
besides. We'll find them too."
The children gazed upward for some time, intently silent.
"I guess," observed Betty finally, "that you'll have to tell us whether
that big star is the bear-driver's head--or one of his 'booties,' Uncle
Henry."
A duet of groans from Peter and Paul followed this example of the lowest
form of wit.
"I can't see anything that looks like a man the least bit," she went on,
oblivious of the groans, "but I can see a kite, with that big star at
the place where the tail would be fastened on."
"Fine," said Uncle Henry, "Make the kite then, Betty--and then we'll
find the herdsman after we've flown the kite a while. That's the
wonderful thing about Starland. If you get tired of one of the beasts
or people in it--presto! You can change him into anything he looks
like to you. _Boötes_ is really much more like a kite than a man, so
let's make the kite. Put the pebbles down, Betty."
Betty did, and they looked like this.
[Illustration]
"That was easy!" exclaimed Peter.
"Never you mind, Mr. Peter!" Betty burst out warmly, "I found it first,
anyhow!"
"We'll let Peter find the bear-driver's head," said Uncle Henry
judicially.
Peter promptly picked the big star at the tail-end of the kite.
"You're wrong," said Uncle Henry, "but I don't blame you. _Arcturus_ is
much too bright and beautiful to be only a big, bright button on the
lower edge of _Boötes'_ shepherd's kilt--but that is all it is. The star
at the top end of the kite is his head, and the two stars at the ends of
the cross-stick of the kite are his shoulders. About halfway from them
to _Arcturus_ you can find the belt of his kilt, and----"
"Oh, I see his legs!" interrupted Paul. "He's running after the big
bear."
"Put them in, Paul," said Uncle Henry.
Paul did, and the figure of _Boötes_ grew to look like this.
[Illustration]
"But he hasn't any arms!" said Peter.
"Yes, he has," explained Uncle Henry, "his left one is up in the air,
and his right one holds a shepherd's crook upon his right shoulder. Like
this."
Uncle Henry added pebbles and lines until _Boötes_ was finished.
[Illustration]
"What awful short legs he has!" criticised Betty.
"That must be why he's never caught the great bear," smiled Uncle Henry.
"What's he shaking his fist for?" inquired Paul, pointing to the
herdsman's left hand. "Is he so mad because he can't catch _Ursa
Major_?"
Uncle Henry did not reply, but drew two long lines from the uplifted
hand downward to a point just below the end of the big bear's tail.
"Oh, I know!" piped Betty, and throwing herself on her back, she began
to star-gaze industriously.
Peter and Paul looked at each other inquiringly.
"The dogs!" said Peter. "Betty's looking for them. They're on leash of
course. Those lines are the leashes."
Uncle Henry smiled his pleasure.
"The hunting dogs--or, as you would say it in Latin, _Canes Venatici_,
are largely imaginary. There are six stars--three in each dog, and all
faint except one, named _Cor Caroli_."
"I see the bright one!" said Peter, and put down a fair-sized pebble to
represent it. When the children had found the five other faint stars and
Uncle Henry had finished drawing the dogs, _Boötes_ and his hunting
hounds, _Asterion_ and _Chara_, looked like this.
[Illustration]
"Why do they call the bright star at the tail of _Chara_, _Cor Caroli_,
Uncle Henry?" asked Paul.
"It is Latin for 'heart of Charles,'" said Uncle Henry, "and the Charles
they mean is Charles the Second of England, but don't ask me why, for
I don't know. Perhaps the dog _Chara_ ran away with _Cor Caroli_. I
understand that Charles the Second lost his heart pretty often, and
perhaps one time he didn't get it back. Beware, Paul! I am Father
William out of Alice in Wonderland; 'you have asked me three questions
and that is enough.'"
"Are you going to make a poem for us to-night, too?" inquired Betty
hopefully.
"Let me see," said Uncle Henry thoughtfully. "Great bear, _Boötes_,
pronounced Bō-ō-tees, and two dogs--they ought to make some kind
of a poem. How's this? I'll let you name it after you've heard it."
"The big bear runs, the herdsman runs,
His dogs, they both are chasing.
While Ursa growls, Boötes howls,
His dogs, they both are barking.
For Ursa stole Boötes' bowl
Of hot milk, set acooling.
His mouth burns yet, the bowl's upset,
The milky way is streaming."
"The milky way to catch a bear," suggested Paul, as a name for the
poem.
"Who spilt the milk?" volunteered Peter.
"The herdsman hasn't ever caught _Ursa Major_," said Betty reflectively,
"so he's wasting his time chasing him. 'Don't cry over spilt milk' would
be a good title, I think. He ought to be tending his silly sheep, if he
has any."
"I've got it!" exclaimed Peter, "'Ursa was a big bear; Ursa was a
thief.' Like 'Taffy the Welshman,' you know."
Since no one else had a better title, the "Society of Star-Gazers," as
Paul had named it, let it go at that, and allowed Boötes to persist in
his pursuit of the great bear for his ancient mischief.
"I thought you were going to show us the lions to-night, Uncle Hen,"
said Peter.
"So I am, Peter," said Uncle Henry. "Tell me what you see just below and
between _Ursa Major's_ hind feet."
All the children looked, and Peter answered,
"Three faint stars, like a triangle."
"Put them in with pebbles," said Uncle Henry, and Peter did.
"That's one lion; the little one. Now we'll find the big one and draw
them both."
[Illustration]
Then Uncle Henry drew a long line through the two stars at the root of
the great bear's tail, and extended it to the three little pebbles in a
triangle under the bear's feet, and through the triangle, and beyond as
far again. At the end of this line he put a large pebble. (3)
"There," said Uncle Henry, "is the star _Regulus_, which is in the big
lion's heart. See if you can find the rest of him."
Betty soon picked out the lion's head, and Paul added his hind quarters,
and when Uncle Henry had drawn outlines around both big and little lions
they looked like this.
[Illustration]
"Now show us the Swan," urged Peter.
"Yes, and the Dragon!" reminded Paul.
"You children haven't forgotten a single one I promised," laughed Uncle
Henry. "Well, here goes; everybody find the dipper again."
Everybody did.
"Now draw a line straight up through the middle of the dipper's bowl and
keep on with it a little over three times the length of the dipper's
handle. (4) Put a large pebble there and see if you can find the star.
It's in the swan's tail, and he looks as if he was flying overhead, with
his wings spread, and his long neck stretched out ahead of him."
"Is he sort of like a cross?" inquired Betty after a moment.
"Right," said Uncle Henry. "Put him in with pebbles."
This shows how to find and draw the swan the way the children and Uncle
Henry did.
[Illustration]
"Now the dragon, Uncle Hen!" urged Peter.
"Are you sure," said Uncle Henry, "that you promise not to have any bad
dreams about the dragon if I show him to you before you go to bed?"
"Sure!" chorused the Society of Star-Gazers.
"Well," said Uncle Henry, "the dragon is very terrible, but he is afraid
of bears, so he is squirming away as fast as he can from them. He is
wriggling a little faster too, because _Ursa Major_ is on one side of
him and _Ursa Minor_ on the other. Draw a line through the stars in the
tips of the swan's wings, back toward the head of the bear-driver, and
you'll find the dragon's head about halfway. (5) It's a little triangle
of stars, and from that the dragon's body winds around the little bear's
body and down above the big bear's back."
"I see all of him!" exclaimed Paul.
"Here are the pebbles," said Uncle Henry, "put the dragon, or _Draco_,
where he belongs."
Paul did, and Uncle Henry finished him.
"To-morrow night," said Uncle Henry, "we'll find some more of the star
people and sky animals. They even have musical instruments in this
Skyland of ours, so we'll find the lyre that the sky ladies play on! One
of the sky gentlemen is a great archer, too, so we'll find him shooting
his bow and arrow at a giant scorpion, and----"
"Oh, let's find _that_ now!" pleaded Peter and Paul in unison.
Betty did not join in the chorus. She was asleep, with her head in Uncle
Henry's lap.
[Illustration]
"To-morrow night," smiled Uncle Henry. "Betty will want to hear, too,
about the sky lady's mandolin, or harp, or lyre, or whatever it is."
Then he picked up the little girl without waking her, and the boys
followed him up the walk into "Seven Oaks"--and bed.
THIRD EVENING
UNCLE HENRY'S MAGIC TURNS THE LYRE INTO A UKELELE--AND THE
ARCHER'S ARROW MISSES THE LOVELY SWAN AND HITS THE HORRID
SCORPION
Betty had been informed by her brothers that Uncle Henry had promised,
after she fell asleep, to show the lyre that the star ladies play when
they have nothing else to do.
Since she had a new ukelele herself, and was learning to play it, her
interest in all stringed instruments was keen, and as soon as the
Society of Star-Gazers had come together on the beach the next evening,
she demanded that the lyre be found.
"All right," said Uncle Henry, "find the swan's wing, on the side of
him toward the dragon. Get that? Well then, look for a very bright star
between that wing and the swan's neck, and about the length of the
swan's neck away from the tip of the wing. You can't miss it, for it's
the brightest star anywhere near. Its name is _Vega_, and some one has
called it 'the arc-light of the sky.'" (6)
"I see it!" cried Betty and the boys together.
"Look for two smaller stars that make a triangle with _Vega_, and then
for three more that make a long diamond shape. That's right, Peter, put
down the pebbles and finish the lyre."
[Illustration]
"It's sort of a harp on a foot!" said Betty in disappointment. "I want
to make a ukelele of it."
"Sure, easy as breathing," agreed Uncle Henry, and promptly rubbed out
_Lyra_ from the sand, and made it over.
After all, Betty was the baby and might have her own way whenever Uncle
Henry had anything to say about it. And let no one say that the ancients
had all the imagination, after seeing the ukelele that Uncle Henry made
of _Lyra_.
[Illustration]
"We strive to please," he said as it was finished, and Betty clapped her
hands.
"Now we want to see the archer shoot the giant scorpion!" demanded Paul,
speaking for the masculine part of the audience.
"Just a minute," said Uncle Henry, "I'm coming to him. You can see one
of his arrows if you look on the other side of the swan's neck, just
opposite to Betty's ukelele. The archer shot at the swan and missed it."
