DF GALIF. LBHURY. LOf
 
 STARS. 
 
 1K.ON AND THE STAR. 
 
 Frontispiece.
 
 <2^>VX-A A^ 
 
 AMONG THE STARS 
 
 OR 
 
 WONDERFUL THINGS IN THE SKY 
 
 BY 
 
 AGNES GIBERNE 
 
 Or " SUM. MOON, AND STARS, ' ETC. 
 
 1 God is love; that anthem olden, 
 Sing the glorious orbs of light, 
 In their language glad and goldea 
 Telling to as, day and night. 
 
 Their great story, 
 God b Lore, and God is Might" 
 
 AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 
 
 1 50 NASSAU STREET, NEW YORK.
 
 BY PERMISSION 
 TO 
 
 THE REV. CHARLES PRITCHARD, D.D., 
 
 (Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford,) 
 AS A SLIGHT TRIBUTE OP ESTEEM. 
 
 2129748
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE want has been repeatedly suggested to me 
 of a little volume for children on the subject of 
 Astronomy, "much easier than 'Sun, Moon, and 
 Stars.'" 
 
 Encouraged by the warm reception given to 
 that former work of mine, I now venture to offer 
 such a little book to friends and readers, trusting 
 
 ..that it may be found to supply in some measure 
 T| 
 a household need. 
 
 Eastbourne, 1884.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 HAPTRR PAG* 
 
 I. THE STAR THAT COULD NOT BE FOUND - X 
 
 II. WHAT ABOUT THE STARS ? 9 
 
 III. FOLDED WINGS - - - - - IJ 
 
 IV. HOW STARS RISE AND SET- - -28 
 V. STARS IN DAYLIGHT - - - '39 
 
 VI. THE ROUND EARTH- - - - -47 
 
 VII. THINGS BIG AND BEAUTIFUL - - 57 
 
 viii. IKON'S NEW "LITTLE MOON" - - - 69 
 
 IX. SHINE AND SHADOW - - . -78 
 
 X. THE SIZE OF THE SUN - - -87 
 
 XI. MANY WORLDS - - - - 95 
 
 XII. MANY DISTANCES - - - 103 
 
 xiii. "FAR, FAR AWAY"- - . . - 114 
 
 XIV. SUMMER AND WINTER - - - -125 
 
 XV. LETTERS TO AND FRO - - - - 138 
 
 XVI. A DREAM WITHOUT AN ENDING - - - I JO 
 
 XVII. UNFOLDED WINGS - .... 160
 
 x Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER PACK 
 
 xvin. MR. FRITZ'S STORY - - - 168 
 
 XIX. THINGS LIGHT AND HEAVY - - - 189 
 
 XX. ANOTHER STORY ..... 199 
 
 1J XXI. WHY THE STORY WAS NOT ENDED - - 213 
 
 XXII. A SEQUEL TO THE STORY - - -222 
 
 XXIII. WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN SEEN- - - 255 
 
 XXIV. HOW THE MOON GOES ROUND - - - 263 
 XXV. STELLA --.... 272 
 
 XXVI. STAR-JOURNEYINGS .... 278 
 
 XXVII. FAST, YET SLOW ..... 285 
 
 XXVIII. HOW MANY STARS THERE ARE! - - 292 
 
 XXIX. A FEW MORE QUESTIONS- - 302
 
 AMONG THE STARS. 
 
 <<*: 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE STAR THAT COULD NOT BE FOUND. 
 
 "DORMER! O Dormer!" 
 
 "Well, Master Ikon?" 
 
 " Dormer, I can't think where my star is gone." 
 
 "Your star!" repeated Dormer. 
 
 The two words came out with a jerk, and the 
 work in her hands slid to the ground. 
 
 " My own beautiful star," said the child. " O 
 Dormer, it was always there before I was ill 
 every evening for a whole week. And I meant 
 to go on watching it always. And now it is 
 gone." 
 
 Dormer was a largely-built woman of middle 
 age, with a cap and spectacles. She had a com- 
 fortable and motherly sort of face, and eyes which 
 could look soft and gentle, or could grow large 
 i*
 
 Among the Stars. 
 
 and round. At this moment her eyes were round 
 as saucers. 
 
 " Every evening it was there over the poplars," 
 repeated Ikon mournfully. " And you wouldn't let 
 me go to look until to-day. And now it is quite 
 gone." 
 
 "O well, I wouldn't mind," said Dormer, com- 
 ing slowly to the conclusion that this was nc* 
 relapse into fever, but only " one of Master 
 Ikon's queer ways." She picked up her work, 
 and began threading the needle, which had be- 
 come unthreaded in its fall. " I wouldn't mind, 
 if I was you. There's hundreds of other stars 
 just as good. One doesn't signify, more or 
 less." 
 
 "Wouldn't anybody care if a star was lost?" 
 asked Ikon wistfully. 
 
 " I shouldn't," Dormer replied. 
 
 " I think I should. I did love that star so," 
 murmured the child. " I used to think " 
 
 Ikon stopped short. Dormer was a most excellent 
 and affectionate nurse, and he loved her dearly. 
 She had cared for him with motherly tenderness 
 from his earliest babyhood. Still, there was a 
 certain something wanting between them. Ikon 
 never found that his little innermost thoughts and
 
 The Star that could not be Found. 3 
 
 feelings and fancies met with a response from 
 Dormer. He was a delicate and dreamy child, and 
 he often longed for somebody to whom he could 
 speak freely, somebody by whom he would be un- 
 derstood. 
 
 Ikon's home was in the country, on a hill-side, 
 with wide views from the windows of earth 
 and sky. He was an only child; and he had 
 no mother; and his father was a grave man of 
 few words, much occupied, and sometimes away 
 for days together. 
 
 From very babyhood Ikon had been a delicate 
 child, often ill, and still too frail to be sent to 
 school. A lady came every morning from some 
 distance, to give him a few lessons; very few. For 
 Ikon's father would not allow more. He said the 
 child's brain was too busy, and must not be worked. 
 
 The little brain did work, nevertheless. Ikon 
 was always wondering about this and that, wish- 
 ing to ask questions of somebody. He was tired 
 of trying Miss Mundy, his daily governess. She 
 never would allow any break in her regular plan 
 of teaching, and at the beginning and end of the 
 time she was always in a hurry. 
 
 Yet, being a shy and timid boy, he dreaded 
 greatly the time when his quiet little governess
 
 Among the Stars. 
 
 must be exchanged for a stern tutor. For of 
 course tutors are always stern so thought Ikon. 
 
 It was a lonely life that he led. Few people 
 were within easy distance of the house, and those 
 few Ikon scarcely knew. He had no little sisters 
 and no little friends. His chief pleasures were 
 found in the companionship of his pet dog, and 
 of the birds and plants and trees in the garden. 
 All his leisure hours were spent among them, ex- 
 cept when illness kept him indoors. 
 
 But Ikon had one pleasure greater than even these; 
 and that was in the companionship of the stars. 
 
 This seems an odd word to use about the stars 
 and a little boy; yet in a sense it is the right word. 
 For Ikon loved the stars. He could not have told 
 the time when first he began to love the stars. 
 The feeling seemed to have grown upon him slowly, 
 as he grew up out of babyhood. 
 
 Even as a tiny child he had delighted to gaze on 
 the glittering sky, and had often clapped his little 
 hands with joy at the sight. 
 
 And now that he was older, he hardly ever cared 
 to go to bed, without stealing away first to his play- 
 room window, for at least ten minutes of looking at 
 the stars. A cloudy evening was always a sorrow 
 to Ikon.
 
 The Star that could not be Found. 5 
 
 He had been ill lately, and for a month past the 
 playroom had been forbidden ground. For it was 
 in the top story, and even with a fire it was often 
 chilly. But this day Dormer had at last granted 
 leave. 
 
 Then it was, as Ikon knelt on the low window- 
 seat, with eager eyes wandering over the broad reach 
 of starry sky, that he found his own dear star to be 
 gone. 
 
 He could not have told why he loved that star so 
 much. It was only about a week or ten days 
 before his illness, that he had first noticed it, shining 
 over the distant line of poplar trees, low down near 
 the horizon. And there had been a bout of fine 
 weather then, so he had seen it every evening. 
 
 But now it was quite gone a lost star. None 
 other would do in its stead. There were many other 
 stars over the far-off poplars, but not one so bright 
 and soft and shining as this particular favorite. 
 
 Tears came into Ikon's eyes. He was really 
 grieved, really distressed. For somehow that dear 
 star had seemed to his little heart to smile upon him 
 out of heaven, and had made him think of the mother 
 whom he had never known. And this was the fancy 
 which he could not tell to Dormer; for Dormer would 
 not have understood in the least what he meant.
 
 Among 1 the Stars, 
 
 So Ikon kept his little fancy to himself. But after 
 a pause he asked: 
 
 " Dormer, do the stars ever die ?" 
 
 Dormer stared at the child. 
 
 " Dear me, Master Ikon, you do have the oddest 
 notions ! " 
 
 " But do they die ? Please tell me." 
 
 " I shouldn't think so," said Dormer. " Things can't 
 die that ain't alive to begin with. It is time you 
 should go to bed, Master Ikon." 
 
 " Just a minute," pleaded Ikon. " I want to know 
 where the stars all go every day. They don't all die 
 then, of course, because they are all right again next 
 evening." 
 
 " Of course they don't," assented Dormer. 
 
 " And where do they go, Dormer ?" 
 
 " They go why, they don't go anywhere," said 
 Dormer. 
 
 " But they must, if they aren't here," said Ikon, 
 wrinkling his brow. 
 
 " O well, you'll know about it all some day," said 
 Dormer. " I wouldn't worry now. Time enough 
 when you are grown up." 
 
 " Does everybody know that is grown up ? Does 
 papa ? " 
 
 "Of course he does. What a question '."said Dormer.
 
 The Star that could not be Found. f 
 
 Ikon looked brightened. He had a white little face, 
 thin from recent illness, with a great forehead, and 
 big anxious eyes. 
 
 " Do you think I might ask him about the stars 
 some day ? Wouldn't he mind ? " 
 
 " I shouldn't think he would if you choose some 
 time when he isn't bothered," said Dormer. 
 
 Ikon's face fell again. He felt that this might not 
 be an easy choice. 
 
 " I do want to know what the stars are," he mur- 
 mured. " What they really are." 
 
 " That's easy enough. They are stars," said 
 Dormer. 
 
 " But, Dormer, don't you see ? stars must be 
 something" said Ikon, in rather a hesitating voice. 
 "I want to know what they are. I want to know 
 why they twinkle so; and why some of them don't. 
 And I can't think why they should be so bright." 
 
 " They are bright because they shine, I suppose," 
 said Dormer, folding her work. 
 
 " I wish I knew what makes them shine." 
 
 Dormer's answer this time was triumphant. 
 
 "Well, Master Ikon, that oughtn't to puzzle 
 you, anyway. They shine because they are 
 bright." 
 
 Ikon felt the matter to be hopeless. He could not
 
 8 Among the Stars. 
 
 even make Dormer understand him. It was ii 
 rather a peevish voice that he said: 
 
 " You don't see one bit what I mean. Nobod; 
 does. And I do want so much to know." 
 
 " Well, you must have a little patience," sai< 
 Dormer, rising. " People can't learn everything in ; 
 day especially when they are ill." 
 
 " But I'm not ill now. I wish you wouldn't talk a 
 if I was always ill," said Ikon fretfully. " Dormer, d< 
 you think the stars are bigger than they look ? " 
 
 " It don't much matter if they are so long as 
 get you to bed in good time," said Dormer. 
 
 " And I wonder if they are a hundred miles away, 
 continued Ikon. " A whole hundred miles, Dormer ! 
 
 " As likely as not," said Dormer calmly.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 WHAT ABOUT THE STARS? 
 
 IKON lay long awake that night. The curtains were 
 drawn, but he had pulled one a little aside before 
 getting into bed. And through a single pane of glass 
 bright starry eyes seemed to look down upon him 
 lovingly. 
 
 " Twinkle, twinkle, little star, 
 
 How I wonder what you are I 
 Up above the world so high, 
 Like a diamond in the sky." 
 
 Ikon smiled as the old nursery rhyme came to 
 him. He tried to remember how it went on, and 
 could not. 
 
 Somebody else besides himself had plainly been 
 thinking about the stars, and wishing to know more 
 about them. 
 
 " How I wonder what you are ! " he whispered two 
 or three times. 
 
 2
 
 IO Among the Stars. 
 
 The words seemed to soothe him, and presently 
 he dropped asleep. 
 
 But even in sleep the thought of his dear lost star 
 haunted him. 
 
 Ikon dreamt that he was taking a journey after 
 this star a strange journey, far away up in cloud- 
 land, through the dark midnight sky. He wondered, 
 as he floated along, whether he should find the lost 
 star. He wondered if he should find out, too, what 
 the stars really are. 
 
 But no; he could learn nothing new in his dream. 
 Stars were around him everywhere; bright shining 
 twinkling points of light. That was all. He did 
 not seem to get any nearer to them. And he could 
 not see his own soft star. He would have known it 
 again at once, if he had seen it smiling over the dis- 
 tant poplars. How he was to know it again any- 
 where else was another question. There were plenty 
 of stars in his dream; but they all seemed very much 
 alike. The child sighed as he floated along, and 
 murmured sadly: 
 
 "Is it quite quite gone? Do the poor stars die, 
 after all?" 
 
 Ikon woke up next morning with a resolution in his 
 mind. It seemed to have come to him in his sleep.
 
 What about the Stars? il 
 
 He would question his father about the stars. He 
 would find out what they really were, and whether a 
 star could ever die. 
 
 When his father was at home, Ikon generally went 
 to him in the dining-room for a short time after the 
 late dinner. 
 
 It was a very silent time commonly. Ikon's father 
 was a particularly grave and silent man; very fond 
 of his little boy, no doubt, but, as a rule, extremely 
 sparing in remarks to him or to anybody. 
 
 Ikon himself was generally much too shy to start 
 any conversation. He answered if he were spoken 
 to, and that was all. He used to have a little 
 dessert, if Dormer had given him leave. Then he 
 and his father generally sat in the library, each 
 reading a book, till it was time for Ikon to go to 
 bed. 
 
 But on the evening of this day Ikon went down- 
 stairs brimful of his new resolution. He was bent 
 upon putting the question without delay. 
 
 It happened to be rather a fortunate evening for 
 the purpose. Ikon's father seemed to be less wrapped 
 up in his own thoughts than usual; and he actually 
 asked the little boy what he had been doing all 
 day. 
 
 " I began lessons again this morning, papa," Ikon
 
 12 Among the Stars. 
 
 answered, turning first hot and then cold with the 
 effort to be brave. " Dormer wouldn't let me sooner." 
 
 " Ah, well Dormer is quite right. No use to over- 
 work yourself. Dormer knows what is best for you. 
 Have a fig, my boy ? " 
 
 " No, thank you, papa. Dormer says I mustn't." 
 
 " Dormer knows best," murmured Ikon's father. 
 " Do as she tells you, my dear. She is an excellent 
 judge." 
 
 The voice sounded dreamy. Ikon felt that he had 
 no time to lose. Once in the library, he would have 
 no further chance of attention. 
 
 " Papa, " and he faltered. " Please, would you 
 mind telling me something ?" 
 
 " Certainly, my boy. What is it ? " 
 
 "Papa, what are the stars ? " 
 
 "The stars, my dear! The stars!" said Ikon's 
 father, in astonishment. 
 
 "Yes, papa. Please, what are the stars?" re- 
 peated Ikon, quite trembling. 
 
 Now it happened that Ikon's father, though a very 
 clever and learned man, had never cared at all about 
 the stars, had never troubled himself to read about 
 them. Had Ikon questioned him about old buildings, 
 old houses and castles, old pavements, old furniture, 
 or old china, he would have had plenty to say. But
 
 What about the Stars ? 13 
 
 with respect to the stars, he found himself quite at 
 a loss. And odd as it may seem, this clever and 
 learned gentleman said almost exactly the same as 
 the untaught Dormer had done. 
 
 "Why, my dear boy, what an odd question! They 
 are stars, of course." 
 
 "Yes, papa. Only I do want to know what they 
 are for." 
 
 "They serve to light us up on a dark night," said 
 Ikon's father. 
 
 "And are they meant only for that?" asked Ikon. 
 
 " That ahem no doubt is their purpose," said 
 his father. 
 
 " And, papa, are they bigger than they look ? " 
 
 "No doubt, my dear boy, no doubt. Considerably 
 larger." 
 
 "As big as this house, papa ?" 
 
 "Well, yes, Ikon considerably bigger, I should 
 say." 
 
 " And do the stars ever die ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " The stars die ! The stars die, my dear boy ! " re- 
 peated Ikon's father in a very puzzled manner. Then 
 he looked at the child, and smiled, and finally burst 
 out laughing. " I beg your pardon, Ikon but really 
 the idea of a star dying so very droll ! You must 
 not be offended, my boy. Ha, ha, ha ! "
 
 14 Among the Stars. 
 
 Ikon was not offended, but his feelings were hurt, 
 and tears sprang to his eyes. 
 
 " There, there never mind," his father said sooth- 
 ingly. " Here's a shilling for you to spend on any- 
 thing you like. And if I were you I would leave the 
 stars alone for the present. You are a little boy, 
 and have plenty to learn in other ways." 
 
 " I should like best to learn about the stars," mur- 
 mured Ikon. 
 
