"Once upon a time seven little Indian boys lived in a log cabin in the
woods. Every evening when the stars peeped out of the sky these children
would take hold of hands and dance around, while they sang the 'Song of
the Stars,' and the stars learned to love them. They would often beckon
to the little boys, inviting them to come up to the sky; but the children
loved their home on earth too well.
"But one day they found fault with everything. The oatmeal was too
hot at breakfast, there was an absence of pie at dinner-time; and the
distressing news that they were only to have corn and beans for supper
was a climax to their 'tale of woe.'
"Meanwhile their mother calmly ate her supper, while her seven little
boys looked on in hungry dismay. When supper-time was over they filed
slowly and sadly out of the cabin. Their mother felt sorry for them, it
is true; but she knew that if she gave in now she would have to give in
always. She watched her boys as they danced as usual that evening and
sang their song to the stars; and then she hurried into the cabin and
cleared away the uneaten corn and beans.
"Alas! she did not hear the song her children sang to the stars. When
the stars beckoned as usual to the little boys, inviting them to come up
to the sky, they had accepted the invitation. As they danced round and
round their heads and their hearts grew lighter, and in a few moments
they were soaring like birds through the air. Just then their mother
went to the cabin door to tell them it was time to come home; and imagine
her horror when she saw her children slowly disappearing in the sky!
"And now every evening the lonely mother gazes at seven bright stars in
the sky, which she fondly believes are her seven little boys, but which
are really the seven stars known to us as the Pleiades. One star in the
group does not shine as brightly as the rest, and this must be one of
the little Indians who is homesick."
"I shall never forget that story," said Harry, who had enjoyed every
word of it; "and now I wish you would tell me about that very bright
star on the other side of Orion. I can only just see it, but it is so
beautiful. It is bluish-white, and twinkles so brightly."
"That is Sirius, the brightest star in this part of the sky," replied
Mary, "and ever so much larger than the sun."
"What makes it twinkle?" asked Harry.