"Serves him right for trying to kill the beautiful swan. I love 'em!'"
said Betty, with feeling.
"You'll need to use very small pebbles," warned Uncle Henry, "for
_Sagitta_ is rather small and quite faint."
"What's _Sagitta_?" asked Peter.
"Latin for 'arrow,'" said Uncle Henry.
When the arrow was found and drawn, it was in this position.
[Illustration]
"Now the archer!" demanded Paul.
"All right," said Uncle Henry. "Paul, draw a line straight out from the
head of the swan, right on in the direction he is flying, and go about
twice the length of the swan's neck." (7)
Paul did.
"Now tell me," asked Uncle Henry, "does anybody see anything, about
there, that looks like a bow and arrow?"
The children searched the sky at a point a little over two swan's necks
ahead of the swan's bill, and Peter cried triumphantly,
[Illustration]
"I see it! I see it!"
"Make it then," said Uncle Henry, "and keep the bow in the right
position to the swan's neck."
When Peter had all the pebbles in their right positions, Uncle Henry
drew in the archer's body, and bow and arrow, and they looked like this:
"He's just getting ready to shoot at the scorpion!" exclaimed Paul.
"Yes," said Uncle Henry, "and the other star people have to look out
too. The people who lived long ago called _Sagittarius_, our archer,
"the Bull Killer." They did this because when the stars of the archer
rise in the east, they seem to drive all the stars of _Taurus_,
the Bull, over the western edge of the world. So they said that
_Sagittarius_ killed off the Bull. We'll find _Taurus_ next winter."
"Now let's find the scorpion," urged Peter.
"Wait a minute!" begged Betty, "I see another dipper."
Peter was impatient. Dippers were not interesting, compared with giant
scorpions.
"Betty," he remarked, "wouldn't believe there _was_ a little dipper a
few nights ago, and now she's seeing 'em everywhere."
But Betty had her way as usual, and the Society of Star-Gazers paused
before passing on to the scorpion.
"Where do you see the new dipper, Betty?" Uncle Henry inquired with
interest.
"It's right back of the leg the archer is kneeling on." (8)
"You're quite right," Uncle Henry agreed, "and it's called 'the milk
dipper,' because it's right on the edge of the milky way."
"Why that's the bowl _Ursa Major_ tried to get _Boötes'_ hot milk out
of, and burned his mouth, and upset!" explained Betty, with a sudden
inspiration.
"So it is," agreed Uncle Henry, "although I must confess I never
thought of the milk dipper when I made up that rhyme for you
youngsters."
"Now the scorpion!" insisted Peter.
"Oh, have your old scorpion, then, Mr. Peter!" exploded Betty, "I don't
want to see the horrid thing. I'm going to the cottage and show Katy the
milk dipper."
And she went.
So it was with Peter and Paul alone that Uncle Henry found the scorpion
that _Sagittarius_, the archer, is always aiming at. (9) It would have
been easy for Betty to find, for it really looks a good deal like a
scorpion. See if you don't think so when you've found it.
[Illustration]
After Uncle Henry had shown the boys how the big, red star, called
_Antares_, in the heart of the scorpion, has a reddish color, Peter
suggested that it was probably red because the Archer had already shot
an arrow through the scorpion's heart, and made it bleed.
After that, since neither the boys nor Uncle Henry ever wanted Betty
left out of anything, and since they knew she would have stayed if Peter
and she hadn't wanted different things at the same time, the Society of
Star-Gazers adjourned until the next evening.
On the porch, however, Uncle Henry made up this poem and repeated it to
Peter and Paul before they went in to bed.
"The Scorpion's heart has bled,
Antares-star is red,
The Archer made an arrow-wound,
But Scorpio isn't dead.
The Archer draws his strong-bow,
To shoot a sharp new arrow,
I hope he hits the Scorpion,
And kills the poisonous fellow."
FOURTH EVENING
THE VIRGIN IS TOO BUSY FEEDING HER SKY POULTRY, SO CASSIOPEIA
GETS THE UKELELE TO PLAY
Betty, in spite of her pretended lack of curiosity about the scorpion,
was down on the beach the next evening ahead of the other members of the
Society of Star-Gazers. Uncle Henry found her in the twilight, sitting
cross-legged before the sand-drawing of _Scorpio_.
As she searched the southern sky to find the constellation, she was
singing Uncle Henry's verses about the archer and _Scorpio_ over and
over, to a tune of her own improvising.
The boys had made bows and arrows from green saplings during the morning
and had raced about for some time with "Rags," in search of giant
scorpions to shoot at. They discovered them in the most unexpected
objects--trees, rocks, and even boats. The hunt had been accompanied by
a war chant, with the scorpion verses for words. It was a faint echo of
this that Betty was crooning to herself now.
As Uncle Henry approached her she looked up at him and said,
"Aren't there any ladies among the star people, Uncle Henry? You told
about the lyre that they play on, but you haven't shown any of them to
us."
"Well, Betty," said Uncle Henry, sitting down beside her, "there are
several ladies in our star country, but only two of them are in our
sight in the summer time. Let's get the boys and we'll find both the
ladies and take a vote to decide which of them shall have your
lyre-ukelele to play on."
Betty called, in her high little voice, for Peter and Paul to hurry, and
they raced down from the porch with "Rags" in tow.
"Uncle Hen," asked Peter, "'Rags' wants to know if there aren't any more
dogs in the sky?" "Sure," said Uncle Henry, "sky folks are very fond of
dogs. We've found the two that belong to the herdsman. Besides them,
there are two others, but we can't see them 'til next winter. And, of
course, there's _Cerberus_, the ugly, monstrous three-headed dog that
Hercules killed. We'll find him to-night."
"Oh, that's great!" said Peter, and he and Paul settled down with "Rags"
between them. "Rags" looked expectantly at Uncle Henry, who said,
"But first I've promised Betty to find the sky ladies that we can see
now, and let one of them have the ukelele."
"Rags'" ears dropped and he lost interest. Peter and Paul, however,
remembering Betty's temper of the previous evening, said,
"Of course, ladies first."
"All right," said Uncle Henry, "everybody find _Arcturus_ in the hem of
_Boötes'_ kilt. Get that? Well, then, draw a line in the sand, Betty,
from _Boötes'_ right shoulder through _Arcturus_, and extend the line
about as far again. (10) Then look in the sky at that point for a bright
star."
"I see it!" cried Betty. The boys picked it out next moment.
"Well," said Uncle Henry, "it doesn't look much like an ear of corn,
does it? That's what it is, though; an ear of corn held in the Virgin's
left hand. Its name, _Spica_, means just that. The Virgin is scattering
grains from the ear of corn with her right hand, to attract the birds of
Starland--the swan, the eagle, and the dove. We'll find the eagle a
little later on, but the dove is so far south that we never see it well.
The boys and girls in South America see Noah's dove, but we can't."
"Now," continued Uncle Henry, "follow along northward from _Spica_ to
a point just below the big lion's tail. There is the Virgin's head.
Between it and _Spica_ are two fairly bright stars. The one nearest
_Spica_ is the Virgin's shoulder. Her left arm hangs at her side, from
the shoulder to _Spica_, while her right arm extends in the direction of
the great bear's tail. Put down the pebbles as fast as you find the
stars, Betty."
[Illustration]
When Betty and Uncle Henry had finished the Virgin, or _Virgo_, as she
is called in Latin, she looked like this:
Then Uncle Henry added the little half circle of small pebbles, with one
larger one near the centre, shown in the picture just at the left of
Boötes. (11)
"What is that, Uncle Henry?" asked all the children at once.
"Do you see it in the sky?" he asked,
The children quickly found it.
"What does it look like, then?"
Peter thought it was a handful of corn-grains from _Virgo's_ hand.
Betty said, "A necklace."
"That's nearest right," said Uncle Henry. "It is called _Corona
Borealis_, or the Northern Crown. That brightest star is named _Gemma_,
so you see it might be a gem in a necklace, too. The Virgin looks as if
she was going to bend over and pick it up. Perhaps she will some day."
"I think," said Paul, "that she's too busy a person to give Betty's
ukelele to. Who's the other lady?"
"I quite agree with you," said Uncle Henry. "The Virgin seems very
much occupied. Well, there is another lady in Starland. Her name is
_Cassiopeia_, and since she has nothing to do but sit in a chair,
perhaps Betty will let _Cassiopeia_ have the ukelele to play. _Virgo_
won't be jealous, either, because she is clear across the sky from
_Cassiopeia_; too far away to see. A long line drawn across the sky from
_Spica_ through the pole star in the little bear's tail-tip will reach
_Cassiopeia_. (12)
"She is easy to find, because she looks just like a big letter W. Does
anybody see it?"
The trio all found the W very quickly. You will, too, for it is very
conspicuous in the northeastern sky in July and August. Uncle Henry
showed the children that _Cassiopeia's_ W had to be turned upside down,
into an M, before she could be made to sit in her chair properly.
Here is how _Cassiopeia_ looked:
[Illustration]
"She hasn't a blessed thing to do. We'll give the lyre to her," said
Betty.
"I am glad to hear that you are going to give the ukelele to
_Cassiopeia_," said Uncle Henry. "Perhaps it will make her feel
happier. She has had a rather sad life. Long ago _Cassiopeia_ was
queen of _Æthiopia_, and was very beautiful. But she was so proud of
her good looks that she boasted herself prettier than the lovely
sea-nymphs. This made Neptune, the god of the sea, so angry that he
sent one of his worst sea-monsters to make trouble along the shore of
_Cassiopeia's_ country.
"And as if that wasn't bad enough, Neptune demanded _Cassiopeia's_
daughter _Andromeda_ as a sacrifice.
"So you see it seems good to see _Cassiopeia_ getting a little justice
done her, if it's only the present of a ukelele."
"Teacher says," piped up Betty, "that the lady's statue on top of the
Court House is '_Justice_.' What does she have that little pair of
scales in her hand for, Uncle Henry?"
"The scales are to help her in weighing the good and bad that people
do," explained Uncle Henry, "and speaking of scales, there's a pair of
them in the sky, too. If you will look between the _Scorpio_ and the
Virgin you will find the scales. (13) They are called _Libra_, which is
Latin for 'balance.' There are four main stars in _Libra_, which make an
oblong."