 " Perhaps so. Perhaps so. Astronomy is an 
 interesting subject, doubtless. But reading and 
 spelling are at present more important." 
 
 "Papa, I can read, of course," said Ikon rather in- 
 jured. " And spelling has been quite easy for ever so 
 long. And Miss Mundy is going to let me begin 
 Latin declensions; only Dormer doesn't like it." 
 
 " Well, well, my dear boy, do as Dormer wishes. 
 She is an excellent caretaker," said Ikon's father, 
 rising. " But you would find astronomy more tough 
 than Latin. I advise you to leave it alone for the 
 present." 
 
 And this was all that passed. Ikon was sorely 
 disappointed. He could hardly keep back his tears, 
 as he sat in the library over a book which he tried in 
 vain to read. 
 
 " Dormer, it's no use," he said, when bedtime came,
 
 What about the Stars? 
 
 " I have asked papa, and he doesn't seem to care 
 about the stars, and he says I'm too little." 
 
 "Just what I told you," Dormer answered. 
 
 But she could not bear to see her darling unhappy. 
 After casting about in her mind what to say next, 
 she suddenly put down her work, and went to a 
 small book-case in the corner. 
 
 "Look here, Master Ikon," she said. "Here's 
 something about the stars, and something you ain't 
 too little for either." 
 
 And coming back slowly, she began to read aloud 
 in a sing-song voice 
 
 "Twinkle, twinkle, little star, 
 How I wonder " 
 
 " Why, that's just what I was thinking about last 
 night," cried Ikon; "and I couldn't remember how 
 it went on. " 
 
 He listened eagerly as Dormer proceeded 
 
 " what you are ! 
 Up above the world so high, 
 Like a diamond in the sky. 
 
 11 When the blazing sun is gone, 
 
 When he nothing shines upon, 
 
 Then you show your little light, 
 
 Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
 
 16 Among the Stars. 
 
 "Then the traveller in the dark, 
 
 Thanks you for your tiny spark; 
 He could not tell which way to go; 
 If you did not twinkle so. 
 
 "In the dark blue sky you keep, 
 
 And often through my curtains peep; 
 For you never shut your eye, 
 Till the sun is in the sky. 
 
 "As your bright and tiny spark 
 
 Lights the traveller in the dark, 
 Though I know not what you are, 
 Twinkle, twinkle, little star I " 
 
 " There ! " said Dormer, with an air of great satis 
 (action. 
 
 "But, Dormer, that doesn't tell me anything," said 
 Ikon. "It doesn't say why the stars twinkle, or why 
 they go away in the daytime. I want to know 
 whyf n 
 
 11 If that's good enough to be put in a book, it's 
 good enough for you and me," said Dormer, rather 
 severely.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FOLDED WINGS. 
 
 THE very next day Ikon's father said to him at 
 breakfast, the only meal which the two regularly 
 had together: 
 
 " I have just heard from an old friend of mine. 
 He is coming to stay here for a short time, and he 
 will be able to tell you anything you wish about the 
 stars." 
 
 Ikon's heart bounded with pleasure, and he 
 listened eagerly for more. 
 
 " Herr Lehrer," said Ikon's father in an absent tone. 
 
 " Papa, is that his name ? " asked Ikon, afraid the 
 information was coming very quickly to an end. 
 
 " Lehrer yes, Lehrer," said his father. 
 
 " But, papa, you called him " 
 
 " Yes, my dear." 
 
 " Hair! " said Ikon, in a puzzled voice. 
 
 " Ah yes, mst so. Herr Lehrer, that means Mr
 
 1 8 Among the Stars. 
 
 Lehrer. He is a German. 'Herr' means 'Mr.,' 
 my boy. But he likes best to be called ' Herr' or, 
 ' Professor.' Yes, ' Professor ' does as well." 
 
 This was quite a long speech for Ikon's father. 
 He went deep into his newspaper at once, as if 
 afraid of having to say any more. Ikon dared not 
 put further questions. 
 
 It was from Dormer, not from his father, that he 
 learnt on what day to look out for the guest. 
 
 When that day came he did look out in good 
 earnest. All the afternoon he scarcely stirred from 
 the schoolroom window. Dormer brought her work 
 and sat there with him, as she was always ready to 
 do. Generally he spent his afternoons in the garden, 
 unless it rained, and then he would be happy for 
 hours in his favourite playroom. There were 
 showers to-day, sufficient to keep him prisoner, but 
 he would not go to his playroom, for the window 
 there did not command a view of the drive to the 
 front door. 
 
 " I wonder what rlerr Lehrer will be like," he said 
 again and again. " Papa says I am to call him Herr 
 Lehrer, Dormer, and not Mr. Lehrer, because he is 
 a German." 
 
 " It don't sound sensible," said Dormer. " ' Mr. 
 is good enough for anybody."
 
 Folded Wings. ig 
 
 "But I suppose German people think 'Herr' is 
 prettier than 'Mr.,'" said Ikon. "Papa says he is 
 something else too ' Professor ' but I don't know 
 what that means. I wonder whether he will talk 
 to me." 
 
 " Not much good if he talks German gibberish," 
 said Dormer. 
 
 Ikon was dismayed. This difficulty had not 
 occurred to him before. 
 
 " I shall have to make haste and learn German," 
 he said with a sigh. " But perhaps Herr Lehrer 
 knows some English words. I think he must, 
 because papa said he could tell me about the stars; 
 and papa knows I haven't learnt to talk German." 
 
 After long waiting the Professor arrived, but by 
 that time it had become so dark that Ikon could 
 not see in the least what he was like. The utmost 
 peering proved useless. Nothing remained but to 
 muster up patience, and wait till evening. 
 
 Then, when late dinner was nearly over, and the 
 little boy stole timidly into the dining-room, he 
 found, as he expected, two gentlemen at the table 
 instead of only one. This was quite an event, for 
 Ikon's father rarely had a visitor. 
 
 Another unusual event was that Ikon's father 
 should be talking; not only listening to the Herr, but
 
 2O Among the Stars. 
 
 actually talking too. The two gentlemen were deep 
 in conversation; so deep that Ikon's entrance was 
 at first quite unnoticed. 
 
 So Ikon had time to examine the new-comer at 
 his leisure. 
 
 Herr Lehrer, though a German by birth, spoke 
 English quite well and easily. This was a great 
 relief to Ikon's mind. Now and then a German 
 accent or a German expression came in, but other- 
 wise his voice might almost have passed for that of 
 an Englishman. 
 
 He had a square-shaped German head, though he 
 was not generally stout in build. His face was 
 quite beautiful, as even little Ikon could see, with a 
 rather pale skin, and a full forehead, and soft shin- 
 ing benevolent eyes. Ikon thought those eyes very 
 like stars. Then his features were regular, and 
 might have belonged to almost a young man; yet, 
 strange to say, his hair was grey, and he had a long 
 silvery beard. 
 
 Ikon crept to the table, and sat down in his usual 
 seat without a word. He did not in the least expect 
 his father to notice him for some time, and he was 
 quite content to sit and watch those soft starry eyes 
 of the stranger. But suddenly they fell upon him, 
 and their owner said quietly:
 
 Folded Wings. 21 
 
 11 Why, here is a little meteorite dropped suddenly 
 out of space." 
 
 "My little son," said Ikon's father, and the Pro- 
 fessor took the child's hand into a warm comfortable 
 grasp. 
 
 " We shall be friends by-and-by," he said, smil- 
 ing. 
 
 Ikon's father pushed some figs towards him, and 
 the two gentlemen continued their conversation. It 
 was all about old Roman pavements and ancient 
 crockery things which Ikon did not care for in the 
 least and he could make nothing of it. They 
 talked on, nevertheless, not only in the dining-room, 
 but also later in the study. No silent reading took 
 place as usual. Ikon alone had a book, and he could 
 not give attention to it. 
 
 Presently Ikon's bed-time drew near, and all at 
 once there came a break in the conversation. Herr 
 Lehrer turned round towards Ikon and remarked: 
 
 " This is a very silent little boy." 
 
 "Ikon never has much to say for himself," -his 
 father remarked. 
 
 Dormer might perhaps have told a different tale. 
 
 " Fond of books ?" said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " Well, yes too fond," said Ikon's father. " The 
 doctor says he ought to read less and play more."
 
 22 Among the Stars. 
 
 " He looks not robust," said Herr Lehrer, paus- 
 ing for a word. 
 
 Ikon objected very much to being made the sub- 
 ject of discussion, and wriggled. The two gentlemen 
 went back to ancient crockery, and not a word more 
 passed with reference to Ikon, till Dormer's knock 
 sounded at the door. 
 
 "Eh what bed-time?" said Ikon's father. 
 " Why, I thought we had only just done dinner." 
 
 Then, as Ikon came slowly, book in hand, to say 
 good-night, he observed: 
 
 "Herr Lehrer, here is a little boy who wants to 
 know what the stars are made of." 
 
 Ikon hung his head, and felt much inclined to run 
 away. But Herr Lehrer laid gentle hold on him, 
 drew him between his two knees, and looked at the 
 child with extreme kindness. 
 
 " So ! " he said, with his slightly foreign accent. 
 That one syllable, " So ! " pronounced in every variety 
 of tone, was the most German thing about him 
 " You want to know what the stars are made of ? ' 
 
 Ikon plucked up courage. 
 
 " I didn't say exactly that," he answered. " I 
 wanted to know what the stars really are, and what 
 they are for." 
 
 " So ! " repeated the Professor, smiling more
 
 Folded Wings. 23 
 
 broadly. "You want to know what the stars really 
 are ? That is a pretty big question. And what 
 they are for ? That is a bigger." 
 
 " More in your line than mine, Professor," said 
 Ikon's father, who seemed quite lively this evening. 
 
 "Just so," said Herr Lehrer. "This is pretty 
 well for the knickerbocker age. Is there anything 
 else that this little boy desires to know ? " 
 
 Ikon crimsoned, but felt that it was now or never. 
 Dormer's knock sounded again, and he grew des- 
 perate. 
 
 " Please," he said. " O yes, please " 
 
 " Speak calmly, my child. The world is probably 
 not coming to an end this very instant," said Herr 
 Lehrer in a gentle voice. 
 
 Ikon was far too eager for deliberate speech. 
 
 " Please, can you tell me ? " he asked. " Oh, I do 
 want to know where the stars are all gone every day, 
 and what makes them shine. And I want to know 
 why some twinkle, and why some don't. And I 
 can't think where my own star went, and perhaps 
 you could find out. And, please, do the stars ever 
 die ? " 
 
 The Professor sat still, looking at the child. Ikon's 
 chest was quite heaving with excitement, and his 
 great eyes shone, not like stars, but like fiery coals.
 
 24 Among the Stars. 
 
 Dormer knocked again; this time impatiently. 
 
 " Is that the summons for the little knickerbockers 
 to go to bed ? " asked Herr Lehrer slowly. " I 
 think we might be permitted one more five minutes, 
 my friend." 
 
 " Certainly," said Ikon's father; and he went to 
 the door, and spoke in a tone of apology. 
 
 Ikon overheard a little mutter, but Dormer went 
 away. 
 
 The Professor still gazed at Ikon earnestly. Then, 
 with his soft warm palm, he measured the width of 
 the child's forehead. 
 
 " Yes, there are brains here," he said. " There 
 is thought. There are folded Wings of Imagina- 
 tion." 
 
 But no answer had come to the questions, and 
 Ikon's eyes grew beseeching. 
 
 " I cannot tell you everything in five minutes, my 
 child," said the Professor. "These are large subjects 
 that you have brought before me. What say you, 
 little Ikon ? Shall you and I pay some visits to the 
 stars, while I am here ? " 
 
 Ikon's look was of eager response. 
 
 " Really truly ? " he asked. 
 
 " On the Wings of Imagination," said the Professor. 
 " Wonderful journeys may thus be taken."
 
 Folded Wings. 25 
 
 " Children never understand," murmured Ikon's 
 father. " He will claim a literal fulfilment of your 
 proposal." 
 
 " Papa, I do understand," said Ikon, almost indig- 
 nantly. " I know what imagination means. Dormer 
 often says I've got ' such an imagination.' And of 
 course I know we can't truly go to the stars. But I 
 wanted to know if Mr. Herr really " 
 
 " Herr Lehrer, my dear," said his father, for Ikon 
 was growing confused. 
 
 " Really meant it," concluded Ikon. 
 
 " You and I will take those journeys in company," 
 said the Professor. 
 
 " And will you tell me all about the stars ? " asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 " I will tell you some things." 
 
 " Whether they ever die ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " What makes you ask that question ? " inquired 
 the Professor. 
 
 " My star has gone," said Ikon, shyness vanishing 
 under great eagerness. " I can't think where. And 
 Dormer says stars can't die because they are never 
 alive. But I don't think Dormer really knows about 
 it. And she says it wouldn't matter if a star did 
 die, because there are plenty more. But I should 
 be so sorry." 
 
 3
 
 26 Among the Stars. 
 
 " I think it would matter," said the Professor. 
 " It would matter to One above, Ikon." 
 
 Ikon gazed wistfully in the face of his new 
 friend. 
 
 "You know who made the stars?" said Herr 
 Lehrer. 
 
 " Dormer says God did." 
 
 " Dormer says ! But look for yourself. Look in 
 the first chapter of your Bible, before you go to bed 
 HE cares for the stars, my child." 
 
 Ikon had grown very thoughtful. 
 
 " That will do now. It is growing late," the 
 Professor said, softly patting Ikon's cheek. " To- 
 morrow you shall tell me about the star that is gone. 
 Good-night." 
 
 " And will you come to my playroom ? " asked Ikon 
 anxiously. " It's the very best view of the stars in 
 all the house." 
 
 " Then that shall be our observatory," said Herr 
 Lehrer. 
 
 Ikon went straight upstairs, and hardly heard the 
 complaint with which Dormer received him. He 
 walked to a little side-table, and opened the Bible 
 which lay there his mother's own Bible. 
 
 " What are you doing now, Master Ikon ? " asked 
 Dormer.
 
 Folded Wings. 27 
 
 " I'm looking for something about the stars," said 
 Ikon dreamily. 
 
 Dormer gave him a look. Then she sat down 
 quietly, and waited. 
 
 Two or three minutes passed in silence, before 
 Ikon exclaimed: 
 
 " I've got it ! " 
 
 Dormer was silent still. He rushed across the 
 room to her side, with the open Bible in his arms. 
 
 "Dormer, here it is. Look! Here it is! 
 
 " ' HE MADE THE STARS ALSO.' " 
 
 "Didn't you know that before, Master Ikon?" 
 asked Dormer gravely. 
 
 "I don't know. I didn't think," said Ikon. 
 " Dormer, Herr Lehrer says it would matter if a star 
 were to die. He says it would matter to God, be- 
 cause God made the stars and so He cares." 
 
 Dormer seemed to have no wish to defend her 
 own view of the case. She only said: 
 
 " Hadn't you better go to bed now, Master Ikon, 
 dear?"
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HOW STARS RISE AND SET. ' 
 
 " IT was over there," said Ikon. 
 
 Evening had come round again, and Ikon was in 
 his playroom; not alone, however, for the Professor 
 was there also. 
 
 All day Herr Lehrer had been busy one way and 
 another. Ikon almost thought that the promised 
 talk about the stars was quite forgotten by him. 
 But after Ikon's tea, and before the late dinner ot 
 the gentlemen, he suddenly appeared in Ikon's 
 favourite room. 
 
 It was a clear bright night, and the sky was 
 covered with twinkling stars. 
 
 In a very few minutes Ikon was talking quite 
 easily and freely of his dear lost star. Herr Lehrer 
 put out the candle, and drew up the blind. Then 
 he sat down close to the window, with the child 
 beside him.
 
 How Stars Rise and Set. 29 
 
 " It was over there," repeated Ikon. " Over in that 
 direction just where there are two little hills a great 
 way off, and some trees between. You can't see 
 now, but the trees are poplars; and the star always 
 shone over those poplars." 
 
 " Always ?" said Herr Lehrer in a gentle voice. 
 
 " I mean always for a whole week," said Ikon. "I 
 used to look every evening before I went to bed, and 
 it was always there." 
 
 " Exactly in the same spot, my boy ? " 
 
 " It looked like the same," said Ikon. "Just over 
 where the poplars are. And I liked that star so 
 much. It twinkled and looked so bright. I used to 
 think it was smiling. And then I was ill, and Dormer 
 kept me in bed nearly a fortnight, and for a whole 
 month she wouldn't let me come to my playroom, 
 because she thought I might feel cold up here. It 
 isn't really cold, but Dormer is always so frightened. 
 It was so dull, having only the old nursery to play 
 in, because I keep all my best things up here, and 
 of course I am too old now for the nursery. And I 
 did want to come and look at my star." 
 
 " You did not think of looking out of another 
 window below this one ? " said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 "No," Ikon answered, in a tone which showed 
 that the idea had not occurred to him. " I never
 
 3d Among the Stars. 
 
 did. And when Dormer let me come here for a 
 peep, because I begged her, the star was gone." 
 
 " You are sure ? " the Professor said. 
 
 " O, quite sure! There were ever so many little 
 stars, but not one like my beautiful big star." 
 
 Herr Lehrer seemed to be considering. 
 
 " A month ago or more," he murmured. " West 
 north-west west yes. The star may probably 
 have been Arcturus." 
 
 " Arcturus ! " repeated Ikon. 
 
 " That is the name of a beautiful star, which per- 
 haps might have been thereabouts somewhere about 
 a month ago, near the time of your going to bed," 
 said Herr Lehrer. " But Arcturus is not dead." 
 
