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?"