This is how _Libra_, the balance, looked when the children and Uncle
Henry had finished drawing it:
[Illustration]
"Now," said Peter, with an air of having shown great patience, "we want
to see that three-headed dog. I forgot his name."
"_Cerberus_," said Uncle Henry, "But in order to find him we'll have to
find _Hercules_, the great strong man, for _Hercules_ has _Cerberus_
fast by one of his throats and is beating at his three ugly heads with a
big club. At the same time, _Hercules_ has his left foot on the dragon's
head, so you see he is kept busy."
"Where do we begin?" asked Paul, impatiently.
"Draw a line," said Uncle Henry, "from _Vega_ in the ukelele to _Gemma_
in the _Northern Crown_; the Virgin's necklace we found a while ago, you
know."
Paul did it. (14)
"Now," directed Uncle Henry, "look about half-way between, and you'll
find _Hercules'_ legs. His left leg is nearly straight, but his right
has the knee bent a little. _Hercules'_ legs and the sides of his body
and his belt make sort of an H shape."
"Oh, I see it!" exclaimed Peter. "Shall I make him, Uncle Hen?"
"Sure, go ahead, Pete; and the rest of you watch for _Hercules'_ head
and arms."
When the children had put down pebbles to represent all the stars in
_Hercules_, and had connected them with lines in the sand, _Hercules_
looked like this:
[Illustration]
"Oh," broke out Betty, excitedly, "he's got the ugly dog in his left
hand!"
Then she added the three heads of _Cerberus_, and it was Uncle Henry's
turn to draw in the outline of _Hercules_, and complete the picture,
like this:
[Illustration]
"You have probably read," said Uncle Henry, "about the twelve great
labors _Hercules_ performed. He had to be very strong to do them, but of
course he was born that way. They say he even rose up out of his cradle
and strangled two serpents that the goddess _Juno_ sent to destroy him."
The Society of Star-Gazers became very enthusiastic about _Hercules_
after he was all finished. So will you when you see how big and strong
and beautiful he is, almost straight over your head in the summer sky
just after dark. You will enjoy him more if you lie on your back to
look, as the Society of Star-Gazers did on the beach.
While they were all flat on the sand, looking up into the great
blue-black, star-sprinkled bowl, Uncle Henry made up this poem, and
recited it before the Society adjourned for the night:
"Hercules the strong man--
Feel his muscle!
Feel his muscle!
Hercules the strong man--
See him tussle!
See him tussle!
Right hand holds a club--
I can see;
I can see.
Left hand grips a throat--
One of three;
One of three.
Three-head dogs are freaks--
Queer to us;
Queer to us.
That's because you never saw--
Cerberus;
Cerberus.
FIFTH EVENING
IN WHICH A DOLPHIN WITH AN EAR FOR MUSIC SAVES A POET'S
LIFE--AND UNCLE HENRY PUTS TWO BIRDS IN ONE POEM
During the next day Peter and Paul had seen a blue-racer in the grass,
and, with Rags' assistance, had chased it off into the woods behind the
cottage.
So it was only natural for Peter to ask Uncle Henry whether there were
any snakes among the star creatures.
Uncle Henry had said, "Two," and promised to show the children a very
big one, and an old man having a struggle with it besides.
Peter and Paul were expectantly waiting on the sand when Uncle Henry and
Betty came down from the porch that evening after dark.
"Now," said Peter, "where's the snake, Uncle Hen?"
"We'll begin with his head," said Uncle Henry. "Everybody find the
northern crown, or _Virgo's_ necklace, and _Hercules'_ club. Now look
just between them and you will see five stars in a sort of little cross,
quite close together. Get that?" (15)
The children soon found all five and put down little stones to represent
them on the sand.
"All right, then; now trace a line from star to star, down toward
_Scorpio_, and then across toward the archer, and then up in the
direction of the swan. That line is the _Serpent_. It is writhing in the
hands of _Ophiuchus_, the old man who is called 'The Serpent-bearer.'
His head and _Hercules'_ head are only a little way apart. Look for a
bright star just east of the bright one in the head of _Hercules_ and
you will have the head of _Ophiuchus_. Then look where his shoulders
would naturally come and you will see two stars close together in each
shoulder. Find them?"
The children did, and placed pebbles for the head and shoulders of
_Ophiuchus_.
"Now," said Uncle Henry, "draw two long lines down from the shoulders,
through the Serpent and beyond, and you will have the old man's body,
legs and feet. One foot is just in front of the archer's bow; the other
is just above the red heart of _Scorpio_. You will have to imagine his
arms, and his hands holding the serpent while it squirms."
When all the pebbles were down and all the lines were drawn, _Ophiuchus_
and the serpent, or _Serpens_ in Latin, looked like this:
[Illustration]
"Are there any more snakes, Uncle Hen?" inquired Paul expectantly.
"Yes, a sea-serpent made of very faint stars," said Uncle Henry, "but he
is rather hard to trace out and the only other creature I have left now
that is anything like a snake is a dolphin, or porpoise, and he isn't
much like one. We'll find him, anyway, and then if you prefer to make a
sea-horse out of the dolphin, or _Delphinus_, as you would say in Latin,
why go ahead and do it. The animals in Starland are very obliging. They
will turn into anything you like to see in them."
"Where is the dolphin, Uncle Henry?" asked Betty.
"Well," said he, "draw a line through the beak of the swan and the
arrow, or _Sagitta_, and it will strike _Delphinus_. (16) The arrow is
about halfway between the swan and the dolphin. See it?"
The children soon found the dolphin and mapped his skeleton with
pebbles. Then Uncle Henry put it to a vote of the Society of Star-Gazers
whether _Delphinus_ should be finished up as a dolphin or a sea-horse.
The vote was two to one for the sea-horse.
Uncle Henry drew a sigh of relief; he didn't know quite what a dolphin
looked like, and he had seen a picture of a sea-horse in the dictionary
only the day before. So _Delphinus_ turned out to look like this. If you
insist on having him a dolphin, why draw him differently yourself:
[Illustration]
"I wonder," said Betty thoughtfully, "who rides the sea-horses. Do the
mermaids, Uncle Henry?"
"I don't know about the mermaids," he answered, "but I do know that an
ancient poet and musician, named _Arion_, was saved from drowning by
riding to shore on a dolphin. It was like this:
"Arion had gone from his home on the island of Lesbos to Italy, and
while there had made a great deal of money by his singing."
"Just like Caruso in New York," exclaimed Paul.
"Yes," said Uncle Henry, "and also like Caruso, _Arion_ decided to go
home for a visit. Well, on the way to Lesbos the sailors decided to
murder _Arion_ and get all the money he was taking home with him. He had
gone on a regular pirate ship you see. The pirates were all ready to
kill _Arion_, but he begged so hard to play just one little melody on
his lute before he died that the pirate sailors said, 'Yes, he might
play just one.' You would hardly believe it, but the melody that _Arion_
played was so catchy and tuneful that it attracted a number of dolphins,
who began to dance and turn somersaults about the ship. Then _Arion_
watched his chance--and jumped over-board--and one of the friendly,
music-loving dolphins carried him back to Lesbos on his back."
"My, but I'm glad he got away from those awful pirates!" cried Betty
with heartfelt fervor.
"It's too bad the horrid sailors got his money after all," said Peter.
"If they hadn't he might have got something nice for the dolphin to eat
when he got to that place where he lived."
"The dolphin fared better than that," Uncle Henry assured the children.
"It pleased the sea god _Neptune_ so much to have one of his creatures
save a poet's life that he had that dolphin put in the sky among the
stars, and we see him there now as the constellation _Delphinus_."
"What's next?" demanded Peter when the story of _Delphinus_ was
finished.
"The next three," said Uncle Henry, shaking his head sadly, "are the
last."
"The last?!!" chorused the Society of Star-Gazers incredulously.
"Well, maybe not absolutely the last," admitted Uncle Henry, "but the
last for this Summer. There is a whole dozen more of the Star People in
our northern sky, but we can't see them until next Winter."
"Why?" inquired Betty anxiously.
"It's a long story," said Uncle Henry. "Sometime I'll tell you all of
it, beginning with the fact that the pole of the earth always points to
the north star, where the little bear's tail is fastened, you remember.
I promise to show you all the rest of the star animals and people when I
come home for my Christmas vacation. Will that do, if I show you a
wonderful eagle to-night--and a sea goat and a water carrier to finish
up with?"
The children were disappointed, but they trusted Uncle Henry. He
wouldn't stop showing animals and people until he had to; they all knew
that.
Peter said,
"We'll have a whole dozen to look forward to next Christmas. Sort of a
present from Uncle Henry. Come on, Uncle Hen, let's find the eagle and
the sea goat and water carrier!"
The others agreed with Peter.
"The eagle, or _Aquila_," said Uncle Henry, "is easy to find because of
a very bright star, called _Altair_, which is right in his neck. You
will find it near the arrow, or _Sagitta_, between the end of the
serpent's tail and _Delphinus_. (17) Does anybody see _Altair_?"
"I do," said Betty, "it's right between two other stars that aren't so
bright."
"Right," said Uncle Henry. "Put down pebbles to represent all three,
Betty, and we'll find the rest of the eagle, or _Aquila_, as it would be
in Latin."
When the three pebbles were in place they stood in this relation to
_Sagitta_ and _Delphinus_:
[Illustration]
"Now," said Uncle Henry, "draw a line downward through the three stars
and a little more than twice as far again and what do you see?"
"Another star," said Paul.
"Put it in," said Uncle Henry, "and then draw another line from the
upper of the first three stars in the direction of the handle of the
'milk dipper' in _Sagittarius_, the archer. Continue this about four
times the length of the line that joins the first three stars together
and you will find two fairly bright stars close together. That's right,
Paul; put in the star you find about halfway down the line, too. Now
draw a line from the two fairly bright stars back in the direction of
the tail of the sea-horse, or _Delphinus_, until it almost meets the
first line you drew. There you will find another fairly bright star. Now
it is easy to finish the eagle's skeleton."