 " Is Arcturus the name of my star ? " asked the 
 child wonderingly. 
 
 " I cannot be absolutely sure, Ikon. Your de- 
 scriptions are a little vague. But I think we may 
 fairly conclude that it was in all probability Arcturus." 
 
 " And is that a big star ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " It is one of the brighter stars what I should 
 call a star of the first magnitude." 
 
 " Doesn't magnitude mean bigness ? " asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 "It does, really. But in speaking of the stars we 
 mean brightness more than bigness."
 
 How Stars Rise and Set. 31 
 
 " And my star hasn't died," said Ikon in a satisfied 
 tone. 
 
 "No," said the Professor. "When you missed your 
 favourite star from over the poplars, it had only gone 
 down below the horizon, out of sight. Did you not 
 know that the stars rise and set just as the sun rises 
 and sets ?" 
 
 Ikon shook his head. 
 
 "I thought the stars were always exactly the same," 
 he said. " Somebody once told me that the stars are 
 called ' fixed stars,' and that is because they never 
 move." 
 
 " Somebody explained himself rather badly/' said 
 the Professor. " Have you never missed any other 
 stars from particular parts of the heavens ? " 
 
 " No," said Ikon. " Only my own pet star." 
 
 " You must observe a little more closely in future. 
 Now listen to me, my child. Of course you know 
 that the sun rises and sets every day. That is to 
 say, he seems to come up above the horizon in the 
 morning, seems to pass over a portion of our sky, and 
 seems to go down below the horizon in the evening.' 1 
 
 " Yes he does" said Ikon wonderingly. " The sun 
 rises in the east and sets in the west. I know that." 
 
 " He seems to act thus," said Herr Lehrer. "Prac- 
 tically he so does to us."
 
 32 Among the Stars. 
 
 " But why do you call it 'seems' ?" asked Ikon. 
 
 " The moon also rises and sets," said Herr Lehrer, 
 passing over this question. "Her movements, how- 
 ever, are more perplexing, so we will let her alone 
 just now. You quite understand that the sun rises 
 every morning and sets every evening, rising in the 
 east and setting in the west. The stars, too, seem 
 to rise in the east and set in the west." 
 
 " Don't they really ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " As much as the sun does," said Herr Lehrer. 
 " Stars are rising and setting through every hour 
 of the night and the day. But it is only when 
 the sun has set that we begin to see them rise and 
 set." 
 
 " I never thought before about stars rising or set- 
 ting," said Ikon. 
 
 " If you had watched your star long enough, you 
 would have seen it slowly sink down behind the 
 poplar trees," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " And wouldn't it ever have come up again ? " 
 
 " Yes, next day. Not over the poplar trees, but in 
 quite another part of the sky. Then it would have 
 passed over the heavens and gone down again behind 
 the poplar trees." 
 
 " But I don't understand why I can't see it there 
 now in the evenings," said Ikon.
 
 How Stars Rise and Set. 33 
 
 " This little brain must have patience," said Herr 
 Lehrer. "I cannot explain everything all in a mo- 
 ment. The reason is that each day the stars seem 
 slightly to shift their places, so to speak, and go down 
 just a very few minutes sooner than the evening 
 before. In one week the difference is not so great 
 that you might not have seen your star each even- 
 ing, somewhere not far over the poplars. Perhaps, 
 without knowing it, you went a little earlier to look 
 the last part of the week than the first part. But a 
 whole month would make much difference. Your 
 star would have set some time before that hour, 
 when at the month's end you looked anew." 
 
 " I wish I could quite understand," said Ikon. 
 
 " Believe that it is so, my boy; the how and the 
 why must come later. I want you now to see 
 clearly that the stars do truly seem to rise and to set 
 every day, even as the sun seems to rise and to set." 
 
 " But why do you call it seems ? " asked Ikon again. 
 " Don't they really ?" 
 
 ""Yes, and no," Herr Lehrer answered. "This is 
 puzzling, is it not ? They do rise, and yet they do 
 not. They do set, and yet they do not." 
 
 Ikon sighed. 
 
 " Let us consider the matter," said the Professor 
 slowly. "The sun rises and sets. So do the stars,"
 
 34 Among the Stars. 
 
 " But you said they didn't." 
 
 "They do rise, Ikon, to you and me. They 
 rise upon you and me. It is no untruth to 
 say that the sun rises and sets, for he does rise 
 and set. So also with the stars. Yet at the 
 same time, and with equal truth, we may say that 
 the sun and the stars do not rise or set. For that 
 which we rightly call their 'rising* and 'setting* 
 is not caused by any movements of their own." 
 
 " Doesn't the sun go across the sky every day ? ' 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 " He seems to travel thus," Herr Lehrer answered. 
 "It is only in seeming. He does rise upon us; but 
 that rising is brought about by the earth's move- 
 ment, not by the sun's movement. The stars too 
 rise upon us. But their rising is caused by the 
 earth's movement, not by the stars' own movements." 
 
 "I don't think I know what you mean," said Ikon 
 rather hopelessly. 
 
 " Did you ever spin round and round very fast, till 
 it seemed to you as if the walls of the room and the 
 pictures and furniture were all moving ? " 
 
 "O yes," Ikon said, brightening. "It makes me 
 feel quite giddy." 
 
 "Without the giddiness, that is what happens to 
 us. Our world is ever spinning rapidly round and
 
 How Stars Rise and Set. 35 
 
 round, like a top. This spinning movement makes 
 it seem to us as if the sun and the stars were always 
 travelling round and round the earth. But the sun 
 and stars have no such movements in reality. 
 Therefore I say that they do not actually rise and 
 set. The rising and the setting are entirely brought 
 about by the quick whirl of our own earth." 
 
 " It is very funny," said Ikon. " I don't feel at all 
 as if I was turning round and round." 
 
 "No; because everything on the earth around you 
 is carried along at the same speed as yourself. Also, 
 there are no jolts or noises to startle you. All the 
 earth's movements are perfectly silent and perfectly 
 even." 
 
 Neither spoke for a minute or two. Ikon seemed 
 intent on his own thoughts. 
 
 " Now I must dress for dinner," the Professor said 
 presently. " But come into my room for a minute; 
 I wish to show you some stars which cannot be seen 
 at this side of the house." 
 
 Ikon gladly obeyed. Herr Lehrer pulled up the 
 blind, put out the two candles which stood ready 
 lighted, and drew Ikon into the large bow-window. 
 
 " See," he said. " Has anybody ever pointed out to 
 you the Great Bear ? " 
 
 " The Great Bear ! O yes," said Ikon. " Dormer
 
 36 Among the Stars. 
 
 shows me the Great Bear sometimes; but I don't 
 think it is like a real bear. There's a picture of a 
 bear in a book downstairs, and the stars are dotted 
 over it. But I can't see it look like a bear in the 
 sky. I can only see seven stars." 
 
 " Seven chief stars, and many fainter ones," said 
 Herr Lehrer. " The outline of the bear in your 
 picture is of course imaginary. It is rather curious 
 that the ancients should have called this group by 
 the name of ' Bear,' since the real bear has almost 
 no tail, and those three stars make a long tail. Now 
 can you show me the Little Bear ? " 
 
 " No," said Ikon. " Dormer knew that there was 
 & Little Bear, but she couldn't find it." 
 
 " Look first at the two bright stars in the body of 
 the Great Bear, farthest away from his tail. Those 
 two stars are called the Pointers, for they point in 
 almost a straight line to the pole-star, which forms 
 the tip of the Little Bear's tail. Follow a straight 
 line from the pointers in that direction and you 
 come to the Little Bear. Seven chief stars again, 
 four to the body, and three to the tail; but some of 
 them are faint, and not so quickly seen as those of 
 the Great Bear." 
 
 " Oh, but I see ! Two four six seven," said 
 Ikon.
 
 How Stars Rise and Set. 37 
 
 " The little star at the end of the tail is important. 
 It is called, as I just now observed, the Pole-star 
 That star lies very nearly above the North Pole 
 of our earth. If you were standing at the North 
 Pole, you would look up and see the Pole-star just 
 over your head. In old days, before the mariner's 
 compass was invented, the Pole-star was most use- 
 ful to sailors; for by it they could always tell where 
 the north lay." 
 
 "But they couldn't tell when the Pole-star was 
 set," said Ikon. 
 
 " The Pole-star never does set to people in the 
 northern parts of the earth," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " Doesn't it ? Then all the stars don't set," said 
 Ikon thoughtfully. 
 
 "No; not all. Some stars never set to people 
 living in England, and other stars never rise to them. 
 The Pole-star is always above the horizon, to us. 
 The Southern Cross is never above it, to us. Sailors 
 in the northern parts of the earth always had the 
 sun by day and the Pole-star by night to guide them 
 except in cloudy weather; and then they were in 
 a sad case. Don't you remember in the story of St. 
 Paul's shipwreck, how this want was felt ? " 
 
 " No," said Ikon, looking up in Herr Lehrer's face. 
 
 "I would read my Bible somewhat more, if I were
 
 38 Among the Stars. 
 
 you," said the Professor gently. " It is in the last 
 chapters of Acts. You will find how he who 
 described the event said: ' When neither sun nor 
 stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest 
 lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then 
 taken away.'" 
 
 " But it isn't so bad for sailors now in cloudy 
 weather," said Ikon. 
 
 " No; for they now have the guiding compass." 
 
 " Doesn't the Pole-star move at all ? " asked Ikon. 
 " I mean doesn't it seem to move ? " 
 
 " Only round and round in a very tiny circle. 
 Other stars go round the Pole-star in bigger circles. 
 Those which lie nearest never set to us who are in 
 England. The Great Bear, for instance, does not 
 set. Stars placed farther off from the Pole-star, 
 moving round in still larger circles, dip more and 
 more below the horizon, for longer and longer por- 
 tions of the twenty-four-hours and then it is that 
 we speak of their rising and setting. But I must 
 try to make this more clear to you another day."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 STARS IN DAYLIGHT. 
 
 " Do you think you can manage a good walk this 
 morning, Ikon ? " asked the Professor next day. 
 
 " O yes. I should like it so much," Ikon replied. 
 
 " I want to take you to an old friend of mine liv- 
 ing near here, and ask him to show you something." 
 
 Ikon thought it strange that Herr Lehrer should 
 have an old friend just in that neighbourhood; and 
 he wondered greatly what the "something" might 
 be. 
 
 He hoped that Herr Lehrer might begin again 
 about the stars on the way. Bnt instead of this 
 they only talked of flowers and birds, till the house 
 was reached where the Professor's friend lived. 
 
 Ikon had many times seen the house before, 
 though he had never been inside it. 
 
 They did not go inside now. Herr Lehrer led 
 Ikon through part of the garden, and soon they came
 
 40 Among the Stars. 
 
 upon what looked like a round wooden summer- 
 house, having a dome-shaped roof. 
 
 " This is my friend's little observatory," said the 
 Herr. " Have you ever seen a telescope, Ikon ? " 
 
 " O yes," Ikon answered. " There's a sailor who 
 has one, and he lets me look in it sometimes. And 
 it makes the ships oh, so big ! " 
 
 " My friend here has a telescope for looking at 
 stars instead of ships," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 "Is it inside there ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " It is inside there." 
 
 Ikon gazed wistfully up. 
 
 " But there are no stars now," he murmured. " It 
 is all blue sky. Oh, I do wish it was night." 
 
 The Professor pushed open a little door and 
 entered the dome-roofed observatory. There was 
 not much space inside. A large telescope occupied 
 the centre, and many queer-shaped articles lay 
 about, very puzzling to Ikon. Herr Lehrer's old 
 friend proved to be a young-looking man, seated at 
 a tiny table fixed against the wall. Ikon was quite 
 startled to see him, he was so small and thin and 
 pale. But at the sight of Herr Lehrer his face 
 broke into a glowing smile. 
 
 " Ah, my friend ! " he said joyously. " We did 
 not half finish our talk yesterday."
 
 Stars in Daylight. 41 
 
 "And I cannot stay to finish it to-day, Fritz," 
 Herr Lehrer answered. " But I want this little boy 
 to see something for five minutes, if we do not in- 
 terrupt you." 
 
 The two spoke together softly, and Ikon's eyes 
 wandered eagerly up and down the tube of the big 
 telescope. Then Fritz stepped forward, and began 
 doing something to the telescope. He consulted a 
 book, and he moved the tube, and he looked into it. 
 
 All this while he had not troubled himself to shake 
 hands with Ikon. He seemed quite full of his other 
 visitor. 
 
 " Are we going to look at the sun ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " No, my boy. We are going to look at the 
 stars," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 Ikon's surprise may be imagined. For bright sun- 
 shine lay outside, and a blue starless sky. 
 
 " But it isn't night, and the stars are all set, he said. 
 
 " Not all," said the Professor. " Some stars have 
 set, and others have risen. Stars are rising and 
 setting all day as well as all night." 
 
 Ikon stared hard through the opening in the roof. 
 
 " I can't see them," he said. 
 
 " Now will you look," said Fritz, rising. " Make 
 taste." 
 
 Ikon obeyed in a great hurry. And there, sure
 
 42 Among the Stars. 
 
 enough, despite the daylight around, he saw quite 
 plainly one tiny pale star. 
 
 " Oh ! Oh ! Oh ! " he almost gasped. " But is that 
 a real star up in the sky ? " 
 
 "That is a real star in the sky," said Herr 
 Lehrer. 
 
 " Oh, it's going it's going it's gone ! " cried Ikon 
 " What does make it run away so fast ? " 
 
 Herr Lehrer put the little boy aside, peeped 
 through the eye-piece, stirred the great tube slightly, 
 and beckoned Ikon back. There once more was the 
 pale star; and again it quickly passed on and 
 vanished. 
 
 " Why doesn't it stop in the telescope ? " asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 "Because," said the Professor, "it is not in the 
 telescope but in the sky." 
 
 " But I mean " said Ikon. " I don't see why it 
 goes on." 
 
 " The stars all go on," said the Professor. " Night 
 and day alike. That seeming movement never stops, 
 for it is caused by the whirl of our own earth. Have 
 you forgotten what I told you yesterday evening? " 
 
 " O no," Ikon answered. " Only the stars in the 
 real sky don't gallop away so fast." 
 
 " This is a star in the real sky," said the Professor,
 
 IX MR. FRITZ'S OBSERVATORY. 
 
 STARS. 
 
 p. 42.
 
 Stars in Daylight. 43 
 
 smiling. " But the field of view in the telescope is 
 very small, and the star soon passes beyond it. And 
 the same power which magnifies the star, bringing 
 it as it were nearer to us, magnifies also the move- 
 ment of the star, making it seem to go faster." 
 
 " I wish I could see the star without the telescope," 
 said Ikon. " Why can't I ? Are there any other 
 stars beside this one ? " 
 
 " Quite as many as at night," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " But why don't we see them ? " 
 
 ' Did you ever take a lighted candle into bright 
 sunshine, and notice the appearance of the flame ? " 
 
 " O yes," replied Ikon. " I did only a little while 
 ago, and the flame was so pale and fady hardly any 
 light at all." 
 
 "Just so," the Professor said. "That candle 
 flame would shine far on a dark night; but in the 
 sunlight, you would not even see it at. a very little 
 distance. And the shining of the stars is very clear 
 in hours of darkness; but when the sun is up their 
 faint glimmer cannot be perceived. The stars are 
 always there, Ikon; and but for the brighter light 
 of the sun we might always see them." 
 
 " Is the Great Bear there now ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " Yes. It is only hidden by a veil of sunbeams," 
 said Herr Lehrer.
 
 44 Among the Stars. 
 
 " And the Pole-star. I wish I could see the Pole- 
 star through the telescope," said Ikon. 
 
 " There is no difficulty," remarked Fritz. 
 
 The book was consulted again, and the telescope 
 was adjusted anew. Very soon the young ma 
 said: 
 
 " Now ! " 
 
 And Ikon speedily had his eye in the right place. 
 This time the star was even paler and fainter than 
 the last. Still it was quite plainly visible. Ikon 
 watched steadily for some seconds. 
 
 "Is that really the Pole-star?" he asked. "I 
 can't see the rest of the Little Bear." 
 
 " The other stars are too distant from it to be seen 
 at the same time," said Herr Lehrer. " Yes, that 
 is the Pole-star, Ikon." 
 
 " But I don't see how you could find it," said Ikon 
 anxiously to the young man. 
 
 Fritz bit a pencil, and then answered: 
 
 " I know where to look for it." 
 
 "Now, Ikon," said Herr Lehrer, "we must not 
 hinder our friend any longer. Say Good-bye." 
 
 Ikon obeyed at once, and said "Thank you" also, 
 with a very grateful look. 
 
 Fritz looked at Herr Lehrer and said: 
 
 " The little boy may come again."
 
 Stars in Daylight. 45 
 
 " Thanks," Herr Lehrer answered. " He will be 
 very pleased, I am sure." 
 
 " May I come here some day at night ?" asked Ikon 
 earnestly. 
 
 "What would the good Dormer say?" enquired 
 Herr Lehrer, smiling. " We shall see, my boy." 
 
 For some time after leaving the garden the two 
 walked in silence. Ikon seemed very thoughtful, and 
 not inclined to chatter about what he had seen, as 
 some children might have done. He kept gazing at 
 the sky so hard that once or twice he caught his foot 
 and would have fallen, but for his friend's hand. 
 
 "The stars are there, my child," Herr Lehrer at 
 length said softly. 
 
