"If you look at it through a large telescope you will see that it is
beautifully colored, as if Uncle Robert had taken his paint-box, and
dipped his brush into browns and reds, and tinted the cloud-belts around
Jupiter here and there with touches of yellow and orange, olive-green
and purple. Only an artist could get such beautiful effects. If we could
journey to one of the little moons of Jupiter----"
"Has Jupiter moons also?" asked Harry, delighted at the thought.
"Five of them," said Mary; "and I shall tell you about them later.
Supposing we could journey to one of these little moons, what a glorious
sight Jupiter would be! From the nearest moon it would look thousands of
times larger than our moon. The colors we see only faintly through our
telescopes would present a magnificent sight when seen at close range,
while constant changes would be taking place, as varied as the changes
in the clouds flitting across a summer sky. Great cloud-masses drift
hither and thither with enormous speed, driven by winds of hurricane
force. By watching the changes that take place in the clouds, we know
there must be winds blowing at the rate of nearly two hundred miles
per hour. Do you remember the cyclone Uncle Robert told us about, when
several houses were blown down and trees uprooted?"
"Yes, indeed, I do," replied Harry, "and his poor little dog Fido was
nearly killed by a falling chimney."
"Poor little Fido would not have much chance on Jupiter. The storms
there are ever so much worse than here. The strongest buildings would
be blown down in a few moments; sturdy oaks would be uprooted and blown
about by the wind like straws."
"Do the storms last very long?" asked Harry.
"They last six and seven weeks at a time," replied Mary, "so that Jupiter
would scarcely be a comfortable world to live on yet. Besides, it is
still in the fiery stage."
"Won't you tell me some more about the little moons of Jupiter?" asked
Harry.