[Illustration]
When the eagle's skeleton was finished Peter thought it looked more like
a big arrowhead than an eagle, but when Uncle Henry had drawn the
outline of _Aquila_, the Society of Star-Gazers admitted the resemblance
to the bird.
"Now where's that sea goat?" inquired Peter.
"Follow the line of the first three stars we found in _Aquila_ downward,
and just a little way beyond where it ends in the tip of the eagle's
wing you will see two rather faint stars, close together. (18) They are
at one corner of a 'cocked hat' such as you make out of newspaper when
you play soldier--sort of a Napoleon's hat. It is upside down. When you
find it and put down pebbles for stars I'll show you how the good
imaginations the ancient people had turned the cocked hat into a sea
goat."
This shows how _Capricornus_ the sea goat looked when the children and
Uncle Henry had finished him. I leave it to you to decide whether or not
he looks more like a cocked hat.
[Illustration]
"When we have found _Capricornus_ the sea goat," said Uncle Henry, "it
is easy to find _Aquarius_ or the water carrier. Just prolong the line
that connects the goat's right foot with his tail until it runs close to
a little triangle of three stars with another in the centre. (19) It
looks a little like the head of the Serpent we found squirming in
_Ophiuchus'_ hands, but it is the water-jar _Aquarius_ is carrying."
"Oh, I see it," cried Paul.
The other stars in _Aquarius_ were soon found and represented
by pebbles. Then Uncle Henry drew the outline that finished the
Water-Carrier, like this:
[Illustration]
"Now we're all through?" inquired Betty.
"Until next Christmas," smiled back Uncle Henry.
"Can't we have just one more poem?" teased Paul.
"What shall it be about?" asked Uncle Henry, with the air of a man who
could write a poem to order on any subject.
"One about the lovely swan," commanded Betty, "you haven't made one up
about the swan."
Uncle Henry was in a quandary; he wanted to please everybody with the
last poem. He lay down on his back and looked up at the sky for so long
that the children thought he must have fallen asleep. Finally Uncle
Henry began to recite,
"The eagle of Starland
Got tired of his tree,
And challenged the swan to a race.
'Come up from the water!
Fly up and be free!
To northward I'll beat you a chase.'
The swan thought of shivers
And icebergs and frost--
He made up his mind to race South.
So they are still flying--
Their race can't be lost--
Till Gabriel blows with his mouth."
"What'll Gabriel blow?" inquired Peter when the hand-clapping had
stopped.
"His trumpet, of course, silly!" answered Betty for Uncle Henry.
Just then the children heard a toot from an automobile horn that they
all recognized, and the Society of Star-Gazers raced with Uncle Henry
back up to "Seven Oaks Cottage."
"Sister" and "the Children's Father" had come back from their trip and
had surprised everybody.
The summer sessions of the Society were over.
FIRST WINTER EVENING
THE "SOCIETY" LEARNS WHY ORION NEEDS A CLUB TO KEEP FRISKY
TAURUS IN ORDER--AND WHY WE SAY "BY JIMINI!" WHEN WE GET
EXCITED
Uncle Henry came, as he had promised, to spend his Christmas holidays
with "Sister," "the Children's Father," Peter, Paul and Betty, in their
city apartment.
The children's hope for fair weather in Christmas week was not
disappointed either. The days were snowy and sunny and the nights frosty
and clear.
Only one thing had worried the "Society of Star-Gazers"--what was to
take the place of the smooth sand of the beach when Uncle Henry should
begin to point out the sky people that were visible in the winter sky?
There were pebbles, it was true, on the flat roof of the apartment
house, but there was no sand.
The children were certain, however, that Uncle Henry would find a way,
as he always did, and sure enough, when he arrived he brought, as one of
his Christmas gifts to the children, a wonderful blackboard, an easel to
stand it upon, and plenty of white chalk.
After dinner on the first night of Uncle Henry's visit, the Society of
Star-Gazers was bundled up in warm coats and mufflers and he led the
way to the roof, carrying the blackboard and his pocket electric
flashlight.
Far above the lights of the city arched the great, blue-black bowl of
the sky, filled with the sparkling patterns of stars that the children
had learned to know as steadfast, unchanging friends.
"Uncle Henry," said Betty, "you've told us about enough animals to
really fill a Noah's ark, but we've never heard anything about Noah
himself. Isn't there any Mr. Noah in the sky?"
"Well, Betty," said Uncle Henry, "There isn't any constellation that's
named for Noah, but he was a great hunter, and since there is a great
hunter in the sky, we can call him Noah if we want to, even if his last
name is _Orion_."
"Noah O'Ryan!" laughed Paul. "I know a boy named Michael O'Ryan."
"It's not the same spelling," said Uncle Henry, as he turned the
flashlight on the blackboard while he wrote the word upon it, and
underneath, made three large chalk dots, like this:
[Illustration]
"Find those three stars," said Uncle Henry, "and you will have the _belt
of Orion_. It ought not to be hard to find them, for there are no other
stars like them anywhere in the whole sky. Those three stars have
always attracted a lot of attention from people in all times and
countries. In the Bible Job calls them 'the bands of Orion'; the Arabs
called them 'the Golden Nuts'; the fierce Masai Tribe in Africa call
them 'the three old men'; the ancient Chinese named Orion 'Tsan,' which
means 'three'; and to the Eskimos these three stars appear to be the
three steps that a Starland Eskimo cuts in a snowbank when he wants to
climb to the top of it."
The children soon found _Orion's_ belt about a third of the way up the
southeastern sky.
"Now," said Uncle Henry, "see who can find his shoulders first. Here is
a piece of chalk for each of you. Put the shoulders in as soon as you
see them."
[Illustration]
Paul found _Orion's_ right shoulder, and Betty his left, and made large
chalk dots to show how bright and beautiful the stars that mark the
shoulders are.
"Oh, I see his feet!" exclaimed Betty delightedly.
"Put them in then," said Uncle Henry.
Then _Orion_ looked like this on the blackboard:
"I'll tell you this much more," said Uncle Henry, "and then you must
finish _Orion_ by yourselves. He has a great club, raised, ready to
strike, in his right hand, and he holds a lion's skin on his left arm,
as a shield."
"What's he going to hit at?" inquired Peter, with his boy's joy in
battle uppermost.
"At _Taurus_, the wild bull," said Uncle Henry. "You can see that
_Taurus_ is very fierce, and would enjoy nothing better than to chase
the twin star boys round and round the sky. He might not really want to
hurt the boys, whose names are _Castor_ and _Pollux_, but _Taurus'_
horns are very sharp and he doesn't know how to play gently, so it keeps
_Orion_ pretty busy getting between him and _Gemini_ and threatening the
bull with his club."
"What's 'jimini,' Uncle Hen?" said Paul. "Sounds like our swear word."
"It _is_ the origin of it," said Uncle Henry. "The ancient Romans used
to swear 'by _Gemini_,' and it has slowly been changed into your
'jimini.' _Gemini_ is the Latin word that means 'twins.' We'll find them
after we finish up _Orion_ and _Taurus_, and then you'll see just how
_Orion_ keeps protecting them from the bull."
"Hurry up, Uncle Hen!" urged Peter. "I'm dreadful excited!"
Uncle Henry did, and as a result _Orion_ looked like this:
[Illustration]
"Ooh! he's got a sword, too!" cried Paul, as Uncle Henry added the three
tiny stars below _Orion's_ belt, and drew the outline around them.
"Why didn't he use the sword on _Taurus_?" asked Peter.
"Because he knew _Taurus_ was only playing in his rough way," Uncle
Henry replied.
"Well, we've heard a lot about that bull," said Betty. "Let's find him
right away."
Uncle Henry said nothing, but took the chalk from Betty and drew a light
line from _Orion's_ right foot to his left shoulder, and continued it
upward about the same distance. (20)
"There," he said, "that point is just between the bull's horns and over
his right eye. The right eye of _Taurus_ is a very bright star called
_Aldebaran_. Anybody see it?"
"Oh, I do!" said Paul. "What, hasn't _Taurus_ any left eye, Uncle Hen?"
"He has," said Uncle Henry, "but he has it closed just now. He's winking
it at _Orion_ as much as to say, 'Oh, I act fierce, but I wouldn't hurt
those twins after all. I'm just playing.' Go ahead and put in the stars
for the bull's head and horns as fast as you find them, youngsters."
The children did, and when Uncle Henry had showed them the fore legs and
shoulder, which contains the beautiful little group of faint stars
called the _Pleiades_, _Taurus_ looked like this:
[Illustration]
"Now we want the twins!" cried Betty.
"All right," said Uncle Henry, "follow a line straight up the bull's
left horn and a little more than the length of the horn beyond its tip
and you will reach _Castor_, the head of the fainter twin." (21)
Peter and Paul began to show great interest, because they were twins
themselves. They demanded that each be allowed to select one of the sky
children and finish him completely, without Uncle Henry's assistance.
[Illustration]
Paul, having first choice because he was twenty minutes younger than
Peter, selected _Pollux_, and Peter had to be contented with the less
bright _Castor_.
It was not a difficult task for either of the boys, after finding the
twin star _Castor_, for the head of _Pollux_ is quite close beside it
and the bodies of both star children stand side by side, with the feet
just above _Orion's_ uplifted club.
When _Gemini_, the twins, were finished, the blackboard looked like
this, and since the children's fingers were so stiff with the cold that
they could hardly hold the chalk, Uncle Henry moved that the Society of
Star-Gazers adjourn until the next evening.
SECOND WINTER EVENING
IN WHICH THE DOGS OF ORION AND GEMINI FOLLOW THEIR MASTERS,
PEGASUS ESCAPES AS USUAL, AND ANDROMEDA GETS A NICE SOFT BED
OF HAY IN PLACE OF HER HARD OLD ROCK
"Uncle Hen," said Peter, when the Society was assembled round the
blackboard, in overcoats and mittens, on the following night, "what is
that very bright star that is down behind _Orion_? It looks sort of
important to me."
"Right you are, Pete," answered Uncle Henry, looking where the boy
pointed, "it _is_ important. It is the star _Sirius_, the brightest star
in the whole sky. We'll begin with it and find _Orion's_ dog, or _Canis
Major_, which is Latin for 'bigger dog.'"