 " I do wish I could see them," sighed Ikon. 
 
 " But you know the fact. The stars are there, ever 
 shining on, only hidden from our eyes by brighter 
 sunlight filling the air. Ikon, are you over-tired ? I 
 should like to turn aside for a few minutes on the 
 beach, as we go home." 
 
 " I'm not the very least tired," protested Ikon. 
 
 " Dormer bade me be careful of you; but the wind 
 is not so cold to-day. I do not think you will get 
 any harm." 
 
 The sea lay not far from Ikon's home, and he 
 often found his way thither. He loved to roam
 
 46 Among the Stars. 
 
 about on the shore, in search of shells and sea- 
 weeds. 
 
 The Professor and the child were soon standing 
 side by side upon the yellow sand. Small waves 
 rolled in cheerily, sparkling in the sunshine. 
 
 "What a difference sunshine makes!" said Herr 
 Lehrer. " What should we do without it ? " 
 
 " Everything would be so cold," Ikon said, with 
 almost a shiver. " I do like to feel warm." 
 
 " And all the warmth that we enjoy comes from 
 the bright sun," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " Does the sun make the stars warm too ?" asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 " No, my boy. The stars are bright and warm in 
 themselves, just like the sun. But our earth and the 
 moon would be quite cold and quite dark, if it were 
 not for the sun's rays." 
 
 Then he stood looking at the sea.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE ROUND EARTH. 
 
 "IKON," said Herr Lehrer, "I want you to observe 
 those two ships on the horizon. How much can 
 you see of them ? " 
 
 " I can see them both," said Ikon. 
 
 " The whole of both ?" 
 
 Ikon gazed hard. 
 
 " They are big ships, and they've both got three 
 masts," he said. "No, I can't see quite the whole 
 of one. I can only see the masts. It is such a 
 great way off." 
 
 " Such a great way off that the ship is too small 
 for you to see it ? " 
 
 " Not too small" said Ikon. " I can see the masts 
 quite plainly; only not the other part." 
 
 "Not the hull." 
 
 " No. O yes, that is the word hull. The sailors 
 call that being ' hull-down.' "
 
 48 Among ike Stars. 
 
 " Which means" 
 
 " Why, it means " said Ikon. " It only means 
 that one ship is gone down partly into the horizon.'* 
 
 "You would say that it has set," the Professor 
 said, smiling. 
 
 " But ships don't set like stars," said Ikon. 
 
 " Not precisely, perhaps. I wish you to tell me 
 what you mean by ' going down into the horizon.' " 
 
 Ikon seemed puzzled. 
 
 "What do you understand by the horizon?" 
 
 " It's just as far as I can see," said Ikon. " It's 
 where the sea and the sky join." 
 
 " Seem to join," corrected Herr Lehrer. " If you 
 were out there, where our horizon is now, do you 
 think you would find the sky really down on the 
 sea ? " 
 
 " No," said Ikon, laughing. " Of course I shouldn't. 
 The horizon would have gone on ever so much 
 farther." 
 
 " Then the horizon is the distant line where either 
 sky and sea or sky and land seem to meet. As you 
 say, it is just as far as we are able to see. But why 
 cannot you see farther ? Is it because your eyes 
 are too weak." 
 
 " I suppose so," said Ikon. " I didn't know my eyes 
 were weak."
 
 The Round Earth. 49 
 
 "And I do not think they are. If you and I were 
 to climb that cliff, should we still be able to see only 
 the same distance ? " 
 
 "No," Ikon said at once. "I know we should see 
 a great way farther out to sea, because I have so 
 often noticed that. The horizon seems to go away, 
 and sometimes there are more ships." 
 
 " So, plainly, my boy, it is not weak sight which 
 prevents your having a wider view. Being on the 
 top of the cliff would not strengthen your eyesight. 
 Now, Ikon, look again steadily at the ship that is 
 hull-down. You are quite sure you only see the 
 masts not the hull." 
 
 " No," Ikon answered. " I can't see the hull at all. 
 But couldn't I if we were up on the cliff? " 
 
 " Yes; you could. We will try another plan, how- 
 ever. Instead of going up the hill, we will use a 
 help to our sight, standing here." 
 
 The Professor drew a neat leathern case from his 
 pocket, and pulled something out of it. 
 
 "Is that a telescope ?" asked Ikon. "Why, it's 
 two little twin-telescopes joined together." 
 
 " It is called a bi-no-cu-lar," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " Am I to open one eye and screw up the other?* 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 " No; you may keep both eyes open, and use both
 
 50 Among the Stars. 
 
 Now, Ikon, stand very still, and move the binocular 
 gently, following the line of the horizon, till you find 
 a ship. Not too fast. You will come first upon the 
 nearer ship, which is not hull-down." 
 
 " Oh yes, I see. It's lovely," said Ikon. " The 
 ship has grown big ever so big. It looks a great 
 great deal closer than it was." 
 
 " Now move the glass on to the right for the 
 ship that is hull-down. See if the glass will enable 
 you to see the body of the ship." 
 
 "I should think it would" said Ikon confidently. 
 " There ! There it is ! I've found it." 
 
 " And the hull ? " said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " Why, it is hull-down still," cried Ikon. 
 
 " You are quite sure ? Examine carefully." 
 
 " I can only see the masts. But they are ever 
 BO much bigger and nearer. How funny ! " said 
 Ikon. 
 
 Herr Lehrer allowed Ikon to look a minute or two 
 longer; then, taking back the glass, he put it into 
 the case, and dropped both into his pocket. After 
 which he turned from the beach, and began walking 
 homewards. 
 
 " I do like that bi something," said Ikon. " May 
 I look in it again some day ? " 
 
 " Certainly," Herr Lehrer replied. "But do not
 
 The Round Earth. 51 
 
 now forget the question which we have not yet 
 answered." 
 
 Ikon had to consider. 
 
 " I know," he said. " It's why the sky and sea get 
 together I mean seem to get together " 
 
 " Seem to meet, at the horizon," said the Professor. 
 
 " Yes, seem to meet and why we can't see farther 
 out to sea, when our sight is good enough ? " 
 
 " That is better expressed. Can you tell me 
 what shape the earth is, Ikon ? " 
 
 1 ' What shape ? " repeated Ikon thoughtfully. ' ' Oh, 
 it's round." 
 
 "A plate is round," said the Professor. " Is our 
 earth the same shape as a plate ? " 
 
 "No. It's round like an orange. Miss Mundy 
 taught me that. And it has got a flat North Pole, 
 and a flat South Pole." 
 
 " The shape of the earth is that of a sphere," said 
 Herr Lehrer. 
 
 Ikon said the word "sphere" twice, as if half 
 recognising it. 
 
 "Miss Mundy said that a hemisphere meant half, 
 a sphere. And I know we are in the northern 
 hemisphere, because that comes into my geography. 
 But I don't think Miss Mundy ever told me that 
 the whole world was a whole sphere."
 
 52 Among the Stars. 
 
 " Come that shows attention," said the Professor, 
 well pleased. " I see you are really trying to under- 
 stand what I say to you. Your idea is quite right, 
 Ikon. The earth is a sphere; and half the earth is 
 a hemisphere, or half a sphere." 
 
 " Is a sphere like an orange ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " An orange is not a perfect sphere, because it is 
 rather flat at the two ends, instead of being perfectly 
 round every way. In the same manner the earth 
 itself is not a perfect sphere, having poles very slightly 
 flattened. Still, roughly speaking, an orange and 
 the earth are spheres or balls. You may as well get 
 it at once into your head that the moon and the sun 
 and the planets are all spheres or balls. None of 
 them are flat like plates." 
 
 " The moon looks flat," said Ikon. 
 
 " The moon is not flat," said the Professor. 
 
 " Are planets stars ?" asked the little boy. 
 
 " No planets and stars are quite different. I 
 must teach you the difference soon." 
 
 " I don't know yet why the sky and the water 
 seem to come together at the horizon," said Ikon, 
 after a pause. 
 
 " Because the world is a sphere, Ikon." 
 
 Ikon could not understand, and he was afraid the 
 Professor would think him dreadfully stupid. He
 
 The Round Earth. 53 
 
 asked no more, and Herr Lehrer waited, smiling. 
 Ikon presently murmured: 
 
 " I don't see one bit why." 
 
 He thought Herr Lehrer did not hear, and a fit 
 of shyness seized him, so that he could ask no more. 
 They were now quite near home, and Ikon was be- 
 ginning to feel very tired. So he trudged along in 
 silence, rather mournfully. 
 
 Reaching the house, Herr Lehrer placed a hand 
 on the child's shoulder, and led him into the school- 
 room. 
 
 "We have done nearly enough for this morning," 
 he said. " But I must make this one matter clear. 
 Where is you school-globe ? " 
 
 " It isn't a very big one," said Ikon. 
 
 " Quite large enough for our purpose. If a little 
 fly were standing here, Ikon, just where England is, 
 and another little fly were standing there, at the 
 south of Africa would these two little flies see one 
 another ? " 
 
 " No," said Ikon. " They couldn't." 
 
 " Why not ? Because of weak sight ? " 
 
 "Because the globe would 'come between. It 
 would hide one from the other." 
 
 " Suppose these countries were not marked on a 
 globe, but on a flat map. Have you an atlas ? "
 
 54 Among the Stars. 
 
 Ikon sprang across the room, and brought a slim 
 red volume. Herr Lehrer turned to the map of the 
 world. 
 
 " See a fly standing on England, and a fly stand- 
 ing at the south of Africa, might quite well see each 
 other, had they good enough sight." 
 
 " Yes," said Ikon. " But if the earth isn't flat, I 
 don't see why the map is made flat." 
 
 " For convenience only. This globe is a truer 
 picture of our world. Now look at it once more, 
 and leave the flat map. Suppose these two little 
 flies to be one in England, one at the Cape of Good 
 Hope. Suppose they begin to travel slowly one 
 to the south, one to the north. Could they see each 
 other yet ? " 
 
 " Not yet," said Ikon, watching the Professor's two 
 finger-tips with great interest. 
 
 " Put your face here, and look with the eye of the 
 English fly; not moving. Now the other fly comes 
 nearer slowly. Say; could the one perceive the 
 other?" 
 
 "Just," Ikon said. "I think this fly would have 
 just a glimpse of your fly." 
 
 "Of his head or his legs?" 
 
 " Oh, the head first, because that would be high- 
 est," said Ikon,
 
 The Round Earth. 55 
 
 "And a little nearer" 
 
 "Then they would see the whole of one another 
 quite plainly." 
 
 The Professor withdrew his hand, smiling. 
 
 " You have learnt your lesson, my boy. It is 
 even so that we see a ship approaching over the 
 sea. First the masts, because they are highest 
 while the hull of the ship is yet hidden. Then the 
 whole of the vessel." 
 
 "But," Ikon said "but the fly wouldn't see the 
 other fly, because the globe bulges up between." 
 
 " Precisely so," the Professor answered. " And 
 we could not see the ship's hull to-day, because the 
 waters of the ocean bulged up between." 
 
 " Does the water bulge up ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " The sea does as a whole. This earth being a 
 sphere, the ocean is folded round that sphere, fol- 
 lowing its shape," said Herr Lehrer. " Your little 
 globe is a small sphere, and the earth is a very large 
 one. Therefore, the bulging of the earth's surface 
 is very gradual and gentle. On your globe, a fly 
 would be hidden from another fly at a few inches 
 distance. On the earth, a ship can be seen by an- 
 other ship when very many miles apart. Still, when 
 one is hidden from the other, the reason is in both 
 cases the same."
 
 56 Among the Stars. 
 
 "Yes of course the earth is a great great deal 
 bigger," said Ikon. 
 
 " The higher we are placed, the wider is our view," 
 said Herr Lehrer. " On a hill we can see farther 
 than on the shore. On a mountain we can see 
 farther than on a hill. But in every case, nearer or 
 farther, the gently-bulging surface of sea or land 
 rises up, and seems to meet the sky, and shuts off 
 from us what lies beyond." 
 
 " I should like to know how big the earth is," said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Another time," the Professor answered. " I have 
 given you enough to think about this morning for 
 a holiday."
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THINGS BIG AND BEAUTIFUL. 
 
 " IT is two whole days since I have had one single 
 talk about the stars," said Ikon. 
 
 " Did you expect a lesson on Sunday ? " asked Herr 
 Lehrer. 
 
 " O no," the little boy answered. " Of course I 
 didn't. And you told me a great deal on my 
 Saturday holiday. Dormer says she is sure I ought 
 to be satisfied. And she says she can't think why 
 you take such a lot of trouble. And I told her it 
 was because you were so good." 
 
 " I like to teach people who love to learn," said the 
 Professor. 
 
 " /love to learn," responded Ikon, nestling close to 
 his friend with a confiding air. " And I didn't mean 
 to grumble about the two days, only it did seem 
 long." 
 
 The Professor smiled at this, and asked:
 
 58 Among the Stars. 
 
 " What do you want to hear about to-day? " 
 
 " If it was dark, I wanted to know more about the 
 stars all moving," said Ikon. "Seeming to move, I 
 mean. Dormer says the stars are all fixed quite 
 fast, and never move at all, really." 
 
 " Dormer's assertion is not quite correct. But let 
 that alone for the present. What do you wish ex- 
 plained ? " 
 
 "About the earth turning round, and making all 
 the stars seem to move over the sky," said Ikon, with 
 knitted brows. "I've been looking and looking 
 every evening when it is fine, and I can't make it 
 out a bit. The stars all go walking on, on, over 
 the sky. I've looked out as soon as it was quite 
 dark, and once or twice again before I went to bed. 
 And I could see the stars had gone walking on. But 
 I don't believe they all come up in the east and go 
 down in the west at least, I couldn't see that they 
 do. It seems as if they just come up anywhere and 
 go down anywhere." 
 
 " Rather puzzling for a little boy," said the Pro- 
 fessor. "Wiser heads than yours have felt the 
 difficulty. I do not mean to say much more to 
 you now about these apparent motions of the 
 stars. Some other matters had better come first. 
 But perhaps I can help you a little."
 
 Things Big and Beautiful. 59 
 
 " Please," Ikon said. 
 
 "Then notice this. Watch as you may, each 
 evening, you will see no stars rise anywhere near 
 the western horizon. Watch as you may, you will 
 see no stars set anywhere near the eastern horizon. 
 The general movement is all from an easterly 
 direction to a westerly direction." 
 
 Ikon nodded. " I'll look," he said. " I think I'll 
 look out both sides of the house." 
 
 " Do so," said Herr Lehrer. " Be quite clear in 
 your little head which really is the east, and which 
 the west. And remember also something else. 
 When we speak of stars rising in the east and setting 
 in the west, we do not mean merely the east and 
 the west of this house. We mean that the stars, 
 as a whole, rise to the east of the whole earth, 
 and set to the west of the whole earth. This 
 makes a very wide east and a very wide west, 
 reaching in fact from the north pole to the south 
 pole." 
 
 "I think I understand," said Ikon slowly. 
 
 " You asked me two questions lately which ought 
 to be answered," said Herr Lehrer after a pause. 
 " One was about the size of the earth. The other 
 was about the distinction between stars and 
 planets."
 
 6b Among the Stars. 
 
 "O yes, please," said Ikon. " Are you going to 
 tell me now?" 
 
 Herr Lehrer pulled a rosy-cheeked apple out of 
 his pocket, and said: 
 
 " Describe to me how large this apple is, Ikon." 
 
 " It is big a beautiful big apple." 
 
 " But I want to know its exact size." 
 
 Ikon seemed quite at a loss. 
 
 " There are two or three ways in which you may 
 answer me. You might say precisely how large it 
 is, measured straight through from one side to the 
 other. Or you might say how large it is, measured 
 once round the outside." 
 
 The Professor produced a slender sharp stiletto, 
 much like what ladies carry in their work-boxes; 
 and also a small ruler, marked with inches. A yard- 
 measure appeared next and was laid on the table. 
 Herr Lehrer thrust the stiletto carefully through 
 the centre of the apple, till its point just reached the 
 other side. Then, withdrawing it, he measured with 
 the little ruler how much of the stiletto had gone 
 into the apple. 
 
 " It's three inches," said Ikon eagerly. 
 
 " That is to say, the size of the apple from one 
 side to the other, straight through its centre, is three 
 inches," remarked the Professor. " Or, as I should
 
 Things Big and Beautiful. 6l 
 
 rather say, the apple is three inches in diame- 
 ter. The word * diameter ' means ' the measure 
 through.' " 
 
 Ikon repeated " diameter " two or three times, ac 
 if to learn it by heart. 
 
 " Again, we may take this yard-measure, and may 
 see how much of it is needed to go around the 
 apple at its largest part. See " 
 
 " Nine inches," cried Ikon. 
 
 " So we may say that the apple is three inches in 
 diameter, and nine inches in circumference" 
 
 " Cir-cum-fer-ence," repeated Ikon, " O yes, I 
 know that word. Doesn't it mean round right 
 round the outside ? The apple is three inches 
 through, and nine inches round." 
 
 " That is a more exact description than merely to 
 state that the apple is big and beautiful," said Herr 
 Lehrer. " You must try to remember these two 
 words, however diameter and circumference." 
 
 "Are you going to tell me how large the world is 
 through and round ? " asked Ikon. " I mean how 
 big its diameter is, and the other too." 
 
 " The earth is a great deal larger than this 
 apple," Herr Lehrer remarked. " Instead of being 
 three inches only, it is nearly EIGHT THOUSAND 
 MILES in diameter."
 
