Part 4

He darted straight into our midst, He whirled among us like a flash, The stars went flying, and the sun, And laughing, breathless, wild with fun, The "system" went to smash.

--Youth's Companion.

THE GIANT PLANETS.

THE PLANET SATURN.

Harry had spent a most delightful evening looking through Uncle Robert's telescope at the little moons of Jupiter, and he also had seen the planet Saturn, with its rings and moons. Next evening when his sister came to talk with him he had many questions to ask her. First of all he wanted to know what the rings were made of.

"Millions of little moons," replied his sister. "I wish you could see Saturn and its rings through the great telescope at the Lick Observatory. It makes such a pretty picture. Like Jupiter, the planet Saturn is surrounded by clouds; but they are tinted with blue at the poles, yellow elsewhere, and dotted here and there with brown; purple, and red spots. Around the center is a creamy white belt. Then, there are eight moons that accompany Saturn in its journey around the sun; but they give very little light to the planet, since if they could all be full together they would give but a sixteenth part of the light we receive from the moon."

"Why is that?" asked Harry.

THE PLANET URANUS.

"Because Saturn is so far away from the Sun," replied Mary. "Next to Saturn we find Uranus. This planet was first seen by William Herschel, who afterwards became one of the greatest astronomers the world has ever known. When Herschel was a little boy his home was in Hanover. He had great talent for music, and when he was fourteen years old he joined the band of the Hanoverian Guards. What a proud boy he was when he dressed in his new uniform! However, pride must have a fall, and it was not very long before he wished he had never entered the army. Just about this time war broke out between France and England, and as Hanover belonged to the English it was attacked by the French. The Hanoverian Guards were badly defeated. Herschel spent the night after the battle hiding away in a ditch, and next day, assisted by his friends, he ran away to England. There he continued his musical studies, and some years later he became a fine organist."

"Did he have to play a big organ like the one in our church?" asked Harry.

"Something like that, I suppose," said Mary; "and he played very well indeed. He learned more and more about music, and in the evenings when going and coming from the church he used to notice the beautiful stars overhead, and he wished to learn something about them."

"Just the way I feel," said Harry. "I get nurse to pull up the window curtain at night so that I can see the stars from my bed, and they seem to laugh and wink their little eyes at me as if they knew I was watching them. Did Herschel have a telescope like the one Uncle Robert has?"

"He was not so fortunate, but he wanted one very much indeed. So he borrowed a telescope from a friend, and every night after practicing in the church he would amuse himself looking at the stars. He longed to have a telescope of his own; but he found that they cost more than he could afford to pay, so he decided to make one. He bought all that was necessary, and turned his home for the time into a workshop. He had a dear, good-natured sister named Caroline, and she did all she could to help her brother. Sometimes he was too busy to eat and she used to feed him. When he was tired she would read to him from the 'Arabian Nights.'"

"The same book I have?" asked Harry, in surprise.

"The very same; and this helped to pass away the time while Herschel polished away on the great mirror of his telescope. When the telescope was finished people came from far and near to see it. One evening when Herschel was gazing at the stars with this magic glass he spied a star not marked down on his charts. 'Something wrong here,' thought Herschel; 'this must be a comet.' But after noticing it for a while he found that it was not a comet, but a planet or wanderer among the stars."

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PLANET AND A STAR.

"How could he tell the difference?" asked Harry. "When I looked at Planet Jupiter last night it looked like the stars, only rounder and bigger."

"The planets are so much nearer to us than the stars that we can follow them as they slowly creep between us and the stars in their journey around the sun. The stars are so far away that we would have to watch them for thousands of years before they would seem to move at all, yet we know they are moving."

"Are the stars moving?" said Harry, in surprise.