"That's great!" exclaimed Paul, "you told us last Summer that we'd find
him this Christmas-time."
"So I did," agreed Uncle Henry. "Well, you can always find _Orion's_ dog
by drawing a line through _Orion's_ belt and extending it behind him
until it meets _Sirius_. (22) You can't miss it because it's so bright.
Everybody see it?"
Everybody did.
"Now," went on Uncle Henry, "extend the line that came from _Orion's_
belt, curving it slightly downward after it passes through _Sirius_, and
you will have the dog's backbone. Put in the chalk dots as we find the
stars, Pete. Now draw lines upward and downward from _Sirius_, at right
angles to the backbone line and you will have the dog's forelegs and
ears. At a point on the backbone about twice the length of the foreleg
from _Sirius_, you will find another fairly bright star, and below it a
little way another star. Connect these two and keep on with the line, at
right angles to the backbone, and you will find one hind foot. The other
is not far in front of it. Yes, that's right, Betty, there's a star in
the tip of his tail, too. And the three stars near _Sirius_ make _Canis
Major's_ nose."
The children soon finished the skeleton and Uncle Henry took the chalk
and put the flesh upon it. Then the dog of _Orion_ looked like this:
[Illustration]
"He's a faithful old fellow, isn't he?" said Betty, "to always follow
Mr. _Orion_ around like that?"
"I'm not always sure," said Uncle Henry, "whether the dog of _Orion_
would always be so faithful if it wasn't for the rabbit that is always
just ahead of him, almost under _Orion's_ feet."
"Oh, show us the rabbit!" cried Betty. Her father had promised her that
when they all went to live in a house in the country, she should have a
pair of them for her very own.
"All right, Betty," said Uncle Henry. "You can find _Lepus_, the rabbit,
yourself. The three rather faint stars just below _Orion's_ right foot
make the curve of his back. Join them together with a curved line and
extend it forward and downward until it passes through two brighter
stars. The lowest of these is in the fore-shoulder of the rabbit. Now
draw lines backward from both of these brighter stars, at about right
angles to the line that joins them, and you will find the rabbit's hind
hip and hind foot. He is lying down for a moment to rest. You see he's
been galloping away from _Canis Major_ for such a long time that he is
tired."
"Poor little rabbit!" cried Betty, and her little face looked so pitiful
in the light of the electric torch that Uncle Henry hastened to reassure
her by saying that the big dog had never yet caught the rabbit, and by
the very nature of things never could. Then she took heart to go on
putting in the stars.
"Now," said Uncle Henry, "you can find the star in the rabbit's eye by
drawing a line forward from the upper one of the brighter stars, and the
star in his fore-foot by drawing another forward and downward from his
fore-shoulder. That finishes his skeleton, all except his ears. They
are made by finding four faint stars just under _Orion's_ left foot, and
using two of them in each ear."
"Now can I draw his outline in, too?" asked Betty. "I want to make every
bit of him myself."
"Of course you can!" exclaimed Uncle Henry indulgently.
"You've got to let me make all of the horse, then, when we come to him!"
exclaimed Peter.
"In just a little while, Pete," said Uncle Henry, "we're making the
rabbit now."
"All right," agreed Peter.
Betty had looked longingly at rabbits in pet stores so often that she
really did very well at drawing the outline of the sky-rabbit.
We leave it to you to better it. You can't--unless you love rabbits more
than she did.
[Illustration]
Betty's brothers were quite astonished, and pleased the little girl
immensely by clapping their hands when the rabbit was finished.
"Now let me do the horse!" demanded Peter.
"What'll be left for me to do?" inquired Paul wistfully, "if you let
Pete do the horse?"
"That'll be all right, Paul," reassured Uncle Henry, "the sky horse is
very large, but we'll give you two smaller animals to do yourself to
make up for him--_Aries_, the ram, and _Canis Minor_, the smaller dog."
"Fine," agreed Paul. "I know all 'bout rams."
The children laughed gleefully. Paul had been butted over once by a ram
when they were on a summer visit to their grandfather's farm.
"Well, Pete," said Uncle Henry briskly, "you'll find _Pegasus_, the
horse, grazing clear on the other side of the star field. Somebody built
a box stall for him over there, but he's so big and strong that he
doesn't stay in it except when he feels like it. He's all the time
leaping the fence and escaping. When you find him, you'll see that he's
doing that very thing now. In fact, you'll catch him right in the act!"
"Oh, let's hurry then!" said Peter, "he might be out before we see him
do it!"
"Everybody find the big dipper," directed Uncle Henry. "You remember how
we found the pole star in the tip of the little bear's tail by drawing a
line up through the 'pointer stars' of the dipper's bowl, on the side
away from the handle? Well, do that again now, and follow the line
through the pole star, passing behind _Cassiopeia_ in her chair, and
continuing until your line passes through two fairly bright stars quite
a distance apart. (23) A line connecting these stars marks the top edge
of _Pegasus'_ box stall, which is called 'the square of _Pegasus_.'"
"_Cassiopeia_ is about halfway between the pole star and _Pegasus_. A
line drawn from the pole star through the back of _Cassiopeia's_ chair
will reach the two stars that form the lower corners of _Pegasus'_ box
stall." (24)
"Oh, I see the square now," said Peter.
"Me, too," said Paul.
"It's very big, isn't it?" said Betty.
"Yes," agreed Uncle Henry, "and _Pegasus_ is big, too. He is upside down
just now, with his head just above the western horizon. His nose points
northward toward _Delphinus_ and his neck curves up from the side of the
box stall that's away from the pole star. His fore feet curve up from
the side of the square that is toward the pole star, and both feet point
toward the swan."
"I see him now," cried Peter, and began putting in the chalk dots and
lines for the framework of the box stall and the skeleton of _Pegasus'_
head and forelegs, which are all of him that can be seen. As Uncle Henry
said, _Pegasus_ is just in the act of jumping out of his stall.
When Peter had finished drawing _Pegasus_, the horse of poets looked
like this. Uncle Henry put in the arrows pointing from the pole star,
and the skeletons of _Delphinus_ and the swan.
[Illustration]
"It seems to me," observed Paul sagely, "that _Pegasus'_ box stall is a
lot too small for him."
"That's why he is all the time jumping out and running away," explained
Uncle Henry. "I told you that we should catch him in the act. He's
always at it."
"Pete's had his turn; now I want to find the ram and the little dog,"
said Paul.
"If you'll wait just a little longer," said Uncle Henry, "I'd like to
show Betty the last of the sky ladies, because she's right close to
_Pegasus_."
Paul's face fell a little, but he said, "Ladies first, of course," as
any gentleman would.
"I said she was a lady," said Uncle Henry, "but I'm not so sure that she
is acting like one. In fact, she is in an attitude that few ladies would
like to be seen in, at least not in the plain view of everybody who
looks at the sky."
"What's she doing, Uncle Henry?" inquired Betty, in a tone that said, "I
guess it can't be anything so _very_ bad."
Betty was herself fond of climbing trees, in spite of motherly
disapproval of such tomboy activities.
"She's lying flat on her back, with her arms and legs sprawled out and
her head resting against the corner of _Pegasus'_ box stall. I should
think it might be very uncomfortable for her, unless she is lying on a
pile of hay, for _Andromeda_ has been there a very long time in the same
position. The ancient Greeks said that _Andromeda_ was chained to a
rock. Let's not have her that way; it would be so disagreeable."
"She's probably asleep and doesn't notice, but we'll give her the hay,"
said Betty. "There's nobody to tell her not to lie down where she likes.
How do we find her, Uncle Henry?"
"First look for her head," said Uncle Henry. "It is the same star we
found forming the lower corner of _Pegasus'_ square on the side toward
the pole star. _Andromeda's_ feet are just below the W-shaped
_Cassiopeia_. A line drawn from the swan's beak through his tail, and
extended across the sky, will reach the stars in the feet. (25) Another
line drawn diagonally across the square of _Pegasus_ to _Andromeda's_
head and extended will pass along her body, and farther on, her left
foot will be seen just above the line. You see her now, don't you,
Betty?"
"Yes," said Betty, "and I think I see her arms."
"All right, draw her in," Uncle Henry encouraged.
Betty did, but didn't think she could draw well enough to outline the
sleeping girl, so Uncle Henry did that. Then _Andromeda_ looked like
this:
[Illustration]
Betty added a few lines to show that _Andromeda_ was lying on a pile of
hay, instead of being chained to that hard rock the Greeks insisted
upon.
"What is that fuzzy little star just to her right, about at her hip?"
asked Paul.
"I'm glad you noticed that," said Uncle Henry. "The astronomers who
lived ever so long ago, long before the birth of Christ Jesus, noticed
that it looked 'fuzzy,' just as you have, and called it 'the little
cloud.' It is now called 'The Great Nebula in _Andromeda_.' If you
looked at it through a telescope you would see that it is not one star,
but a great many. Some of them, as astronomers who live now tell us, are
as large as our sun."
"Ooh, how wonderful!" said Betty softly, and the boys' faces showed that
they thought so, too.
"Some night," promised Uncle Henry, "we'll bring up a little telescope
and look at 'the little cloud' again. It is a fine sight."
"Now," said Paul after a moment, "please can I find the ram and the
little dog?"
"Certainly," said Uncle Henry. "Just as _Canis Major_, the bigger dog,
follows _Orion_ and belongs to him, so _Canis Minor_, the littler dog,
follows and belongs to the star children, the twins named _Gemini_."
"Ooh!" exclaimed Betty, "just like 'Rags' belongs to Peter and Paul!
We'll call the little dog 'Rags' when Paul finds him."
"Fine!" laughed Uncle Henry, "but I warn you that he won't come when you
call him as well as the real live 'Rags' answers to his name."
"Where do I start?" inquired Paul, anxious to have his chance to draw.
"At the feet of the twins," directed Uncle Henry. "Draw a line through
their feet and extend it away from the feet of _Pollux_, in the
direction away from _Taurus_, the bull. (26) At a point about as far
away from the foot of _Pollux_ as the height of the twins you will find
a bright star, and between it and the foot of _Pollux_ a fainter one.