 62 Among the Stars. 
 
 " Eight thousand miles ! " said Ikon in amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 " Nearly," said the Professor. " Now I want you 
 to tell me what the circumference of the earth is. 
 A ball or globe is rather more than three times as 
 much round the outside as through the centre. Did 
 you notice this with the apple ? " 
 
 " No," Ikon answered. " It was three inches, and 
 nine inches. Of course three times three is nine." 
 
 " Then, if the diameter of the earth is eight 
 thousand miles, what is the circumference of the 
 earth ? " 
 
 "Three times eight thousand! O dear!" said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " That is not so difficult, my boy. Three times 
 eight is " 
 
 " Twenty-four," Ikon promptly replied. 
 
 "Then three times eight thousand is twenty-four 
 thousand. The earth is nearly eight thousand miles 
 in diameter, and she is about twenty-five thousand 
 miles round at the equator." 
 
 " It's an enormous earth," said Ikon very seriously. 
 " How long would it take me to walk eight thousand 
 miles ? Or to go by train ! How long would that 
 take ? " 
 
 " Without stopping ? " asked Herr Lehrer.
 
 Things Big and Beautiful. 
 
 " I shouldn't want to stop. It would be so dark 
 inside the world," said Ikon, smiling. " Of course, I 
 couldn't really take that journey, because trains don't 
 go straight down into the ground. And I couldn't 
 breathe either could I ? Only, people do make 
 tunnels." 
 
 "Not through the centre of the earth, Ikon." 
 
 " No only just a little way down. But if I 
 were to go," said Ikon, smiling still " Oh, wouldn't 
 it be a wonderful journey ! Where should I come 
 out at the other side ? " 
 
 " Probably in New Zealand," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 "It is nice to fancy things," said Ikon. "I like 
 to fancy going down, down deep into the ground, 
 and then coming out suddenly in New Zealand. How 
 frightened people would be to see me ! Would it 
 take me a great while to get there ? " 
 
 " If your train went steadily at the rate of forty 
 miles an hour, continuing night and day alike, 
 never stopping, and never going more slowly, you 
 would accomplish your journey in eight days and a 
 half." 
 
 " Do trains go forty miles an hour ?" 
 
 " Some do," said the Professor. " That is a good 
 medium speed. Some are faster, and some are 
 slower."
 
 Among the Stars. 
 
 " Only of course they do stop sometimes," said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Yes; passengers need food and rest; and engines 
 need coal and water. Such fast travelling in real 
 life is quite impossible." 
 
 " It seems such a great tremendous world," Ikon 
 remarked again. 
 
 " Not nearly so large as the sun," said Herr Lehrer. 
 " The sun is so very much more enormous, that our 
 earth beside him looks quite tiny." 
 
 " I shouldn't think such a great big world could 
 look tiny," said Ikon. 
 
 " Is a loaf of bread a large thing or a small thing ? " 
 asked the Professor. 
 
 "Why; I don't know. It's isn't it pretty big ? " 
 said Ikon hesitatingly. 
 
 -, " Suppose you asked a little ant what he thought 
 of a loaf?" 
 
 " Oh, he would say it was enormous," said Ikon, 
 his face lighting up with fun. " He would think it 
 a tremendous mountain." 
 
 " And suppose you asked an elephant what he 
 thought of that same loaf ? " 
 
 " Why, of course he would think it quite tiny," 
 said Ikon laughing. " Not even a mouthful only a 
 sort of scrap."
 
 Things Big and Beautiful. 65 
 
 " You see, then, that size is a matter of compari- 
 son. The same loaf is enormous to an ant, and a 
 mere scrap to an elephant. Now, the earth is very 
 large indeed to you and me. But seen beside the 
 gun, the earth is quite small." 
 
 " I didn't know the sun was so very very large," 
 said Ikon. 
 
 " Other people did not know it either, once 
 upon a time. The Greeks, long ago, were quite 
 angry because somebody ventured to think that the 
 sun might be as large as their little country, 
 Greece." 
 
 " But it is bigger, really and truly," said Ikon, in 
 a half questioning tone. 
 
 " Very much bigger. People believed, however, 
 then and long afterwards, that our earth was the 
 most important place was the centre, in fact, of 
 everything. They supposed themselves to be living 
 on a mighty world which never moved, round 
 which the sun and moon and planets and comets 
 and stars were perpetually travelling, just for the 
 good of mankind." 
 
 " Don't any of the stars go round and round the 
 earth ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 "Not one of the stars. And not one of the 
 planets either unless "
 
 66 Among the Stars. 
 
 " Doesn't anything ? Doesn't the sun, or the 
 moon ? " 
 
 " Yes, one thing does. The moon travels round 
 the earth, and only the moon. None of the stars 
 do; and none of the planets unless, as I was about 
 to say, we call the moon a planet. The sun does 
 not. It is the earth which travels round the sun, 
 not the sun round the earth." 
 
 "The sun seems to go round us," said Ikon. 
 
 " True; but you already know that this movement 
 of the sun is only apparent, and is caused by the 
 earth's own motion." 
 
 "Yes; I remember it is because the earth goes 
 spinning round like a top." 
 
 " That is one movement. There is also another. 
 The earth not only spins constantly like a top, 
 but travels always in a wide pathway round and 
 round the sun. She spins once in every twenty-four 
 hours: but to journey once round the sun takes her 
 a whole year." 
 
 " I think it's a very whirligig sort of world," said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " People for a long while did not know this, Ikon. 
 And when it was first talked about, they were greatly 
 offended. For it did not seem half so grand, to be 
 merely one among a great many planets circling
 
 Things Big and Beautiful. 67 
 
 round a mighty central sun, as to count our own 
 earth that mighty centre herself, with all the hea- 
 venly bodies circling round her." 
 
 "Do all the stars travel round the sun ?" asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 " No; not the stars. The sun himself is a star; 
 one among many stars. Our own world and many 
 other worlds travel round the sun, and we call them 
 'planets.' The sun is very much like a father, 
 with a large family clustering about him. Other 
 stars may have their families of worlds also." 
 
 " It seems so very funny to think of our sun being 
 only a star," said Ikon. " But you haven't told me 
 about planets yet." 
 
 " I have not forgotten," said Herr Lehrer. " Now 
 it has grown dark, I should like to show you through 
 my telescope the difference between a star and a 
 planet." 
 
 " Oh, have you got a telescope ? " cried Ikon, with 
 widely-opened eyes. 
 
 " Yes," said Herr Lehrer. " It is a clear night, 
 and mild for the time of year. Do you think Dor- 
 mer would give you leave to come out on the terrace 
 for a short time ? You must wrap up warmly. Tell 
 her it is not windy, and that side of the house is 
 sheltered."
 
 68 Among the Stars. 
 
 Ikon rushed away, breathless and eager. Whether 
 Dormer would have given her consent to anybody 
 except Herr Lehrer may be doubted. But she liked 
 the Professor for his pleasant ways: and she was 
 grateful to him for all the trouble he took with the 
 child. So Ikon soon came running back, muffled up 
 to the ears, and beaming with delight. 
 
 " That will do," the Professor said. " Now come."
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 IKON'S NEW "LITTLE MOON." 
 
 HERR LEHRER'S telescope was not nearly so large 
 as that of his friend "Fritz." It could be packed 
 away in a sort of long narrow box. Ikon had seen 
 this box often, and had wondered what might be 
 inside it. 
 
 Now he saw the box lying empty on the terrace; 
 and out of it had come a telescope, much larger than 
 that belonging to the sailor, yet a great deal smaller 
 than the one through which Ikon had seen stars in 
 broad daylight. The tube was mounted on a three- 
 legged stand; and a three-legged stool stood beside 
 it, ready for use. 
 
 " Now, Ikon," said the Professor. " Are you ready 
 for a little journey towards the stars ? " 
 
 Ikon clapped his hands, almost too happy for 
 speech. 
 
 " Mind, I only say towards the stars not to them.
 
 JO Among the Stars. 
 
 You and I can go in imagination, just so far as this 
 telescope has power to carry us." 
 
 " But of course it will make the stars look ever so 
 much nearer and bigger," said Ikon joyously. " I do 
 want to see what they are really and truly alike." 
 
 Herr Lehrer silently arranged the telescope in a 
 certain position. 
 
 " Are you going to let me look at that splendid 
 bright star up there ? " asked Ikon, extending his 
 arm in the same direction as the tube. " Oh isn't it 
 a beauty ? Bigger than my star was ! " 
 
 " There is no brighter star in all the heavens than 
 Sirius," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " Is that star called Sirius ? " 
 
 " Yes. It has an older name the Dog-star. But 
 I am not going to show you Sirius first. There is 
 a tolerably bright star near. Take a good look with 
 your own eyes, and then come here." 
 
 Ikon obeyed. He gazed hard for a moment at 
 the star indicated by the Professor, and then sprang 
 joyfully to the stool. 
 
 " Well ? " the Professor said. 
 
 For Ikon sat in silence, with his eye still at the 
 tube, direfully disappointed. He murmured at 
 length, in a depressed voice: 
 
 " It isn't one bit bigger or nearer."
 
 Ikons New '''Little Moon." 71 
 
 " No ? " said the Professor. " Look again at the 
 star, and then again through the telescope." 
 
 " It has gone away," said Ikon. 
 
 The Professor put his eye to the tube, and adjusted 
 it afresh. 
 
 " Well ? " he said once more. 
 
 " It isn't bigger much," said Ikon sadly. " I 
 don't see that it is at all. It's only just a little 
 more shining." 
 
 "We will try Sirius," said Herr Lehrer. " Sirlu$ 
 is a magnificent sun, Ikon much larger than our 
 own sun, we believe." 
 
 Ikon looked hard at the brilliant twinkling point 
 of light, and then peered anxiously through the 
 telescope. But the result was much the same. 
 
 " It's brighter," he said, sighing. " It is a good 
 deal brighter in the telescope. But I didn't want 
 only that. I wanted to see what the stars are like!' 
 
 "You did not see anymore in my friend's tele- 
 scope," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 "No. But that was day-time," said Ikon. "I 
 thought I was going to see ever so much to-night. 
 And it isn't anything at all. It's only just the same 
 as always. I don't see how anybody can know that 
 that little star is bigger than our sun ." 
 
 The voice sounded just the least degree injured,
 
 72 Among the Stars. 
 
 11 Our journey to the stars is a failure," said the 
 Professor, falling into Ikon's mournful tone. " We 
 have tried, and we cannot reach them. Shall we 
 give up from this day thinking any more about the 
 stars ? " 
 
 " O no," Ikon said at once, looking up in the 
 Professor's face. " I do want to learn more." 
 
 " But people cannot learn when they feel cross," 
 said Herr Lehrer. " It makes their brains stupid.' 
 
 " Then I won't be cross," said Ikon cheerfully. 
 " Perhaps Mr. Fritz's telescope could show me the 
 stars better." 
 
 " Not much better, Ikon. The most powerful 
 telescope ever yet made can do little more than in- 
 crease their brightness." 
 
 " I don't see why," said Ikon. 
 
 "Because they are so very very far distant." 
 
 " I thought telescopes were meant for that," said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Were meant to magnify distant objects, you 
 mean. Yes; it is so. But the power of a telescope 
 is limited. So enormous are the distances of 
 the stars, that telescopes can help us but a 
 little." 
 
 " I don't see that the stars are like the sun," said 
 Ikon.
 
 Ikon's New "Little Moon" 73 
 
 " No, my boy, you do not. Many things are true 
 which you and I cannot see." 
 
 " But you know," said Ikon timidly, hearing re- 
 buke in the tone. 
 
 " I know some facts about the stars which you do 
 not yet know and which, as a little boy, you can- 
 not possibly understand. There are further depths 
 of knowledge beyond me also, where I find myself 
 ignorant as a child. You and I have in different 
 matters to learn the same lesson that often we 
 must believe where we cannot see or understand." 
 
 " But you do know about that star being bigger 
 than the sun," said Ikon. 
 
 " We know about how far distant Sirius is. We 
 know that our sun, removed to the distance of 
 Sirius, would not shine as Sirius does, but would be 
 one of the fainter stars. We conclude, therefore, 
 that Sirius, giving out very much more light than 
 our sun gives out, must probably be much larger than 
 our sun. Another day I will tell you more about the 
 distances of the stars." 
 
 " If our sun was as far off as Sirius, wouldn't a 
 telescope make it look any bigger than a common 
 star ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " No, not at all, Ikon." 
 
 The Professor sat down again on the stool, and 
 6
 
 74 Among the Stars. 
 
 moved the telescope. Ikon, following this movement 
 with his eyes, and searching over the sky, suddenly 
 exclaimed: 
 
 " Oh, I can see another star, and it's brighter than 
 Sirius. "Oh, ever so much bigger and brighter. 
 And it doesn't twinkle at all. And you said you 
 would tell me why some stars don't twinkle, and 
 some do." 
 
 " The twinkling is merely in appearance," said 
 Herr Lehrer. " It is caused by the layers of air 
 through which the rays of light have to pass. In 
 parts of the earth, where the air is clearer, the twink- 
 ling is much lessened. In our country, however, you 
 may generally know a planet from a star, by the fact 
 that stars do twinkle, and planets as a rule do not." 
 
 " That star isn't twinkling," said Ikon. " Is it a 
 planet ? " 
 
 " Yes. I am going to show it to you through the 
 telescope. Ha ! " the Professor added, in a pleased 
 tone. " You are fortunate. Look quickly, Ikon, and 
 look steadily." 
 
 This time no disappointment was in store for the 
 boy. 
 
 " Oh ! Oh ! " he cried rapturously. " Oh, it's a 
 dear little moon a real moon such a beauty. And 
 it has got streaks all across it only not like the face
 
 Ikon's New "Little Moon? 75 
 
 on the big moon. Oh ! And there are three little 
 tiny stars quite near! Oh, it's going ! " 
 
 The Professor responded to this, and once more 
 Ikon's "moon" shone softly on him through the 
 telescope. 
 
 " Now, Ikon, make the best use of your sight," 
 said Herr Lehrer. "Are you quite sure there arc 
 only three little ' stars.' " 
 
 " One two three. Only three," said Ikon. 
 
 " Don't you see something on the edge of youi 
 ' moon ' a little bright hump ? " 
 
 " O yes why, of course I do. What can it be ? ' 
 cried Ikon. " And it's moving moving. I'm sun 
 it is ! There it isn't sticking to the moon any 
 longer. O dear me, they are all running away 
 again. Thank you now they are all right. And 
 there are four little stars." 
 
 " But they are not stars. They are moons," said 
 Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " Are those moons ? " said Ikon in astonishment 
 " Then there are five moons." 
 
 " No, only four. The larger body is a planet i 
 world like our own. The name of the planet iv 
 Jupiter. It is a very large planet indeed: mucfr 
 larger than our earth." 
 
 " Is it as big as the sun ?" asked Ikon.
 
 76 Among the Stars. 
 
 " No, not nearly. Jupiter is the largest of all the 
 planets; but still he is only a planet. He travels 
 round the sun, with his four moons; just as our 
 earth travels round the sun with her one moon." 
 
 "I do wish we had four moons," said Ikon. " I 
 should like to be on Jupiter. Are any people living 
 there?" 
 
 " Ah, that I cannot tell you," said Herr Lehrer. 
 " I think it is, to say the least, extremely doubtful. 
 Now, my boy, I must not keep you here any longer, 
 or you will take cold. You have had a capital view 
 of Jupiter. Run indoors, and take off your wraps." 
 
 Ikon obeyed, and soon after the Professor followed 
 him. 
 
 "Well," he said smilingly to the little boy, "I 
 hope you are carrying away some clear ideas this 
 evening, Ikon." 
 
 " I've been trying to remember all you told me," 
 said Ikon. " And I think I haven't forgotten much." 
 
 " Try to tell me some of the chief points," said 
 the Professor. 
 
 Ikon stood in front of him, with a very intent 
 face. 
 
 " The sun is a star," he said. " And stars and 
 planets are quite different. And our world is a 
 planet."
 
 Ikons New "Little Moon? 77 
 
 " Good," said the Professor. " Go on." 
 
 " And the sun is in the middle of all the planets," 
 said Ikon. " And they go round and round the sun 
 our world and Jupiter and all of them. And the 
 stars don't go round the sun, but perhaps they have 
 planets going round them." 
 
 " Quite right," said the Professor. 
 
 "And the moon goes round the earth; and we 
 have only got one moon," continued Ikon. " And 
 Jupiter has got four moons. And the stars are such 
 a very great way off that the telescope can't make 
 them look bigger, but only brighter." 
 
 " Are the planets as far off as the stars ?" asked 
 Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " I don't know. Are they, please ? " 
 
 "No; not nearly. You saw that the telescope 
 could make Jupiter look larger." 
 
 " O yes I forgot. And there's a beautiful star 
 called Sirius, and it's a sun, and it is most likely a 
 great great deal bigger than our sun." 
 
 " Well remembered, my boy," said the Professor.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 SHINE AND SHADOW. 
 
 " PLEASE, will you tell me more about Jupiter ? " 
 asked Ikon, next day. 
 
 It was a rainy afternoon, and he had been amusing 
 himself in the school-room for a change. A lamp 
 had been lighted early, and placed on the centre 
 table. Dormer came in and out, till Herr Lehrer 
 appeared, and then she vanished. 
 
 "Jupiter is one of the planets," said Herr Lehrer, 
 " There are many others, however." 
 