"Yes, they are moving, just as distant steamers seen at sea are moving; but they are so far away that they seem motionless. Don't you remember how we used to watch them from the seashore. Still they were going as fast as steam could take them. We might compare the steamers to the stars, and the little boats nearer shore were more like the planets. We could easily follow the boats with our eyes as they danced over the waves, and in the same way we can easily follow the planets as they creep across the sky, because they are so much nearer to us than the stars."

"The new planet was called Uranus, although at first the friends of Herschel wanted to name it after him. Next to Uranus comes the planet Neptune, which was discovered before it was ever seen."

THE DISCOVERY OF PLANET NEPTUNE.

"How could that happen?" asked Harry.

"Because Uranus behaved so strangely," replied his sister. "The planets attract each other; for instance, the earth is swayed to and fro by Jupiter and Venus, and a great struggle is always going on among the planets in the family of Giant Sun. It could be plainly seen that Saturn was taking part in the struggle and dragging Uranus toward it, but something beyond the newly discovered planet was pulling it the other way. 'There must be another planet,' said the astronomers, and they were right. After puzzling over the problem two astronomers found the truant, and announced exactly when and where it was to be seen. And there it was, nearly exactly where these learned men said it would be. The new planet was christened Neptune, and it takes about one hundred and sixty-four years to go around the sun. It is so far away from the sun that it only receives one nine-hundredth of the amount of light and heat we receive on planet earth."

"Then it must be very cold on planet Neptune?" said Harry.

"And very dark also," said Mary, "since from this planet the sun only looks as large as an electric light seen at a distance of a few feet."

"IS IT TRUE?"

BY MORGAN GROWTH.

She stood where the winter sunlight Seemed opening into the skies-- (She was only a little girl, you see, And her teacher was old and wise).

"You never can be promoted," That wise, wise teacher said, "For the lesson you need the most of all You leave unlearned, little maid."

"I didn't like to say it"-- Her answer was grave, and slow-- "That the earth goes whirling 'round like a ball, For I don't see how they know.

"I'll write it down on my paper, (The one that I hand to you) But when I die I shall find the Lord, And ask Him if it's true."

The classes were called without her, And the schooldays come and go, And other children wonder and wait-- It is hers alone to know.

Sometimes, in the empty schoolroom, The teacher is left alone With the echoes that linger about the place And call from stone to stone.

And, lo, with this world's learning Before his wondering view, He goes to his Lord--his all-wise Lord, And asks Him if it's true.

--From Child-Study Monthly.

COMETS AND METEORS.

A few evenings later Mary had a wonderful story to tell her brother about some visitors from space who often visit the kingdom of Giant Sun. "They are called comets, or hairy stars, but I rather enjoy calling them 'celestial tramps.'"

"What are they like?" asked Harry.

STORY OF COMETS.

"They usually have a bright golden head, sometimes as large as the earth, and as they approach the sun they adorn themselves with a glittering train millions of miles in length. Some of the comets are regular visitors, and we know just when to expect them; others come, and do not return for hundreds of years, while a few visit the sun never to return again."

"Where do they come from?" asked Harry.

"We scarcely know," replied Mary, "except that it is from outer space, just like tramps on earth. We do not know where tramps come from, nor do we expect to see them again. If they do revisit us, however, we can usually recognize them. Do you remember the old man who came to the kitchen door the other day and begged for food? You felt so sorry for him. You would know him if you saw him again on account of his long white beard, white hair, and shabby clothes.

"When a celestial tramp returns, however, it is not so easy to recognize it. When it first greeted us it may have had a large head and a gorgeous train millions of miles in length. Next time we see it, how it has changed! Its head may be small, its train may have vanished, or it may be the proud owner of three or four trains. A comet usually changes its appearance at every visit. Just as if the old man we saw the other day were to cut off his beard, dye his hair black, and wear Uncle Robert's dress-suit. We should not know him, should we, Harry?"

"I should think not," said Harry, laughing at the very idea. "Then how can you tell when the same comet visits us again?"

