The Runaway Equator, and the Strange Adventures of a Little Boy in Pursuit of It

“Yes, the week of the procession of the Equine Oxes. The Sun and the Moon and their oldest daughter, the Evening Star, were coming down to see it, and Jack Frost and Aurora Bore...

“It must be terrible when the baby has the colic all night,” said Billy thoughtfully. “That happens often at our house, and Papa has to walk the floor with him.”

Mother had been helping Billy with his geography lesson, sitting in the garden on a lovely day early in spring, and showing Billy how the earth revolves on its axis. To illustra...

It must be admitted that there were tears in the little boy’s eyes, tears that overflowed and made damp, messy places on his wide shirt-collar before they could be ordered back...

“I don’t suppose it is any use to go to the Equator now, is it?” asked Billy. “I don’t see how we can go there if we don’t know where it is.”

“Tell off a thousand Meteors,” he said, “to count all the points on the largest compass, and then order a scout to go in the direction pointed by each point. That ought to get t...

Of course such an announcement as that made a great commotion in the trolley car. The other passengers, a thin deacon, two plumber’s apprentices and a burglar, wanted to get off...

With wild cries the conductor and the motorman ran after the Equine Ox, but although he appeared to be walking, he went at a tremendous speed, and soon they were compelled to gi...

If you’ve never had an Equator sweep down on you, of course you cannot understand in the least how frightened Billy was. Even the Equine Ox grew gray with fear when the Equator...

Of course there was but one thing to do, and that was to escape as quickly as possible. Even Nimbus, powerful as he was, couldn’t control a runaway Equator single-handed, and if...

“First of all,” said Nimbus, “we must find the Rays. Then we’ll go down to the Meteor farm and put all the Meteors who are off watch or on part time, to work doing scout duty.”

“Oh, if I could only get over there!” moaned Billy. He had not stopped to think what he would do if he were there. His eagerness to help the Evening Star was so keen that he was...