 "What does 'planet' mean?" Ikon wanted to 
 know. 
 
 "A 'planet* means a 'wanderer.' They were 
 so named at first because of their movements in the 
 sky. The stars, as I think you know, remain fixed 
 in the same positions, century after century. The 
 movement of the earth makes them seem to sweep 
 over the sky every night in company; but they do
 
 Shine and Shadow. 79 
 
 not change places among themselves. The Great 
 Bear always keeps his own shape, unchanged; four 
 chief stars to the body, and three to the tail. So 
 too with the Little Bear, and with all other groups 
 of stars." 
 
 "Is that what Dormer meant by calling them 
 'fixed'?" asked Ikon. 
 
 " That is doubtless what Dormer had in her mind 
 When you look out at night, and see the constella- 
 tions of the Great Bear, or the little Bear, or Orion] 
 you may be sure that Abraham and Noah and Job, 
 looking at the sky thousands of years ago, might 
 have seen those very constellations, just the same 
 in shape as you see them now." 
 
 "I wonder if Abraham and Noah and Job ever 
 looked at the stars," said Ikon thoughtfully. 
 
 " Abraham did," said Herr Lehrer. " God led him 
 forth one night, and told him to look at the sky. 
 And Job did, for he speaks of the stars in his book. 
 No doubt Noah did also." 
 
 " I don't know exactly what constel constel " 
 
 "Constellations? A constellation is a group of 
 stars." 
 
 " And haven't they changed the very least since 
 Abraham was alive ? " 
 
 " Since Abraham lived on earth ? I do not say
 
 8o Among the Stars. 
 
 there has been no change. But I do say that if you 
 had looked upon them then, and could look upon 
 them again now, with your unassisted sight and 
 common attention, you would not see the slightest 
 alteration." 
 
 " It is such an immense time," said Ikon. 
 
 " We were going to talk about the planets," said 
 Herr Lehrer. " The stars remain fixed, each having 
 its own particular place in a particular group or 
 constellation, from which it never stirs. But the 
 planets are always wandering on among the stars. 
 That is why they are called Wanderers." 
 
 " Does Jupiter move about ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 "Yes. If you watched him carefully for a long 
 while, you would find his position slowly changing. 
 Some of the smaller and nearer planets move much 
 faster. A planet, instead of being fixed in one con- 
 stellation, may be seen now in one group of stars, 
 then in a second, and then in a third. That is one 
 great distinction between stars and planets " 
 
 " I know another difference," said Ikon. " Stars 
 twinkle, and planets don't." 
 
 " As a general rule they do not; but some among 
 them may be seen to twinkle. I wish now to telJ 
 you of a more important distinction. What causes 
 the stars to shine, Ikon ? "
 
 Shine and Shadow. 8 1 
 
 "Dormer says it is because they are bright." 
 
 Herr Lehrer turned to the table, smiling. 
 
 "Does this lamp shine because it is bright ?" 
 
 "Why, no," said Ikon. "It shines because be- 
 cause it burns. It can't help shining. It shines 
 because there is a flame of fire." 
 
 " That is precisely how the sun and the stars 
 shine," said Herr Lehrer. " The sun shines, and the 
 stars shine, because they are great fiery furnaces of 
 heat and light." 
 
 "Are there flames in the sun ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " Yes. The sun is wrapped round with a tremen- 
 dous envelope of furious flames." 
 
 " I shouldn't think it would be nice to live there.'* 
 
 "I should not think it would be possible," said 
 Herr Lehrer. " Now the planets do not shine so- 
 neither does the earth." 
 
 " Why, the earth doesn't shine !" said Ikon in sur- 
 prise. 
 
 " Certainly it does, my boy quite as much as 
 some other planets. If you were on Venus, you 
 would see our earth looking much more brilliant 
 and beautiful than Jupiter did last night." 
 
 " Is Venus a planet?" 
 
 " Venus is one of the planet- wanderers the 
 nearest to ourselves in size."
 
 82 Among the Stars. 
 
 
 
 " I never thought of the earth shining," said Ikon. 
 
 Herr Lehrer took up a little glass ball with 
 which Ikon had been playing, and held it in the full 
 light of the lamp. 
 
 "What makes this little ball shine? " he asked. 
 
 " Why because it's in the lamplight," said Ikon. 
 
 " Would it still look bright, if I put out the lamp ? " 
 
 " O no; it wouldn't shine at all. It could not 
 shine in the dark." 
 
 "You see, then, the difference between the stars 
 and the planets. A star shines as this lamp shines, 
 by its own actual brightness. A planet shines, as 
 this glass ball shines, by light falling upon it from 
 something else. Our sun is a star, and he shines by 
 his own burning light. Our earth is a planet, and 
 she shines only because the sun's light falls upon her.' 
 
 " And the moon ? " said Ikon. 
 
 "The moon shines as the planets shine by re- 
 flected or borrowed light. The moon is bright, 
 simply because the sunbeams falling on her make 
 her bright. The moon can only shine on that side 
 which is turned towards the sun. Her other side is 
 in darkness. The sun, on the contrary, is always 
 equally bright all round." 
 
 Herr Lehrer walked to the window, and beckoned 
 Ikon to follow him.
 
 Shine and Shadow. 83 
 
 " Do you think this part of the earth is shining 
 now ? " he asked. 
 
 " It doesn't look as if it was," said Ikon. 
 
 "And it is not. This side of the world is now 
 turned away from the sun; therefore no bright sun- 
 beams fall on it, and it cannot shine. The other 
 side of the earth is now coming into daylight, just 
 as we are now passing away from it. That side 
 could be seen to shine, by somebody looking at it 
 from another world." 
 
 " But our earth isn't up in the sky ? " said Ikon, 
 in a puzzled voice. 
 
 " Our earth is just as much up in the sky to another 
 planet, as another planet is up in the sky to us." 
 
 "It seems funny," said Ikon. "And it is very 
 funny to think of daylight being somewhere else on 
 the world, while we are in the dark." 
 
 " There is always daylight somewhere on earth," 
 said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 He rose from the table, and brought the little 
 school-globe from another part of the room. Ikon 
 jumped up, and then paused, not knowing what the 
 Professor wanted. Herr Lehrer placed the globe 
 on the table, raising it by means of a small desk to 
 about the height of the lamp. 
 
 "Now, Ikon," he said, "you are to suppose this
 
 84 Among the Stars. 
 
 lamp to be the sun, and this globe to be our earth. 
 How much of the earth is in daylight, and how much 
 is in darkness ? " 
 
 " The side near the lamp is in daylight bright 
 daylight," said Ikon. "And this side away from the 
 lamp hasn't got daylight, I suppose. But it isn't dark." 
 
 " No; for there is sufficient light through the room 
 to prevent any part of the globe being quite dark. 
 But you can see that this side is in shadow; and 
 with the real earth, the shadow is blackness. Now 
 get up on a chair, and look carefully. Tell me 
 is it day or night in England at this moment ? " 
 
 " Why, we are in England, and it is nearly night," 
 said Ikon. " Oh do you mean on the globe ? It is 
 dark where little England is quite night." 
 
 The Professor began to turn the globe very gently 
 from left to right. 
 
 " Now watch," he said. " You see I am moving 
 England towards the east. That is the way the earth 
 turns. Can England see the sun rising yet ?" 
 
 "Just a peep," said Ikon. 
 
 " Then that is the dawn. As the earth turns, Eng- 
 land is travelling towards the east; and this makes 
 it seem to her as if the sun were rising in the east. 
 See England is passing on to broad daylight. 
 Now she is exactly under the full lamp-light, and it
 
 Shine and Shadow. 85 
 
 is mid-day. Now she is moving onward, and it is 
 afternoon with her. Other countries are, you per- 
 ceive, having their mid-day; and others their morn- 
 ing dawn; all at the same time. Now England has 
 reached her evening twilight. She is passing away 
 from the sunlight and America is in broad daylight, 
 while the inhabitants of China are plunged in dark- 
 ness. Now England has passed into night once 
 more yet none the less does the lamp shine." 
 
 Ikon was intensely interested. He asked to turn 
 the globe himself, and sat on the table, scanning 
 its surface eagerly, and calling out: 
 
 "It's night! It's morning ! It's mid-day! It's 
 evening ! Now the people are going to bed ! But 
 over on the other side of the world they are just get- 
 ting up. How funny why, some are having breakfast 
 and some are having tea, just at the very same time." 
 
 Ikon turned once or twice in silence, and then 
 looked smilingly in the Professor's face to say: 
 
 " What tiny tiny wee little people they would have 
 to be on this globe ! " 
 
 " Much too small to be visible even with a micro- 
 scope," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " I shouldn't like to be so small as that," said Ikon. 
 
 " Well, have you turned it enough ? " asked the 
 Professor at length.
 
 86 Among the Stars. 
 
 " I suppose so," said Ikon, as if unwilling still to 
 leave off. " I never did know before that it was day 
 in one place, and night in another place, at the very 
 same time." 
 
 " I hope you know it now," said Herr Lehrer. 
 " There is always broad daylight exactly under the 
 sun. There is always complete night exactly away 
 from the sun. There is always morning dawn on 
 one side, between the two. There is always evening 
 twilight on the other side, between the two. As the 
 earth turns on her axis, each country passes in turn 
 through these different conditions." 
 
 "What is ' axis' ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " The axis of this globe is the slender rod upon 
 which it turns. The axis of the earth is the straight 
 line from her north pole to her south pole, round 
 which she spins." 
 
 " I wonder why the globe is made all tilted over 
 on one side," said Ikon. "It would be ever so much 
 nicer straight." 
 
 "Would it? But the earth is not straight," said 
 Herr Lehrer. "The axis of the globe is tilted to 
 one side, just because the axis of the earth is tilted 
 to one side. I will tell you more about this some 
 other day."
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE SIZE OF THE SUN. 
 
 " I WANT to have a few words with you about the 
 sun," Herr Lehrer remarked next morning after 
 breakfast. " Miss Mundy does not come directly, 
 does she ? " 
 
 " O no not till ten o'clock," said Ikon. " But we 
 can't see the stars now, and I thought you were al- 
 ways too busy after breakfast." 
 
 " Not to-day; but I shall be busy all the afternoon 
 and evening." 
 
 " The sun isn't shining now," said Ikon, coming 
 to the Professor's side. 
 
 " Yes, it is shining very brightly indeed," said 
 Herr Lehrer. 
 
 Ikon looked at him in astonishment. For 
 certainly it was an extremely dull and beclouded 
 morning. 
 
 " The sun shines up in the heavens, just as usual,*
 
 88 Among the Stars. 
 
 said Herr Lehrer. " Only it happens that a few 
 masses of vapour have come between his rays and 
 this part of England." 
 
 "Is that all? "asked Ikon. "But ever so many 
 people say the sun doesn't shine sometimes." 
 
 " The sun always shines," said Herr Lehrer. "Now 
 and then his beams do not fall directly on you and 
 me. Yet his light and warmth reach us through the 
 clouds." 
 
 " Yes it isn't dark" said Ikon. " I didn't think of 
 that. Please, I do want so very much to know how 
 big the sun really is. Oh, and I want to know the 
 names of all the other planets besides Jupiter." 
 
 "The planets shall come to-morrow. The sun to- 
 day," said the Professor, "Which do you suppose 
 to be the largest, my boy sun or moon ? " 
 
 " Why, you said the sun was. It doesn't look the 
 biggest," said Ikon, "It's only a great deal the 
 brightest. But the sun and the moon look just the 
 same size." 
 
 " Yet one is enormously larger than the other. 
 How come they to appear alike ? " 
 
 Ikon thought for some seconds, and shook his 
 head hopelessly. 
 
 Herr Lehrer drew a ring off his little finger, and 
 held it between Ikon's eyes and the window.
 
 The Size of the Sun. 89 
 
 " Now observe and tell me which looks to your 
 sight the larger, this ring, or yonder red house on the 
 hill-side?" 
 
 " The house, of course," said Ikon. 
 
 " You are speaking hastily. Observe for yourself. 
 I do not ask which is in very truth the largest, but 
 which appears so to your eyes at this moment. In 
 your sight, does the house or the ring fill the biggest 
 space ? See you can behold the entire house 
 within the circle of the ring." 
 
 " I suppose the ring looks the biggest really," said 
 Ikon. I didn't think it would." 
 
 "You jumped at a conclusion, and did not notice 
 for yourself. Why does the ring look larger to you 
 than the house ? " 
 
 " Because because " said Ikon. " Oh, because 
 it is close to me, and the house isn't." 
 
 " The case is the same with the sun and moon, my 
 boy. The sun is like the house very large and very 
 distant. The moon is like the ring very small and 
 very near. Therefore, as we look at the two, they 
 appear to be about the same size. The moon can 
 even hide the face of the sun from us, as she floats 
 between; exactly as this little ring can encircle the 
 large house." 
 
 " How big is the moon really ? " asked Ikon. 
 7
 
 90 Among the Stars. 
 
 "Much smaller than the earth. Instead of being 
 eight thousand miles straight through, the moon's 
 diameter is only two thousand miles. If I were to 
 take a good-sized marble as a picture of the earth, I 
 should have to take a pea as a picture of the moon." 
 
 " Eight thousand miles, and two thousand miles! 
 Why, two thousand is only one quarter of eight 
 thousand," said Ikon. " And how big is the sun, 
 please?" 
 
 " Tell me once more the diameter of the moon," 
 said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 "Two thousand miles." 
 
 "And of the earth?" 
 
 " Nearly eight thousand miles," said Ikon. 
 
 " Good child. Now the diameter of the planet 
 Jupiter, which you have seen, is a good deal more 
 than ten times as much. Ten times eight thousand 
 is eighty thousand. So Jupiter's measure, straight 
 through the centre, is more than eighty thousand 
 miles." 
 
 " Oh, what a size! " said Ikon. " And the sun ? " 
 
 " The sun's diameter is again more than ten times 
 that of Jupiter. Ten times eighty thousand is eight 
 hundred thousand." 
 
 Ikon's eyes opened widely. 
 
 " So," continued the Professor " you may remem
 
 The Size of the Sun. 91 
 
 ber these round numbers as somewhat near the 
 mark: 
 
 "The moon: about two thousand miles. 
 
 " The earth: more than eight thousand miles. 
 
 " Jupiter: more than eighty thousand miles. 
 
 "The sun: more than eight hundred thousand 
 miles." 
 
 " What a tremendous enormous great sun he must 
 be," said Ikon. "Ten times as big as Jupiter." 
 
 " Much more than ten times as big" said the Pro- 
 fessor. "We are speaking now simply about the 
 diameter or through-measure; not about the size of 
 these globes as a whole." 
 
 " But I thought you said it was ten times as big," 
 replied Ikon. 
 
 " No, my boy. I said that the diameter of Jupiter 
 was about ten times the diameter of the earth; and 
 that the diameter of the sun was about ten times 
 that of Jupiter. To say that the size of one planet 
 is ten times the size of another, is quite a different 
 matter." 
 
 Ikon was plainly puzzled. 
 
 "See here," said the Professor "this globe of 
 yours is, roughly speaking, about ten inches in diam- 
 eter. Have you at hand the little glass ball which 
 we used yesterday ? Ah, thanks, I did not see.
 
 92 Among the Stars. 
 
 Now this small glass globe is about one inch in 
 diameter. Therefore, your globe is just so much 
 bigger than the glass ball, as Jupiter is bigger than 
 the earth. The diameter of one is about ten times 
 the diameter of the other." 
 
 " Yes oh yes, I understand," said Ikon. " One 
 inch, and ten inches." 
 
 "The diameter of the globe is ten times the 
 diameter of the glass ball," repeated Herr Lehrer. 
 " But the globe is very much more than ten times 
 the size of the glass ball as a whole. Ten glass balls 
 of this size would not make a ball as large as the globe." 
 
 " O no; not nearly" said Ikon. 
 
 "So it is quite a different matter to speak of the 
 diameters of two balls, and to speak of their general 
 size or volume. But now I wish to help you to a 
 clearer idea of the sun's size, compared with the 
 earth's size. Talking of thousands of miles is very 
 puzzling to a little boy. Suppose we try to fancy 
 the earth and Jupiter and the sun all grown small 
 together." 
 
 " All grown to the same size ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 "No; the same size would not do at all. You 
 must picture them all to yourself as shrinking 
 smaller and smaller; yet one not shrinking faster 
 than the others."
 
 The Size of the Sun. 93 
 
 " Yes. I'm fancying them," said Ikon. 
 
 " Whatever sizes we bring them to, Jupiter's 
 diameter must always be about ten times that of 
 earth; and the sun's diameter must always be about 
 ten times that of Jupiter. If the earth's diameter 
 is supposed to be one mile, Jupiter's will be ten 
 miles, and the sun's will be a hundred miles. If the 
 earth's diameter is supposed to be an inch, Jupiter's 
 will be ten inches, and the sun's a hundred inches. 
 In this manner you may gain a good notion, not of 
 their actual sizes, but of how large each one is, com- 
 pared with the others." 
 
 Ikon nodded and looked very intent. 
 
 " This little glass ball may do for the earth," said 
 the Professor. "And your globe shall serve for 
 Jupiter. The glass ball is an inch, and the globe is 
 ten inches, in diameter. In proportion to these sizes, 
 we shall require for the sun a globe of about one hun- 
 dred inches, or eight and a half feet, in diameter." 
 
 " Eight and a half feet ! " repeated Ikon. 
 