"Because it has a regular path marked out for it in the sky," replied Mary, "and it travels along that path unless something happens to it on the way. It may go too near giant planet Jupiter. Just like our tramp again. Let us suppose he has a regular path marked out and it takes him across Uncle Robert's farm and leads to our kitchen door. We may expect to see Mr. Tramp to-morrow, but as he crosses the farm a dog bites him and frightens him away. Perhaps then we may not see him again."

"Poor old man," laughed Harry. "I hope that won't happen to him. Do the 'celestial tramps' travel very quickly through the sky?"

"Not very quickly until they come close to the sun. Then they rush around it ever so much faster than an express train; but as they recede from the sun they go more slowly until they seem only to creep along, as if worn out by their long journey. They also lose their trains after they go away from the sun, and the train becomes shorter and shorter, till the comet looks like a round, fluffy ball, just as it did before it came too near the sun. It is the sun's heat that drives the particles from the head of the comet and forms a train."

"What are comets made of?" asked Harry.

"Of millions of tiny little particles covered with coats of glowing gas. These particles are made up of carbon, sodium, iron, and magnesium. You will find plenty of sodium in the sea, while common table salt is partly sodium. You know what magnesium is. Some of that medicine doctor gives you is made of it."

"So if I get some iron and salt and coal and some of my medicine, and put them all together, I should have a bit of a comet," said Harry.

"But you must remember the coal, iron, sodium, and magnesium must be very much heated, and don't forget the coat of gas. Sometimes a comet breaks into pieces, and the fragments travel along by themselves as meteors."

"Sometimes the earth plunges through swarms of meteors, which journey in regular paths around the sun. At such a time, the bright masses seem to fall in showers from the sky. There are three great showers which we always know when to expect. Some come in August, some on the 13th or 14th of November, and there is another shower which always appears within a day or two of the 27th of November.

"'If you November's stars would see, From twelfth to fourteenth watching be, In August too stars shine from heaven, On nights between nine and eleven.'"

STORY OF METEORS.

"What are meteors?" asked Harry.

"Meteors are great masses of stone or iron which sometimes weigh several tons. Lieutenant Peary found one not long ago in the Arctic regions, and it weighed about eighty tons. It is lucky for us that many meteors do not fall on the earth, or we should have to walk about with iron umbrellas over our heads as a protection. When they do fall on earth, they are much prized and placed in our museums as curiosities.

"A story is told about a meteor that fell on a farm some time ago. The landlord said it belonged to him, for when he rented the farm to the tenant he claimed all minerals and metals found in the ground.

"'But it was not on the farm when the lease was made out,' said the tenant.

"'Then I claim it as flying game,' replied the landlord angrily.

"'But it has neither wings nor feathers, so I lay claim to it as ground game,' said the tenant in reply.

"While the dispute was going on the custom-house officers seized the meteorite, because, as they said, it had come into the country without paying duty."

"That is not a true story, is it?" asked Harry, laughing.

"Scarcely," replied Mary; "but it was a good joke on the landlord. And now we come to the very smallest members of the family of Giant Sun. I mean the shooting stars."

"Those bright little flying stars we can see at night?" asked Harry.

STORY OF A SHOOTING STAR.

"Yes," replied Mary; "and if they could only talk, what a wonderful story they would have to tell! A shooting star is very much smaller than a meteor, and the largest does not weigh more than a quarter of an ounce. You could easily hold one in your hand, for it is like a small stone, only, unlike a stone, it is always on the move. It hurries along through space ever so much faster than an express train, and all goes well as long as it keeps above the blanket of air that surrounds the earth. If it comes too near, however, it is sure to be destroyed. It dashes into the air at the rate of twenty-five miles a second, rubbing against every particle it meets on its way. This makes it intensely hot, until it glows with brilliant light. We see it for a few moments as it flashes out against the dark sky; but the light soon fades and all that remains of the shooting star is its ashes. Sometimes they sift down upon the earth and settle on the tops of high mountains, or sink into the ocean, or float in through an open window and rest upon tables and books as fine dust. But when our good housekeeper finds it there she carefully removes it with her duster. She does not know nor does she care where it came from; it certainly has no right there, and she treats it with small ceremony."