Draw a line to connect them, and you have the little dog's backbone. You
can fill in the rest of him any way you like, for those are the only two
stars he has in him. I'll tell you one thing, though. The brighter star
is at the little dog's tail instead of his head. The opposite was the
case with _Orion's_ dog."
The children found the two stars very easily and Paul put down dots of
the right size to represent them. Then he drew the outline of the little
sky dog, making him an Airedale, as you can see, so that he might be the
same as his beloved flesh and blood name-sake "Rags."
[Illustration]
"Now that we've found the two dogs, that makes it easy to find _Cancer_
the Crab," said Uncle Henry. "Just draw a line from _Sirius_, in the
Big Dog, through the Little Dog, and extend it almost as far again. (27)
That's right. Now what do you see?"
The children searched the sky for some time, and Betty finally said,
"Sort of a sprawly bunch of six or eight rather faint stars."
"Make little chalk-dots for them, then, Betty, and we'll try our best to
make them look like a crab."
This shows how _Cancer_ the crab looked when he was finished on the
blackboard, and how he crawls in the sky away from _Canis Major_ and
_Gemini_, the twin boys. Perhaps he has learned by experience to leave
boys and dogs as far behind as possible.
[Illustration]
"Now let's find the ram!" said Paul. "I want to draw him."
"The ram," said Uncle Henry, "is very small, and is made of only three
stars. A line drawn from the top corner of _Pegasus'_ box stall, on the
side next the pole, going straight down the side, and extended below it
one and a half times the height of the stall, will point to the ram.
(28) You can also locate _Aries_, the Ram, by drawing a line from the
star in the swan's tail, across the stars in _Andromeda's_ hips, and
beyond them a little more than the distance from her head to her hips.
Don't mistake a little triangle of stars that you will see just below
_Andromeda's_ left leg for the three stars of _Aries_. _Aries_ is a
triangle, also, but it has _two_ fairly bright stars, while the triangle
has only _one_. Do you all see _Aries_, the Ram?"
The children had all found it after a few moments, as well as the
triangle under _Andromeda's_ feet. When Paul had made the chalk dots and
lines for _Aries'_ skeleton, Uncle Henry drew the outline around them
and the ram looked like this. You will see that in order to show _Aries_
right side up, the blackboard had to be turned so that _Andromeda_ was
upside down.
"While we are in the neighborhood of _Pegasus_ and _Andromeda_ and
_Aries_ the Ram we may as well find the two fishes. One of them, called
the _Northern Fish_, lies just about halfway between _Andromeda's_ body
and _Aries_--and the other, called the _Western Fish_, lies just back of
_Pegasus'_ box stall, quite close to the water jar of _Aquarius_. (29)
[Illustration]
"The two fishes are tied together by their tails. The cord or ribbon
runs eastward from the tail of the _Western Fish_, running about
parallel to the side of _Pegasus'_ stall, and then makes a sharp angle,
coming back toward _Andromeda_, where it is fastened to the _Northern
Fish's_ tail."
When _Pisces_, or "The Fishes" were found and drawn with chalk they were
in this relation to _Pegasus_, _Andromeda_, _Aries_, and _Aquarius'_
Jar.
[Illustration]
"While I think of it," said Uncle Henry, "I want to tell you that
sometimes you may find a very bright star in a constellation where it
doesn't seem to belong. If you watch it for a few nights you will see
that it moves. It isn't a star at all, but a _planet_ or "wanderer."
Sometime I'll show you how to know all the planets by sight and name.
You will never see them except in the zodiac constellations, so they
need not confuse you. And now I think all of us had better go downstairs
and get warm before we go to bed. Besides, we want to leave a little to
do to-morrow night, and there are only two constellations left now."
"Only two?" cried the children in disappointment.
"Only two that we can see well," assured Uncle Henry.
"Well," said Peter, "I guess we'd better have the Society adjourn. I
move we adjourn."
"Second the motion," said Paul, with true parliamentary solemnity.
"Carried," murmured Betty, who was beginning to get sleepy in spite of
herself.
THIRD WINTER EVENING
THE SKY CLOUDED OVER, BUT PETER FOUND THE STAR PEOPLE HIDING IN
THE ALMANAC--PAUL FOUND HIS HEAD WAS THE WORLD--AND THE
"SOCIETY" FOUND OUT ABOUT THE SWASTIKA AND THE ZODIAC, AND
HOW YOU TELL WHEN A DIPPER IS A PLOUGH AND WHEN IT'S A WAGON
Next evening Peter and Paul carried the blackboard to the roof after
supper, but soon returned in disappointment. The sky had all clouded
over! The evening's session of the "Society of Star-Gazers" was spoiled.
Its members stood in a circle about Uncle Henry and looked hopefully at
him. Never yet had he failed to make good in an emergency.
"Well, it can't be helped," said Uncle Henry cheerfully. "We'll just
have to bring Starland down here into our playroom for this evening.
Suppose you get me--let's see--about a dozen sheets of paper from a big
scratch pad, some of Betty's colored crayons--they had better be the
dark-colored ones--and a good-sized sheet of stiff cardboard or Bristol
board. Yes, and some pins and an Almanac. Betty'll get the colored
pencils, Paul the cardboard, and Peter the sheets of paper and the pins.
I'll borrow the Almanac from Katy. She has one in the kitchen."
The children scattered for the materials and Uncle Henry took the shade
off the electric lamp that stood on the playroom table.
When everybody was back in the playroom with the things needed the
Society gathered around Uncle Henry and asked,
"Where do we go from here, Uncle Hen?"
"Out into Starland," said Uncle Henry, spreading out his arms wide.
"This room is the universe. This lamp with the shade off is the sun.
Imagine that the pictures on the walls are groups of stars, the
constellations, the star-people we have been finding in the sky right
along. Imagine that there are pictures on the ceiling, too, and on the
floor. Lots of them, all over the six sides of this square room.
"Now Paul, you have a nice round head and have just had a hair-cut. Your
head can be the earth. Just walk around the table once or twice until we
get used to thinking about your head as the world. It seems rather small
at first. That's right. Now you're going around the sun the way the
earth does, from right to left, just opposite to the way the clock-hands
go. You go once around the sun every year.
"The earth of course spins on its axis, too, just like a top, while it
is circling round the sun. It turns round completely every twenty-four
hours, from West to East. Paul, see if you can spin like a top while you
are going round the lamp. Spin from right to left, just opposite to the
way the clock-hands go."
Paul did his best to spin and walk at the same time, and Uncle Henry
showed Peter and Betty that the side of Paul's head that was toward the
lamp was always bright, while the other side was always in shadow. As
Paul turned on his axis from right to left his face became lighted, then
the right side of his head, then its back, then the left side, and so
on, round and round.
Part of the time Paul was facing a picture on one wall and the next
minute his back was toward that picture and he was looking at another
picture on the opposite wall, across the lamp.
These two drawings show how Paul faced the two pictures one after the
other.
[Illustration: Night on Paul's Face]
[Illustration: Day on Paul's Face]
"Now tell me," commanded Uncle Henry, "which picture you see the
plainest--is it the one you see when your back is to the lamp--or is
it the one you see when you face the lamp, and look across it toward
the picture on the wall beyond?"
"The lamp is so bright without a shade that it blinds me when I try to
see the picture beyond it," said Paul.
"Oh, I see! I see!" said Betty, beginning to hop up and down. "Can I
tell, Uncle Henry?"
"Surely," laughed Uncle Henry, "what do you see?"
"When Paul faces the picture with his back to the lamp," said Betty,
"it's night on his face, and day on the back of his head! Is that
right?"
"Yes, go on," encouraged Uncle Henry.
"And so he can see that picture better, 'cause the lamplight isn't in
his eyes. But when he faces the lamp and looks across it, then it's day
in his face, and night on the back of his head, and he can't see the
picture beyond the lamp very well, 'cause the sun-lamp shines in his
eyes."
"So that's why we can only see the stars at night!" said Peter.
"Yes, that's why the moon and the stars come out only when it gets
dark," said Uncle Henry. "You see the earth turns round and carries us
to its dark side, the side that is away from the sun. We say 'The sun
has set.' Then when the sun glare is gone from our eyes we can see the
sky-pictures, just as Paul sees one picture better with his back to the
lamp than he does the other when he has to look through the lamp-light
toward it."
"And the stars are in the sky all day long, whether we see them or not?"
asked Paul.
"Certainly," said Uncle Henry. "If you could look up at the sky from the
bottom of a very deep well, or a tall chimney, so that the sun-light was
kept out of your eyes, you could see the stars shining in the daytime.
There is a long deep tunnel in the great pyramid of Egypt that goes up
and out from the centre of its base toward its north side at just the
right angle so that the ancient Egyptians could always see the pole star
through it--no matter whether it was night or daytime. You see the pole
star never rises or sets, because it is always right over the end of the
axis that the earth spins on."
This picture shows how the tunnel in the great pyramid always pointed to
the north star because the tunnel is always parallel to the axis the
earth spins on.
[Illustration]
When the pyramid was built, the star in the tip of the little bear's
tail was not the pole star, as it is now. At that time the star that was
nearest the pole was one of those in the dragon. Since the pole of the
earth goes round in a complete circle among the stars every 25,000
years, the star in _Draco_ will some time be the pole-star again--in,
say 20,000 more years!
Peter had picked up the Almanac that Uncle Henry had borrowed from Katy
and suddenly cried,
"Oh, Uncle Henry, the Almanac has a lot of the Star People in it. It
calls them 'The Signs of the Zodiac.' What's the Zodiac, Uncle Hen?"
"We are going to find out right away, Pete," said Uncle Henry, "but
first we must draw pictures of the twelve star folks that are the Zodiac
signs. That means three drawings apiece. Pull up your chairs to the
table and we'll draw on the sheets of scratch paper with Betty's colored
pencils. Paul, you do the _Virgo_, _Leo_, and _Cancer_ the Crab; Peter
will draw _Gemini_ the Twins, _Taurus_ the Bull, and _Aries_ the Ram;
Betty will do the Fishes, called _Pisces_ in Latin, _Aquarius_ the Water
Carrier, and _Capricornus_ the Goat; while I will draw _Sagittarius_ the
Archer, _Scorpio_, and _Libra_ the Balance. All old friends of ours."