 " This room is not high: but it is over eight 
 feet and a half," said Herr Lehrer. " Your playroom 
 would, however, be about right. A ball to represent 
 the sun should just be able to stand in your play- 
 room, Ikon, with perhaps two or three inches to 
 spare."
 
 94 Among the Stars. 
 
 " It wouldbt a great huge ball," said Ikon. "And 
 only this little tiny glass ball for the earth." 
 
 , " And perhaps a large pea for the moon," said Herr 
 Lehrer, smiling. " Did I not rightly say, child, that 
 the earth was small beside the great sun ? "
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MANY WORLDS. 
 
 " MAY I learn the names of all the planets to-day?" 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 " You may hear them some of the number 
 at least. The learning must depend upon your- 
 self." 
 
 " I should like to write them down, and then I'll 
 say them over and over to Dormer." 
 
 " Not a bad notion. What is a planet, Ikon ? " 
 
 " It's a world," said Ikon. " And it goes round and 
 round the sun." 
 
 " Do all planets go round the sun ? " 
 
 Ikon said " Yes; " and then hesitated. 
 
 " All planets belonging to our sun's own family do/ 
 said Herr Lehrer. " But there may be thousands of 
 other planets, travelling round other suns." 
 
 " O yes, I forget," said Ikon. " And a planet 
 isn't a star. A star shines of itself; but a planet
 
 9b Among the Stars. 
 
 shines because the sun makes it shine. And a planet 
 is a place for people to live on." 
 
 " Our own planet is a place for people to live on," 
 said Herr Lehrer. " Other planets may be so also, 
 or they may not be." 
 
 "Aren't some of them any use at all?" asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Yes," Herr Lehrer answered. " God made them 
 all, and when the work was done He saw that it was 
 good. So you may be quite sure they have their 
 uses, past or present or future. But I cannot at all 
 say whether other planets are of use precisely in the 
 same way as our earth." 
 
 Ikon was in the schoolroom again with the Pro- 
 fessor. Herr Lehrer did not always seem inclined 
 for the long climb upstairs to Ikon's playroom, ex- 
 cept at night, when a good view of the stars could 
 be had. 
 
 "All the planets of our system, so far as we know, 
 spin round like the earth," said Herr Lehrer. " All 
 of them travel round the sun, like the earth. So, 
 like the earth, other planets have their days and 
 nights and years. The great sun is in the centre, 
 pouring out light and heat; and the planets roll 
 round and round him perpetually; each at its 
 own distance, and each in its own pathway or
 
 Many Worlds. 97 
 
 orbit. Some are near, and some are very far 
 away." 
 
 " How many planets are there ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 "Eight principal planets, and many smaller ones. 
 You shall get your slate presently, and write down 
 all the chief names." 
 
 " Only eight ! " said Ikon. 
 
 "Eight principal planets. That is not nearly 
 all." 
 
 " No," said Ikon. 
 
 "We may divide them into three groups. First: 
 the four smaller planets, nearest to the sun. Some 
 think there are five, but this is not certain. Second: 
 a great many very little planets, all travelling round 
 the sun in company. Third: the four great outer 
 planets, farthest away from the sun. In addition, 
 there are the moons, belonging to some of the 
 planets. Many of these moons are larger than 
 many very small planets. They really are planets 
 or worlds; though we call them moons, because 
 they seem to belong to other planets, as our moon 
 seems to belong to us." 
 
 " May I learn their names now ? " begged Ikon. 
 
 " Yes, you may get your slate. That is right. 
 Now put down first 
 
 " ' THE SUN.' For he is the centre and head."
 
 98 Among the Stars. 
 
 Ikon wrote quickly, as directed. He had a good 
 clear hand for his age. 
 
 " Tell me now what comes next." 
 
 " Four or five not very big planets," said Ikon. 
 
 "If there are five, the name of the first and 
 nearest to the sun is 
 
 " VULCAN. 
 
 " But we are by no means sure that there is such 
 a planet. The nearest of which we are sure is 
 
 " MERCURY. 
 
 " That is a busy little planet, hurrying round 
 the sun at a great pace. Outside the path of Mercury, 
 lies next that of 
 
 " VENUS. 
 
 " You may often see Venus in the evening or morn- 
 ing, soon after sunset or before sunrise. She is even 
 brighter and more beautiful than Jupiter. Beyond 
 Venus follows the planet 
 
 " EARTH. 
 
 " These two, Venus and Earth, are much the same 
 In size. Next comes the red-tinted planet 
 
 "MARS travelling in a pathway or orbit outside 
 that of Earth. 
 
 " Have you written down these five names, Ikon ? * 
 
 Some little help in the spelling proved needful. 
 
 " Is that our own earth ? " Ikon wanted to know.
 
 Many Worlds. 99 
 
 " That is our own earth, lying between Venus and 
 Mars. More correctly, the pathway of Earth lies 
 between the pathways of Venus and Mars. All 
 these planets are called worlds, but ' Earth ' is the 
 name of our particular world or planet." 
 
 Herr Lehrer took a piece of paper and a pen. 
 He made a little black dot in the centre, and said: 
 
 " That is the sun. Now we will draw the orbits of 
 the four planets Mercury first Venus, outside Mer- 
 cury Earth, outside Venus Mars, outside Earth." 
 
 " Four rounds," said Ikon. 
 
 " Four circles, I suppose you mean. But the paths 
 of the planets are not circles. They are all slightly 
 oval: and the sun is not exactly in the centre of any 
 one of these orbits. I am not attempting to show 
 you their respective distances here. This is merely 
 to make you understand their positions." 
 
 " May I keep that paper ? " said Ikon. 
 
 " If you like. Next come the PLANETOIDS, or 
 Little Planets. They were first named ASTEROIDS, 
 or Little Stars. But they are not stars; they are 
 planets, only very small ones. In number they 
 amount to between two and three hundred; and 
 their orbits all lie between the pathways of Mars 
 and Jupiter. I will tell you more about distances 
 another day."
 
 IOO Among the Stars. 
 
 " And then there are the big planets," said Ikon, 
 having written down with some assistance the word 
 " Planetoids." 
 
 " Yes. Outside the belt of little planets, we 
 come suddenly on the monster planet 
 
 " JUPITER. 
 
 " You haVe seen Jupiter already, and will not for- 
 get him, I think. Outside Jupiter lies 
 
 " SATURN. 
 
 " I have not told you anything yet about this 
 planet, with his strange and beautiful rings. Saturn 
 is next in size to Jupiter. Then follows 
 
 "URANUS. 
 
 "And after Uranus we reach the lonely far-off 
 wanderer 
 
 " NEPTUNE. 
 
 " If any more planets exist beyond these, they 
 have not yet been discovered. Uranus and Neptune 
 are a great deal smaller than Jupiter, but a great 
 deal larger than Earth." 
 
 " May I know about the moons ? " asked Ikon. 
 " You said they really were planets too." 
 
 " Well, yes you may as well. Write ' Moon ' 
 above, and opposite the name Earth write * One.' 
 Mercury and Venus have, we believe, no
 
 Many Worlds. IOI 
 
 "We're better off than Mercury and Venus," said 
 Ikon. Hasn't poor Mars a moon ? " 
 
 " Mars has two exceedingly small moons, lately 
 discovered." 
 
 "Oh, I'm glad of that. It would be nice if we had 
 two," said Ikon. 
 
 "Jupiter has four moons," continued the Professor. 
 " Saturn has eight. Uranus has four. Neptune has 
 one." 
 
 " Only one and such a great way off from the 
 sun ! " said Ikon. 
 
 " Only one of which we know as yet. There may 
 be others," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " May I read the names through?" asked Ikon. 
 " I want to be quite sure I've got them all exactly 
 right, and then I mean to learn them off by heart- 
 perfectly." 
 
 The Professor made a sign of assent, and Ikon 
 read: 
 
 "THE SUN. 
 
 " Mercury; 
 
 "Venus; 
 
 "Earth; with one moon. 
 
 " Mars; with two moons. 
 
 "The Planetoids.
 
 IO2 Among the Stars. 
 
 "Jupiter; with four moons. 
 " Saturn; with eight moons. 
 "Uranus; with four moons. 
 " Neptune; with one moon." 
 
 " Right," the Professor said, when Ikon paused.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MANY DISTANCES. 
 
 "SUPPOSE," said the Professor, "suppose that the 
 sun were only one twenty-fifth of an inch in diameter." 
 
 " Are you going to tell me more about the sun to- 
 day ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " I am speaking of the sun at this moment. I 
 wish you to picture the Solar System on a very 
 small scale." 
 
 " Is the Solar System something new for me to 
 learn ? " 
 
 " No. By the 'Solar System ' I mean the sun and 
 his family of planets, moons, and other bodies." 
 
 " O yes," assented Ikon. 
 
 " Sol is the Latin for sun; and by a ' system ' we 
 mean a 'plan' or a 'scheme.' The Solar System 
 is that ' plan ' of heavenly bodies of which the great 
 sun is the centre." 
 
 Then the Professor began again:
 
 IO4 Among the Stars. 
 
 " Suppose that the sun were only one twenty-fifth 
 of an inch in diameter." 
 
 " That is less than an inch," said Ikon. 
 
 " Considerably less. You must divide an inch into 
 twenty-five equal lengths, and take one of these tiny 
 lengths for the diameter of your sun." 
 
 "But why? "asked Ikon. 
 
 The Professor produced an ivory foot-rule, with 
 inches and tenths of inches marked. He made 
 Ikon count the ten little divisions of one inch. 
 
 "And it wouldn't even be one of those tens" said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Tenths," corrected Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " Tenths," repeated Ikon. "It wouldn't even be 
 half one of those. The inch is only in ten bits, 
 and you want it to be in twenty-five bits. I 
 shouldn't think the sun would be bigger than a 
 pin's head." 
 
 " No larger than the head of a small pin," said 
 Herr Lehrer. " So now we have the size of the sun. 
 What must be the size of the planets in proportion? 
 You know what I mean by ' in proportion ' ? " 
 
 " Yes. Jupiter's diameter has got to be ten times 
 less, I mean, only one-tenth as much," said Ikon. 
 *' O dear me, Jupiter would be only a dot, and I 
 am sure the earth wouldn't be anything at all."
 
 Many Distances. 105 
 
 " Would not be anything visible to our eyes, you 
 mean. Earth and other small planets would be 
 only as specks of finest dust. Still, yon have now 
 to picture them thus to yourself. I wish to show you 
 what their proper distances from one another would 
 be, if the sun were as small as I have described." 
 
 " O, I shall like that," said Ikon. 
 
 " Let us go to the large empty room behind the 
 study," said the Professor. 
 
 Ikon followed gladly. It was a room seldom 
 used, barely furnished, and not even carpeted. The 
 Professor pushed aside a table, knelt down, and 
 stuck upright in the boards a pin with a very small 
 red head. 
 
 " That is our sun, Ikon. For the planets we will 
 place other pins, though probably they should be 
 too small to be seen by us. You understand that 
 we are now picturing to ourselves the sun and his 
 planets, all shrunken to a very minute size. Not 
 only the sun and the planets are shrunken, but dis- 
 tances and movements are lessened also, exactly in 
 the same degree. The whole thing, instead of being 
 magnified, is diminished." 
 
 Herr Lehrer pulled out his "binocular" from a 
 deep pocket, and bade Ikon look through it out of 
 the window.
 
 io6 Among the Stars. 
 
 " Everything is so delightfully big," Ikon said. 
 " Trees and all. Everything looks so much 
 nearer." 
 
 " Nearer to you but not nearer, one thing to 
 another," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 "No," said Ikon, peering outside the glass and 
 again through it. "No, things don't look nearer to- 
 gether. Those clumps of trees seem bigger, and 
 closer to me, but they seem farther apart from each 
 other." 
 
 "Then the glass magnifies distances as well as 
 sizes," said Herr Lehrer. " Look at the cart and 
 horse on the road yonder. Does the glass make 
 them seem to move faster or more slowly ? " 
 
 " Faster, I think," said Ikon, after a pause. " Yes, 
 faster. I wonder why ? " 
 
 " If they were nearer you would see them go 
 faster," said Herr Lehrer. " The glass makes them 
 seem nearer, and therefore makes them also seem to 
 go faster." 
 
 Herr Lehrer put his hand on the binocular, turned 
 it round, and desired Ikon to look through the op- 
 posite end. 
 
 "Oh! oh!" cried Ikon. "How funny! Why, 
 everything has grown quite tiny oh, it does look 
 pretty ! I do like such a dear little wee view.
 
 Many Distances. 107 
 
 Such little bits of trees, and the fence, and the 
 clouds too, and the horse and cart are just like 
 toys." 
 
 " Notice carefully, and then tell me," said the Pro- 
 fessor. " Are the clumps of trees now farther apart 
 from each other or closer together, than when seen 
 by your own unaided sight ? " 
 
 " Closer together. Farther off from me, and nearer 
 to one another!" said Ikon. "It's all shrunk up 
 small." 
 
 " Notice again," said the Professor. " Do the horse 
 and cart move faster or more slowly ? " 
 
 "Slower," said Ikon. "Not nearly so fast as 
 when I saw them looking big through the other way 
 of the glass. The horse is like a toy horse, and he 
 just creeps along." 
 
 " Then you perceive, Ikon, that movements and 
 distances, as well as sizes, may be lessened, or may 
 be magnified. Objects which are more near to us, 
 or which are made to appear more near by a tele- 
 scope, seem farther apart one from another and move 
 faster. Objects which are far removed from us, or 
 which are made by this binocular to appear far, seem 
 nearer to one another and move more slowly." 
 
 Herr Lehrer took the glass from Ikon's hands, and 
 put it away in his pocket.
 
 io8 Among the Stars. 
 
 " This is what we are in imagination doing for the 
 sun and the planets," he said. " We are causing the 
 whole to lessen the sun, the planets, the distances, 
 the movements. The large bulk becomes small bulk; 
 the great distance between one world and another 
 becomes little distance; the fast movement becomes 
 slow movement. But all the while, the true propor- 
 tions remain unchanged. The biggest is still the 
 biggest; the farthest is still the farthest; the fastest 
 is still the fastest. It is as if we were viewing the 
 Solar System, not through a telescope with mag- 
 nifying power, but through the wrong end of my 
 binocular. By this means, we have diminished the 
 sun to the size of a small pin's head." 
 
 Ikon gave a little jump of glee. 
 
 " I quite understand now," he said. " And I do 
 like it." 
 
 " Here then is our sun," said Herr Lehrer, pointing 
 to the red head of the pin. " Which planet comes 
 nearest to the sun ? " 
 
 " Vulcan perhaps," said Ikon. " Or else Mercury.** 
 
 " Vulcan being doubtful, we will take Mercury as 
 the nearest. This little pin must stand for Mercury, 
 at somewhat less than two inches' distance from our 
 sun. Measure with the ruler, my boy. About one 
 inch and two thirds."
 
 STARS. 
 
 THE ORBIT OF THE PLANETS. 
 
 p 108
 
 Many Distances. 109 
 
 Ikon obeyed eagerly, and the pin was placed. 
 Herr Lehrer, with a piece of white chalk, marked a 
 light line on the floor around the central pin. 
 
 "This is the pathway or orbit of Mercury," he 
 said. " You see that I have made it somewhat oval; 
 and the sun is not exactly in the centre. That is 
 more or less the case with all the orbits. Now the 
 next planet." 
 
 " Venus," said Ikon promptly. 
 
 " Venus must be at a distance from the sun of 
 three inches. I will mark this orbit also, outside 
 that of Mercury. It would take me too long to 
 chalk them all. Perhaps some day you may be able 
 to do it yourself. Properly, the planets should be 
 scattered round the sun in different parts of their 
 pathways; not all be placed on one side. Now the 
 next." 
 
 " Earth," said Ikon. 
 
 " Good. Measure your distance from the sun- 
 slightly over four inches." 
 
 " Mars," said Ikon. 
 
 " Six inches and a quarter from the sun," said Herr 
 Lehrer. 
 
 " The Planetoids," said Ikon. 
 
 "These are in reality scattered widely over millions 
 and millions of miles," said Herr Lehrer. " But on
 
 HO Among 1 the Stars. 
 
 this tiny scale, those nearest to the sun will be about 
 eight and a half inches distant; those farthest will 
 be about twelve and a half inches distant. Thus 
 we have a clear gap of about four inches between 
 Mars and the Planetoids. We have also another 
 clear gap of about nine inches between the Planetoids 
 and the next large world, called " 
 
 " Jupiter," cried Ikon. 
 
 " You have learnt your lesson well," said the Pro- 
 fessor, in a pleased tone. " Jupiter's orbit should be 
 about one foot and three-quarters from the sun. 
 You must imagine four tiny moons travelling with 
 him. Then " 
 
 " Saturn," said Ikon. 
 
 " Saturn's distance from the sun is not far from 
 twice that of Jupiter. Three feet, two and a half 
 inches, from the red pin." 
 
 "It's a great deal farther away from the sun than 
 we are," said Ikon, with some pity for Saturn. 
 " Uranus is next." 
 
 "Uranus is quite twice as far from the sun as 
 Saturn. Six feet and nearly seven inches from the 
 red pin, my boy." 
 
 " O dear me Uranus must be cold," said Ikon. 
 44 And Neptune ? " 
 
 " Neptune must be at a distance of ten feet and
 
 Many Distances. Ill 
 
 about three inches. There ! " said the Professor. 
 " Now you have them all." 
 
 "And that's the Solar System!" said Ikon, gazing 
 at the pins. 
 