"I wonder what she would say if she knew that the dust had come from the sky," said Harry.

"I do not think it would make any difference," said Mary, laughing. "And now I am going to tell you a little story about a shooting star, and then I must say good-night.

"It is said that the evil genii--you remember reading about them in the Arabian Nights, don't you, Harry?"

"Indeed I do," he replied.

"Well, at night they are said to fly up to the gates of heaven and listen to the conversation of the angels. When the angels see their hidden foes, they hurl fiery shooting stars at them and with so good an aim that for every shooting star we may be sure there is one spirit of evil less in the world."

STARLIGHT AT SEA.

Overhead the countless stars Like eyes of love were beaming, Underneath the weary Earth All breathless lay a-dreaming.

The twilight hours like birds flew by, As lightly and as free; Ten thousand stars were in the sky, Ten thousand in the sea.

For every wave with dimpled face That leaped upon the air Had caught a star in its embrace And held it trembling there.

--Amelia B. Welby.

STORIES OF THE SUMMER STARS.

It was a glorious night in June, and the stars sparkled like gems against the dark background of the sky.

Harry was enjoying the scene, as the doctor had allowed him to spend the warm summer evenings out on the lawn in front of the house. This was a royal treat to him. He could see all the sky at once, he said to his sister, and could look at the stars while she told him stories about them. First of all, there was the Great Dipper in the North, and the Little Dipper with the Pole Star. He was surprised when his sister said that the Great Dipper formed part of the group of stars known as the Great Bear, and he listened intently while she related the story as told in olden times by the Grecians.

LEGENDS OF THE GREAT BEAR.

"The Great Bear was said to be Calisto, the beautiful daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia. Juno, the wife of Jupiter, was jealous of Calisto, and threatened to destroy her beauty. Fearing that Juno would harm her, Jupiter changed her into a bear.

"'Her arms grow shaggy and deformed with hair, Her nails are sharpened into pointed claws, Her hands bear half her weight, and turn to paws; Her lips, that once could tempt a god, begin To grow distorted in an ugly grin; And, lest the supplicating brute might reach The ears of Jove, she was deprived of speech.'

"Calisto had a son named Arcas, who became a great hunter. One day he roused a bear in the chase, and, not knowing that it was his mother, was about to kill her, when Jupiter, taking pity on them both, changed Arcas into the Little Bear."

"Who was Jupiter?" asked Harry.

"In the olden times, he was supposed to live on the top of Mount Olympus, with his beautiful wife Juno. When Jupiter was angry with people, it is said he would hurl thunderbolts at them, and when he was pleased he placed them after death among the stars."

"So he was pleased with Calisto and her son?" said Harry.

"So the story says," replied Mary. "But he also seemed to be afraid of his jealous wife Juno.

"A modern Greek legend gives another account of this constellation or group of stars. It is supposed that at one time the sky was made of glass and it touched the earth on both sides. It was soft and thin, and someone nailed a bear skin upon it, and the nails became stars; and the tail is represented by the three bright stars known as the handle of the Great Dipper.

"Another story is told about a princess who was turned into a bear on account of her pride in rejecting all suitors. For this her skin was nailed to the sky as a warning to other proud maidens.

"Would you like to hear what the Indians tell about the Great Bear?" asked Mary.

"Indeed I should," replied Harry. "I had no idea the Indians looked at the stars."

"They spend so much time on the open plains that they cannot help noticing them," said Mary; "and they tell many strange legends about them. The Iroquois Indians tell the following story about the Great Bear, which must have seemed like a Bear to them, just as it did to the Grecians.