"We'll put the Almanac here in the middle of the table where we can all
see it while we copy the 'signs,' one on each sheet of paper."
Everybody was very busy indeed for about half an hour. At the end of
that time the twelve rough drawings were done and pinned up at equal
distances apart around the walls of the playroom, three on each of the
four walls. They were arranged around the room in the same order in
which Uncle Henry had assigned them. The room then looked like this,
though of course you see only three walls in a picture. You must imagine
how the fourth wall looked.
[Illustration]
"Now Paul, suppose you walk around the table again, spinning on your own
axis as you go, and we'll try to find out what the Zodiac is. You notice
that the pictures are all pinned on the walls at the same height from
the floor, which is just the height of the electric lamp bulb, and just
the height of Paul's head too, no matter where he is in his walk around
the lamp. The twelve constellations, or signs of the Zodiac are in the
real sky also on the same level with the earth and the sun, no matter
where the earth is in its journey round the sun. Astronomers say it this
way: they say that the earth revolves around the sun 'in the plane of
the ecliptic.' That simply means that if the sun was in the centre of an
enormous horizontal pane of glass, the earth and all the signs of the
Zodiac would also always be touching the pane of glass, which would then
represent the 'plane of the ecliptic.' Put an l in 'pane' and you have
'plane.'"
"Is each sign for a month?" asked Peter. "I see there are twelve of
them."
"That's correct," said Uncle Henry, "and you want to notice that as Paul
walks round the lamp and looks across it at the signs on the wall beyond
it, the lamp seems to Paul to move from one picture to the next."
This picture is drawn as if the ceiling of the room was taken off and
you could look down on Paul walking around the lamp.
[Illustration]
When it is January first, Paul, representing the earth, is in the
position marked A, nearest to the picture of _Gemini_ behind him,
while the lamp, representing the sun, appears to him to be entering
the sign of the Zodiac called _Sagittarius_, directly opposite across
the room. Later, on April first, after three months, Paul, or the
earth, has traveled a quarter of the way around the sun, has passed
the pictures of _Cancer_ and _Leo_ on the wall behind him, and stands
nearest _Virgo_ in the position marked B. The lamp has also seemed
to move through a quarter circle, has passed through the signs of
_Capricornus_ and _Aquarius_, and appears to Paul to be just entering
the sign of _Pisces_, or the Fishes. In the same way the earth moves
through a sign of the Zodiac every month and the sun, while really
motionless, _appears_ to also travel through a sign every month. Of
course we cannot see the sign or constellation, where the sun appears
to be, at the same time we see the sun, for his brightness makes the
stars invisible, but if we _could_ see the constellations by day, the
sun would appear to travel from one sign of the Zodiac to the next
every month.
[Illustration]
Here is a clock of the year which shows the earth at one end of the
hand, the sun in the middle, and at the other end of the hand an arrow,
which points to the sign of the Zodiac where the sun appears to be, and
to the date when it seems to be there to an observer on the earth. Draw
the hand with the earth-end in several different positions and you will
see that the sun, if viewed from the earth, would appear to be in the
sign of the Zodiac exactly opposite.
When the children all understood the way the Zodiac divides the yearly
path of the earth into twelve equal parts, Betty said, "I want to know
why the geography globe at school always looks just as if it was going
to tip over."
Uncle Henry laughed. "If you think the geography globe looks unsteady
because its axis of iron rod is on a slant, what will you think about
the earth when I tell you that it spins around in just the same slanting
position, with only an _imaginary_ line for axis?"
"Does it really?" asked Betty.
"Yes," said Uncle Henry, "and it spins so steadily in that slanting
position that the north end of its imaginary axis always points toward
the same place, a point very close to the north star, or _Polaris_ as it
is called."
"_Polaris_ is named for the North Pole, I suppose," said Peter.
"That's right," Uncle Henry replied. "Let's get some scissors and we'll
use our big sheet of cardboard to make a cap for Paul's head that will
show you just how the slant of the earth's axis makes it hotter in
summer and colder in winter."
"Ooh!" exclaimed Paul, "I always thought it was hot in summer because
the earth got nearer to the sun then."
"Lots of people think that, too," said Uncle Henry, "but it isn't so.
The earth is really farther from the sun in summer."
Betty ran for the scissors, and Uncle Henry cut out a big circle from
the stiff cardboard. Then he cut out an opening in the centre of it
that fitted Paul's head just as a stiff straw hat would that was a
size too big for him. The circle of cardboard dropped down until it
rested on Paul's ears and on the bridge of his nose. This cardboard
brim represented the "plane of the earth's equator," just as the pane
of glass represented the "plane of the ecliptic." Since the "plane of
the equator" is always at right angles to the slanting axis of the
earth, the "plane of the equator" is always at a slant to the "plane
of the ecliptic."
If you will run a long hat-pin through an orange, and sink the orange
exactly to its middle in a glass bowl filled with water, holding the
hat-pin at a slant, you will see that the equator of the orange is at
a slant with the surface of the water. Half of the orange's equator
curves up above the water, while half of it curves down under the
water's surface. If you fasten a cardboard ring around the orange at the
equator the cardboard will then be at an angle with the surface of the
water, which represents the "plane of the ecliptic."
Uncle Henry cut two long strips from what was left of the cardboard and
crossed the strips over the top of Paul's head, fastening the four ends
of them to the round cardboard brim close to his head.
[Illustration]
After this Uncle Henry rolled a sheet of the scratch paper round a
pencil, put rubber bands tightly around it, cut the end to bend up and
make a foot and pinned the foot to the cardboard strips at the place
where they crossed. When Paul had it all on he looked very funny with
the pencil sticking straight up from the top of his head, and his eyes
just peeping over the cardboard brim on each side of the strip down the
middle of his nose.
"Now come on, Mr. Earth," said Uncle Henry, "It's time for you to spin
round the lamp-sun for another year or two."
So Paul held his head on a slant and kept it so that the pencil always
pointed in the same direction as he went round the lamp. These four
little pictures show how he looked at the four sides of the sun where
the earth is in Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn.
[Illustration]
"Now," said Uncle Henry, "you see that if we make a black dot on one of
the cardboard strips about halfway between the cardboard brim, or the
earth's equator, and the pencil, or the North Pole, it will be about as
far north as we are in the United States. And when Paul is in his Summer
position, with the pencil slanting _toward_ the 'sun,' you see that the
sun's rays beat down much straighter on the black dot than they do when
he is on the other side of the lamp, with the pole slanting _away_ from
the 'sun.' That is why the Winter sun appears to be lower in the sky at
noon than the Summer sun, and also why the Summer sun shines hotter on
the earth than it does in Winter. Notice, too, that the rays from the
lamp light up Paul's head for quite a little way beyond the foot of the
'pole' when it slants _toward_ the 'sun,' while when it slants _away_
from the 'sun' the rays fail to reach the 'pole' at all. This means that
in summer the sun shines a longer time upon the part of the earth that
slants toward it. If you could look down from the ceiling at Paul's head
in his Summer position and in his Winter one you would see why."
Uncle Henry quickly drew these two pictures of the top of a globe to
show the children why the days are long in Summer and short in Winter at
any point in the United States.
[Illustration: _The Winter Day_ lasts while the black dot on the
earth travels from A to B--less than half-way round.
_The Summer Day_ lasts while the black dot on the earth travels from
C to D--more than half-way round.]
"It's just like the hot water bottle mother kept in my bed that time I
had a chill after swimming," said Paul. "The hotter it was before she
put it in the bed the slower it cooled off."
"That's the idea," said Uncle Henry, "the longer the sun shines on any
place on the earth the hotter it gets, and when the nights are as short
as they are in Summer the place hasn't long to cool off before it is
round in the sun's hot rays again. Now do you see why Summer is hotter
than Winter?"
The children did.
"There's one thing I don't understand, though," said Peter. "Why are
there different stars in the sky in Winter than there are in Summer?"
"That's easy to answer," said Uncle Henry. "Look at Paul again--first
when it's 'night' on his face on the 'Summer' side of the lamp, and then
when it is 'night' on his face on the 'Winter' side of the lamp.
"At 'night' in Summer Paul looks at the pictures on one end of the room.
The cardboard brim, or 'plane of the equator,' is slanted _up_, above
the 'plane of the ecliptic.'"
This picture shows how Paul looked.
[Illustration]
"But in Winter, at 'night,' Paul looks at quite different pictures, at
the other end of the room. The cardboard brim is slanted _down_, below
the level of the 'plane of the ecliptic.' This is why the path of the
Winter Signs crosses the sky higher up than the path of the Summer
Signs. In both Winter and Summer you must imagine the cardboard brim to
be as transparent as glass, for the 'plane of the equator' is in reality
only imaginary."
This next picture shows how Paul looked at the constellations at "night"
in Winter.
[Illustration]
"Of course the north star and the stars for a considerable distance
round the pole never set, and can be seen all night at any time of the
year. It is only the ones that rise and set that go and come from our
sight with the seasons. In reality they never leave us, for if it wasn't
for the sunlight getting in our eyes by day, we could see the Summer
night star-pictures in the Winter daytime, and the Winter night star
people in the Summer daytime. We are just looking at opposite ends of
our big room in the universe on Winter nights and Summer nights, that's
all," said Uncle Henry.
Uncle Henry took some folded papers from his pocket and spread them out
on the table.
"Here are four maps of the sky," he said, "which show the way it looks
at different seasons at 9 o'clock in the evening--on January 1st, April
1st, July 1st, and October 1st. You will see that the groups of stars
around the pole are always in view, while the rest of the star people
change with the seasons, but even the groups around the pole change
their positions with the seasons.
"You have all seen the _Swastika_. It has been known and used as an
ornament for hundreds of years, all over the world--by the American
Indians, the Chinese, the East Indians, and many others. I'll show you
where I think all these widely separated people got the _Swastika_, and
how it stands for the four seasons."
Uncle Henry drew four little pictures showing the four positions in
which the big dipper stands in the four different seasons, with its
"pointer stars" always indicating the pole star.
[Illustration: At the right of the pole star in Winter.]
[Illustration: Above the pole star in Spring.]
[Illustration: At the left of the pole star in Summer.]
[Illustration: Below the pole star in Autumn.]
Then he drew all four positions on one sheet of paper, like this:
[Illustration]
And when heavy lines were drawn along the handles of the dippers and
across the pole star from bowl to bowl the _Swastika_ suddenly appeared
like this:
[Illustration]
The Society of Star-Gazers was very enthusiastic about the origin of the
_Swastika_, and found the dipper in its different positions on all of
the four maps that Uncle Henry had put on the table.
You can see the position of the dipper and all the other stars at
January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and December 1st, at 9 o'clock in the
evening, by looking at the four maps inside the covers of this book.
After the children had looked at all the four maps as long as they
wanted to, Uncle Henry suddenly remembered to look at his watch and
exclaimed,
"My goodness! I guess it's about time the Society adjourned for
to-night. Ten o'clock! I'll get scolded for keeping you up so late."
"I want to ask just one thing more," pleaded Betty.
"All right, what is it?" said Uncle Henry.
"Who found all the sky people?"
"Well," said Uncle Henry, "now that's a long story. They were all found
and named so long ago that nobody knows who did it. The inventors of
the star people naturally thought they saw pictures in the sky of the
things they were familar with in everyday life--the bear, the bull, the
serpent, the archer, and so on. If they had had any steam engines then
somebody would have drawn lines from star to star until they had a
picture of one in the sky. In England the Great Bear or Dipper is
usually called the 'Plough' and you can see why
[Illustration]
"It is also called 'Charles' Wain' or wagon.
[Illustration]
"We only know that the constellations are very, very old, and that an
ancient people living in the valley of the Euphrates river probably
named most of them. The Babylonian Tablets, the oldest records known,
show that the Zodiac constellations were known over 3000 years before
the birth of Christ, which is now nearly 5000 years ago."
"Can't we have just one more poem before we go to bed?" said Paul.
"Yes," said Uncle Henry, "but not one of mine. I'll give you a little
bit of a long poem that was written by a man named _Aratos_ about 280
years before the wise men followed the star that told them where to find
the new-born Christ. It has been running through my mind all the
evening. This is it:
"And all the signs through which Night whirls her car,
From belted _Orion_ back to _Orion_ and his dauntless Hound,
And all _Poseidon's_, all high _Zeus's_ stars,
Bear on their beams true messages to man."
FOURTH WINTER EVENING
IN WHICH THE "SOCIETY" MEETS THE LAST OF THE STAR PEOPLE AND
THE BEGINNING OF ASTRONOMY--AND BETTY PROPOSES A "NOTE" OF
THANKS
The Society of Star-Gazers assembled upon the roof the next night with
an eagerness that was tempered a little by regret that it _was_ the
last.
Uncle Henry saw this, and before starting to find the evening's
constellations with the children, told them a few of the many wonderful
things to be seen among the stars with the aid of a small telescope.
He reminded them of the "little cloud" in _Andromeda_, called the Great
Nebula, and said that there were not only many more of these wonderful
clouds of star dust, but numbers of beautiful double stars, some of them
lovely with tints of red, green or orange, and some that can be seen
with an ordinary opera-glass.
Then he told them of the curious variable, or "winking" stars, which
turn bright and faint alternately on a regular schedule, so many hours
bright, and so many hours faint. Also he described the beauty of the
planet _Jupiter_, surrounded by its four little moons, all of which
could be seen with a small telescope.
Then the children began to feel more cheerful, for they saw that being
introduced to the creatures and people of Skyland was only the beginning
of the study of astronomy.
"So," finished Uncle Henry, "we don't need to feel that there is no more
fun coming, for there are lots more faint constellations which are all
beautiful, even though not plain enough for us to find easily in the
beginning. Besides, if you ever journey to the South, beyond the earth's
equator, you will find a whole new sky full of marvelous people, and
creatures, and objects--all pictured in the flashing southern heavens."
"Well," said Peter briskly, "what do we find to-night, Uncle Hen?"
"We'll begin," replied Uncle Henry, "with a person you may have heard
of--_Perseus_, who killed the terrible Gorgon _Medusa_."
"Oh, I know him," cried Paul, "we read all 'bout him last year."
"Quite right," said Uncle Henry, "then you remember that when he had
killed _Medusa_, and cut off her head with his sword, he had to hold the
head with the terrible face away from him, because everybody who looked
at that face was instantly turned to stone."
"Yes, yes, we know!" chorused the Society.
"Well, now we'll find _Perseus_, his sword, and the head of _Medusa_,"
promised Uncle Henry. "All you have to do is to extend the line of
_Andromeda's_ left leg and prolong it from her foot, straight out
for about her whole length. (30) There you will find _Algenib_, the
brightest star in _Perseus_. It is right in his neck, between his
shoulders. From _Algenib_ you can trace a row of stars downward,
almost to the _Pleiades_ in the bull's shoulder. This row of stars is
_Perseus'_ body and legs. Then find two stars above _Algenib_, one over
the other, and you have his head and helmet.
"After that it is easy to start at _Algenib_ and trace out his right
arm, with the sword. A line drawn toward _Perseus_ through the stars in
_Andromeda's_ head and left hip points out the star _Algol_, which is
the head of _Medusa_, held in _Perseus'_ left hand. (31) _Algol_ is a
famous variable star, which the ancients named 'the dragon of the slowly
winking eye.'"
The children soon found all of _Perseus_, and all took part in drawing
his skeleton on the blackboard. Then they watched _Algol_ in the sky,
and expected to see it wink, until Uncle Henry told them that the wink
is so slow that it takes seven hours for _Algol_ to become faint and
bright again, and that then two and three-quarter days pass before
_Algol_ winks again. This being the case the Society decided not to
wait, and finished _Perseus_ up so that he looked this way:
[Illustration]
Uncle Henry added the lines with arrows to show how _Algenib_ and
_Algol_ are found, with the help of _Andromeda_.
After _Perseus_ was finished, Betty kept gazing at the sky. She seemed
fascinated, and finally asked,
"Uncle Henry, there's a perfectly lovely star just a little way in front
of _Perseus_, and three little ones near it. If I could name stars I
would call them 'the hen and chickens,' wouldn't you?"
All the children looked, and easily found the beautiful star. They
couldn't have missed it, and neither can you, for it is one of the most
brilliant in the sky and there are no others like it nearby.
"Yes," said Uncle Henry, "the big star and the three little ones do look
like a hen and her chickens. I would call them that, too, Betty, but
hundreds of years ago somebody named the bright star _Capella_, which
means 'the goat,' and called the three little stars 'the kids,' so you
see that they are named already."
"A kid is the baby of a goat, isn't it, Uncle Hen?" inquired Peter.
"Yes, that's the idea," said Uncle Henry, and went on, "Betty happens
to have picked out the brightest star in the last constellation we are
going to find. It is called _Auriga_, or the Charioteer. He hasn't his
chariot with him."
"How do we find _Auriga_?" inquired Paul.
"He is very plain, almost as plain as _Orion_ himself," said Uncle
Henry. "_Capella_ is at one corner of a five-sided figure, called a
'pentagon.' (32) It is also in the left shoulder of _Auriga_. Find the
tip of the left horn of _Taurus_, the Bull, and you will have another
corner of the pentagon, and at the same time the right foot of _Auriga_.
When you have those points it is easy to find the other three corners,
which are the right shoulder, left foot, and the right hand of _Auriga_.
He holds his whip in that hand. Even though he had to leave his chariot
when he went into the sky, he insisted on taking his whip along. It
comes in very handy, too, sometimes, when the two lions up there become
fretful and uneasy. When you have found _Auriga's_ shoulder stars, just
draw two lines upward to a star above and between them and you finish
the charioteer's skeleton. The star at the point where the lines cross
is in his head. See him, everybody?"
The children had no trouble in putting in the stars and drawing the
skeleton. Neither will you, for _Auriga_ is very conspicuous, and almost
straight overhead in the evening about Christmas time.
This is the way _Auriga_ looked on the blackboard:
[Illustration]
When the children had finished looking at _Auriga_, and _Capella_ the
Goat and her three babies, Betty drew herself up very straight and said,
trying to look very dignified,
"Mr. Chairman, I move that The Society of Star-Gazers give Uncle Henry a
note of thanks for giving us such an instructive, and--and--oh, we've
liked your Christmas present an awful lot, Uncle Henry!"
Peter was going to say that it was a _vote_ of thanks that people got
from societies, but Betty was so earnest and dignified that he didn't
really want to take her down just then, so he joined Paul in seconding
the motion and was appointed by Betty as a committee of one to write the
"note" and deliver it to Uncle Henry later.
Uncle Henry looked quite serious, for him, and said that he had made up
a little poem that they might like to hear while standing under the
Christmas stars.
The Society voted unanimously in the affirmative, so Uncle Henry
recited,
"There was once a star of old,
Wonders to three wise men told.
Where it led, there followed they--
Stars had taught them how to pray,
How to know the Truth from lies--
God had taught them through His skies.
Where the star led, followed they,
Found the Christ-child, laid in hay--
To His mother, in the stable,
Brought Him gifts that they were able.
Stars lead us to Christmas Truth--
Let us look, with eyes of youth!"
Then, in a moment more, Uncle Henry and the children were gone, and the
sleepless, faithful stars were alone, brooding lovingly over their tiny
baby brother, which we call the great world.
The author desires to express his indebtedness to the following books,
which have given him many hours of enlightening pleasure while riding
the star-gazing hobby:
A Field Book of the Stars Olcott
Star Lore of all Ages Olcott
The Heavens and Their Story Mrs. Maunder
Astronomy Jacoby
Astronomy from a Dipper Clarke
New Astronomy Todd
Astronomy Lockyer
He also wishes to add his appreciation of the monthly pleasure given by
"The Evening Sky Map," published by Leon Barritt.
Printed in the United States of America
Transcriber's note:
The original text has been preserved, but for the following exceptions:
a few missing or extraneous quotation marks have been corrected, and
on page 78 "be" was changed to "he" (had he failed to make good).
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Star People" ***
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