"Once upon a time a party of hunters who were in pursuit of a bear were suddenly attacked by three monster stone giants who destroyed all but three of them. These, together with the bear, were carried up to the sky by invisible hands. The bear is still being pursued by the first hunter with his bow, the second hunter carries a kettle, and the third is carrying sticks wherewith to light a fire when the bear is killed. Only in the autumn does the hunter pierce the bear with an arrow, and it is said that it is the dripping blood that tinges the autumn foliage."

"I like that story," said Harry. "Don't you know another bear story?"

"I can tell you one," replied his sister, "that is told by the Fox Indians of Louisiana. In the days of long ago the Indians believed that the trees were able to walk about at night and talk to each other. One dark night as a bear was wandering homeward through a lonely wood, he was very much surprised to see the trees walking about, nodding their heads and whispering to each other.

"At first Mr. Bear thought it was only the wind; but where he saw a mighty oak before him, the next moment it was far behind him or on the other side of the road. Presently he happened to run against a tree. It was the oak, the lord of trees. The oak was angry and reached out one of its long branches and grabbed the bear by the tail. The bear struggled all night long to get away, and at last the oak, losing all patience, gave his tail a final twist and hurled him up into the sky. They say his tail was stretched in the struggle."

STORIES OF THE GREAT DIPPER.

"That is a funny story," said Harry, enjoying the account of Mr. Bear. "Are there any stories about the Great Dipper? I wonder why it is called the 'Dipper'?"

"Because it is supposed to look like a dipper," replied Mary. "You can see the four large stars representing the dipper and the three stars that form the handle. It is known as the 'Saucepan' in the South of France, and in other parts of France it is called the 'Chariot of David.' In England it is called the 'Plow' and sometimes 'Charles's Wain.' That means wagon. In Italy it is known as the 'Car of Bootes.' Bootes was supposed to be an ox-driver and inventor of the plow--the Dipper. One day the driver, oxen, and plow were suddenly lifted off the earth and placed in the sky. You can see Bootes now, and in front of him are the seven stars of the Great Dipper, which he must drive around the Pole Star for all eternity.

"A pretty story is told of a peasant who met our Saviour near the shores of Galilee and gave Him a ride in his wagon. As a reward he was offered a home in heaven; but he preferred to drive his wagon from east to west for all eternity, and his wish was granted. There stands his wagon in the sky, and the brightest of the three stars is called 'The Rider.'

"In North Germany 'The Rider' is supposed to start out on his journey before midnight, and to return twenty-four hours later, his wagon turning round with a great noise. He urges on his horses with loud cries of 'hi! he!' which it is said have sometimes been heard by lucky mortals."

"Hush, sister," said Harry softly; "let us see if we can hear him now."

"No, you could only hear him at midnight," replied his sister--"that is, if the story were true."

"It is only like a fairy story, then?" asked Harry.

"All these stories are fairy stories," replied Mary; "and here is another.

"A Basque legend relates that a certain husbandman had two oxen stolen from him by two wicked thieves. He sent his laborer after them, but he did not return. Then he sent his housekeeper, and his dog, and finally he decided to go after the thieves himself. He was so angry that he lost his temper, and in punishment for the remarks he made he was condemned to continue his search through the sky for all eternity. There you can see him now. The two oxen are the first two stars, then follow the two thieves, and lastly the two servants, the husbandman, and the little dog."

"Where is the little dog?" asked Harry.

"Look at the three stars in the handle of the Dipper," replied Mary. "Now look at the middle star, and if you have good eyes you can see a little star close beside it. Here, look through this opera-glass and you can see it better."

"I see it now," said Harry, as he looked through the glasses. "So that is the little dog?"

"Yes," replied his sister; "and the Arabians gave it the name of Alcor."

"Dear little Alcor," said Harry, as he continued looking at him, "I am going to look for you every evening now, because I can see the Great Dipper from my window."

"So you can," replied Mary; "I forgot that it faced north.

"The American Indians tell a quaint story about the Little Dipper. Would you like to hear it?"