 "That is a little picture of the Solar System," said 
 Herr Lehrer. "But you must fancy these pin-heads 
 to be minute balls floating round the central sun, with 
 no floor to support them. It is quite correct their 
 being all placed on the same level, for this is very 
 much the case with the orbits of the real planets. 
 You must also picture the sun as so intensely bril- 
 liant that, in spite of its small size, it can light 
 up this whole room with a certain measure of 
 light." 
 
 "Must I fancy the little balls to be moving?" asked 
 Ikon, with his most intent look. 
 
 "Yes; all," said Herr Lehrer. "The sun spins 
 slowly round in his place; and the specks of dust 
 not only spin, but also travel, slowly round and round 
 him on their different orbits." 
 
 " Slowly; not fast?" said Ikon. 
 
 " The real planets go very fast. But this small 
 Solar System would not have rapid movements," said 
 Herr Lehrer. " The real earth has a very long 
 journey indeed to perform in her year of twelve 
 months. But a speck of dust floating round this
 
 H2 Among the Stars. 
 
 tiny sun, must go slowly indeed to make the journey 
 last twelve months." 
 
 "Is Jupiter twelve months doing his journey?" 
 asked Ikon. "And Mercury ?" 
 
 "Mercury's year is only about three of our months," 
 said Herr Lehrer. " And Jupiter's year is about 
 twelve of our years. Now, Ikon, here we have on a 
 very small plan, the positions and distances of the 
 planets or worlds belonging to our sun. What of 
 the fixed stars ? " 
 
 " I suppose they are farther away than even Nep- 
 tune." 
 
 " Much farther. If our sun were only the size of 
 this pin's head; if our earth were a speck of dust 
 about four inches off, and Neptune a larger speck 
 about ten feet off where should we have to place 
 the nearest fixed star ? Not the farther stars, but 
 the very nearest about which we know anything 
 certain." 
 
 " Perhaps it would be as far as the fireplace," said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Farther." 
 
 " What would it be out of the room ? At the 
 front door ? " suggested Ikon. 
 
 Herr Lehrer shook his head. 
 
 " On the scale of sizes and distances which we are
 
 Many Distances. 113 
 
 supposing," he said, "the very nearest fixed star, the 
 distance of which is known to us, would be a little 
 object, about the size of a pin's head and dazzlingly 
 brilliant, placed fourteen miles away." 
 
 Ikon could only say: 
 
 " Oh ! " 
 
 " It is astounding; utterly astounding," said Herr 
 Lehrer. "A little more than four inches of dis- 
 tance between earth and sun. About fourteen 
 miles of distance between earth and the nearest 
 fixed star." 
 
 " But we shouldn't see it at all," said Ikon. 
 
 " That depends upon the intensity of the light," 
 said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " Fourteen miles," repeated Ikon. 
 
 "About twenty minutes or more of journey by rail," 
 said Herr Lehrer. " Fourteen miles, as against four 
 inches. Yet this little space of four inches " the 
 Professor stooped to touch the red-headed pin and 
 the pin which stood for earth "even this little space 
 of four inches, Ikon, stands for about ninety-one 
 millions of miles. Think then what the actual 
 distance of the stars must be."
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 "FAR, FAR AWAY." 
 
 " Is the sun really and truly ninety-one millions of 
 miles away ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " Quite that. Rather more," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " I don't think I know exactly how much a 
 ' million ' means." 
 
 " You know what a hundred means, Ikon a hun- 
 dred miles ? " 
 
 " O yes," Ikon answered. 
 
 " Ten hundreds make one thousand. " So, ten 
 times a hundred miles is " 
 
 "A thousand miles," said Ikon. 
 
 " But ten thousands do not make a million; and a 
 hundred thousands do not make a million. For a 
 million you must have one thousand thousands." 
 
 " What a great number ! " Ikon said. 
 
 " So to fancy a million miles, you must think first 
 of a hundred, then of ten times a hundred, making
 
 "Far, far Away" 115 
 
 a thousand, then of a thousand times a thousand 
 making a million. And when you have reached the 
 thought of one million, you have to remember that 
 the sun is ninety-one times as much as one million 
 miles distant." 
 
 " And yet the sun looks so near with the pins," 
 said Ikon. " Neptune must be oh, what a lot of 
 millions away ! " 
 
 " Every four inches of this distance between the 
 pin-sun and the pin-Neptune means nearly ninety- 
 one millions of miles," said the Professor. 
 
 " But I don't see how anybody can really know 
 about the sun being such a way off, or about the 
 number of miles," said Ikon. 
 
 Herr Lehrer smiled. 
 
 " Suppose I were standing on the brink of a broad 
 river, Ikon, and wished to measure the width of the 
 river. How should I do it ? 
 
 " Why," said Ikon slowly " why, I should think 
 wouldn't you go across in a boat, and take a rope 
 with you, and tie one end to the side you left, and 
 see how long a piece of rope was wanted to go right 
 over ? " 
 
 " That plan might do. But suppose I had no boat, 
 and no means of crossing the river. How then 
 should I measure its breadth ? "
 
 Ii6 Among the Stars. 
 
 " You couldn't," said Ikon. 
 
 " Certainly I could. The thing is done every day. 
 To discover the width of a river without crossing it, 
 to measure the distance or height of a hill far off, 
 these are things which do not offer the slightest 
 difficulty." 
 
 " I don't see how anybody can," said Ikon. 
 
 " No, you do not see how. Even so small an affair 
 as this is not known to you. Then is it surprising 
 that you cannot tell how men measure the great 
 distances of sun and stars ? " 
 
 "Do they really?" said Ikon. 
 
 " They do really of the sun, and also of a few 
 stars. Not of many stars, I grant. I do not think 
 you will be able to understand till you are a little 
 older exactly how this measuring is accomplished, 
 though it really is a simple matter. We will now 
 leave the pins alone, and will look upon the question 
 of distances in a different light." 
 
 Ikon was all attention. 
 
 " Do you remember our speaking about the 
 diameter of the earth, and about how long it would 
 take to journey through the earth's centre from 
 England to New Zealand ? " 
 
 " Yes! " Ikon said. " The diameter was more than 
 eight thousand miles, you said. And the train
 
 " Far, far Away" 117 
 
 was to go forty miles an hour, and wasn't ever to 
 get faster or slower. And the journey would take 
 eight days and a half." 
 
 " Suppose," said the Professor, " that you wished 
 to travel away from earth, straight to the moon. 
 Suppose a line of rails were laid, leading up into the 
 sky" 
 
 " But it couldn't be," said Ikon. 
 
 " That is another matter. You are to suppose 
 that it could be, and that you would travel upwards 
 in a train which should go always at the rate of forty 
 miles an hour, never hastening and never slackening 
 its speed." 
 
 " How long would it take me to get to the moon ?" 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 " Not eight days and a half, my boy, but eight 
 months and a half." 
 
 " What a great way ! " Ikon said in surprise. " But I 
 thought you said the moon was quite little and near.'* 
 
 "Little, compared with the sun's size; near, com- 
 pared with the sun's distance. That is all I meant 
 to say. Now imagine that you are going to take 
 that same journey from the earth to the sun 
 travelling straight there by train, always at the rate 
 of forty miles an hour, never pausing for an instant on 
 the way."
 
 Ii8 Among- the Stars. 
 
 "Yes," Ikon said eagerly. 
 
 " You might hope to reach the sun in two hundred 
 and sixty years." 
 
 " Why, I shouldn't be alive at the end," cried Ikon. 
 
 " Suppose again," continued the Professor softly 
 and slowly, " that having performed this great 
 journey of two hundred and sixty years, from earth 
 to sun, you. then wished to travel from the sun 
 direct to Jupiter and Saturn, still keeping up the 
 same speed of forty miles an hour continually. 
 How long would it take you to reach Jupiter, after 
 leaving the sun ? " 
 
 " How long ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " About thirteen hundred and fifty years." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Ikon, with a gasp. " But it wouldn't 
 take me so long to get to Saturn. Yes, it would, 
 though because Saturn is farther away than 
 Jupiter." 
 
 " On Jupiter you would not be much more than 
 half-way to the orbit or pathway of Saturn," said 
 Herr Lehrer. " It might happen that Saturn would 
 be far away on some other part of his orbit, perhaps 
 quite the other side of the sun, at an enormous 
 distance. But we will suppose that Saturn is at his 
 nearest point, just on the part of his orbit which 
 lies exactly outside where Jupiter is. Even so the
 
 "Far, far Away" 119 
 
 journey from Jupiter to Saturn would take another 
 eleven hundred years and more." 
 
 "It's dreadful,"said Ikon gravely. "Please, how long 
 is that straight all the way from the sun to Saturn ? " 
 
 " Nearly two thousand five hundred years of travel- 
 ling. The orbit of Uranus lies about twice as far 
 from the sun as the orbit of Saturn. So we may 
 say that this railway journey from the sun to Uranus 
 would occupy about five thousand years." 
 
 "And Neptune is ever so much farther still," said 
 Ikon. " Would it take ten thousand years to get to 
 Neptune from the sun ? " 
 
 " Perhaps between seven and eight thousand. Now 
 recall these figures, Ikon. A train, going always at 
 the rate of forty miles an hour, would pass exactly 
 through the earth in " 
 
 " Eight days and a half," said I^con. 
 
 " From the earth to the moon ? " 
 
 " Eight months and a half." 
 
 " From the earth to the sun ? " 
 
 " Two hundred and sixty years," said Ikon quickly. 
 
 " Well answered. From the sun to Saturn ? " 
 
 " Two thousand five hundred years," Ikon said, not 
 without hesitation. 
 
 " From the sun to Uranus ? Twice as much as to 
 Saturn"
 
 I2O Among the Stars. 
 
 " O yes ! five thousand years." 
 
 " Good ! Remember the last figure five thou- 
 sand. A train travelling from earth to the nearest 
 fixed star, going always at the same speed, would 
 arrive there in not five thousand years, Ikon but- 
 about FIFTY MILLIONS OF YEARS." 
 
 " O dear ! " sighed the child. " I think I like best 
 the little pin-sun, and the star only fourteen miles 
 off." 
 
 " The proportions are the same. Fourteen miles 
 compared with four inches means no less a distance, 
 than fifty million years of travelling beside two 
 hundred and sixty years. And you ought to like 
 best," added the Professor gently "whatever helps 
 you to see most clearly the wonderful power of 
 God." 
 
 Ikon looked earnestly at the Professor. 
 
 " His power is shown in His works," added Herr 
 Lehrer. 
 
 " Are the stars His works ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 "HE made the stars, child." 
 
 " Yes, I know that is in the Bible," said Ikon. 
 " ' HE MADE THE STARS ALSO.' I found that text, 
 and I learnt it. Does the Bible say anything else 
 about God making the stars ? " 
 
 " Bring me the Bible from that table," said Herr
 
 "Far, far Away" 121 
 
 Lehrer. " Thanks. Now see if you can find the 
 thirty-third Psalm, and read aloud the sixth verse. 
 
 Ikon obeyed, and read slowly: 
 
 " ' By the Word of the LORD were the heavens 
 made; and all the host of them by the Breath of 
 His mouth.'" 
 
 "The Word of the Lord is Christ and the 
 Breath of God is the Holy Spirit," said Herr 
 Lehrer. " So God made the host of heaven, Ikon." 
 
 " What is ' host ' ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " A host commonly means an army. You have 
 seen often enough the glittering host of stars. Find 
 the eighth Psalm, and read the third verse." 
 
 Ikon obeyed again: 
 
 " ' When I consider Thy heavens, the work of 
 Thy fingers; the moon and the stars, which Thou 
 hast ordained ' " 
 
 The child looked up with intent eyes, repeating: 
 
 " ' The work of God's fingers ' ! " 
 
 " To be sure, Ikon. What else would you have ? 
 Our Father speaks to us in our own language," said 
 Herr Lehrer musingly. 
 
 "Does 'ordained' mean the same as 'made'?" 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 " It means more. God made them; also He gave 
 to each its proper weight, motion, speed; He placed 
 9
 
 122 Among the Stars. 
 
 each in its right position; He orders and controls 
 each, continually. The nineteenth Psalm, Ikon, and 
 the first verse." 
 
 Ikon read aloud: 
 
 " ' The heavens declare the glory of God; and the 
 firmament showeth His handiwork.' " 
 
 " ' His handiwork' means the work of His hands, 
 ' the work of Thy fingers ' again." 
 
 " And ' firmament ' ? " said Ikon. 
 
 " That is explained in the first chapter of Genesis, 
 seventh verse see: 'God made the firmament, and 
 divided the waters which were under the firmament 
 from the waters which were above the firmament; 
 and it was so; and God called the firmament 
 Heaven.'" 
 
 " The waters below ? " questioned Ikon. 
 
 "Seas and oceans the waters above, clouds and 
 vapours. ' Firmament ' and ' heaven ' are words 
 both used for the space between clouds and earth. 
 But the heavens which hold God's host of countless 
 stars reach far far beyond, into distances which we 
 cannot even fancy. And this wonderful 'heaven 1 
 these vast distances those splendid suns of .light, 
 Ikon one and all ' DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD.'" 
 
 " I wonder what He made them all for," the little 
 boy said thoughtfully.
 
 ' 'Far, far Away" 123 
 
 " That was one of the first questions which you 
 put to me, Ikon," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 Ikon smiled, and asked: 
 
 "Did I?" 
 
 " Yes; but I did not answer it then." 
 
 " Will you now ? " inquired the child. 
 
 " It is answered here," the Professor said, touching 
 the open Bible. " Find the fourth chapter of Reve- 
 lation, and the eleventh verse." 
 
 Ikon read aloud with eagerness: 
 
 " ' Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory 
 and honour and power: for Thou hast created all 
 things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were 
 created.' " 
 
 "'FOR THY PLEASURE,'" repeated Herr Lehrer. 
 " Don't forget this, Ikon. Whatever in creation 
 seems to us puzzling, or needless, or lacking in 
 beauty remember still ' Thou hast created ALL 
 things for Thy pleasure.' That is enough for us. 
 For His pleasure they were made; for His pleasure 
 they now exist." 
 
 Ikon thought for some seconds with a dreamy 
 look. 
 
 " Perhaps there are people living on some of those 
 other worlds," he said. 
 
 " It may be so," the Professor answered.
 
 124 Among the Stars. 
 
 " Perhaps little boys doing lessons, and playing 
 perhaps on Jupiter," said Ikon. 
 
 " It is, I think, on the whole more likely that little 
 boys might be living on Mars than on Jupiter," said 
 Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " Why ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " From what we know of the present state of the 
 two worlds, it seems rather the more probable of 
 the two." 
 
 " Won't you tell me all you know about Mars and 
 Jupiter ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 "To-day, child?" 
 
 " No; some day," said Ikon. 
 
 " Some day I hope to tell you more," said Herr 
 Lehrer. " 'All I know' might be rather too much 
 for your little brain as yet. To-morrow I think we 
 will leave the planets alone, and have a lesson about 
 the seasons on earth." 
 
 " What seasons ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 "Spring, summer, autumn, and winter," said Herr 
 Lehrer.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 SUMMER AND WINTER. 
 
 "WE will go into the schoolroom, Ikon. I want the 
 lamp and your little globe." 
 
 They soon sat together at the schoolroom table 
 the lamplight falling on Herr Lehrer's silvery beard 
 and star-like eyes; while Ikon's little pale face was 
 uplifted, full of eager readiness. 
 
 "You were going to teach me about the seasons 
 to-day," he said. "And that means spring and 
 summer and autumn and winter." 
 
 Herr Lehrer touched the school-globe which stood 
 before them, and said: 
 
 " Show me here how we on earth have day and 
 night." 
 
 Ikon turned the globe slowly on its axis. 
 
 " Like that," he said. " The earth goes round and 
 round and round, and the countries on the earth go 
 round; and that makes the sun seem to rise and set 
 every day."
 
 126 Among the 
 
 " Does the sun seem to rise all over the earth at 
 once ? " 
 
 "O no?" Ikon replied. "It is sunrise in one place 
 and noonday in another place, and sunset and mid- 
 night in other places, all at the very same moment." 
 
 " How long is a ' day'?" asked the Professor. 
 
 " Twelve hours," said Ikon. 
 
 "No. A 'day' in the language of astronomers 
 means the whole day of twenty-four hours, including 
 morning, noon, evening and midnight. By a 'day' of 
 twelve hours you mean simply the time of daylight." 
 
 Ikon nodded. 
 
 " But daylight does not with us last always exactly 
 twelve hours. In spring and autumn for a short 
 time we have, it is true, a day of twelve hours and a 
 night of twelve hours. This soon changes. In 
 winter the sun does not rise till seven or eight, and 
 goes down about four in the afternoon; so daylight 
 is only eight or nine hours long, and darkness lasts 
 fifteen or sixteen hours. In summer we have just 
 the opposite a very short night, and very long day- 
 light." 
 
 "Yes; the sun gets up quite early in summer," 
 said Ikon. 
 
 "This difference is more and more marked, the 
 farther we go from the equator," said Herr Lehrer.
 
 Summer and Winter. 127 
 
 " Show me the equator on the globe. Right. On 
 the equator, days and nights are always equal, all 
 the year round, just twelve hours each. But passing 
 away from the equator, either north or south, the 
 days become longer and longer in summer, the nights 
 longer and longer in winter, till, at the North and 
 South Poles, there is only one day of six months 
 and one night of six months in the year." 
 
 " I shouldn't like that. I shouldn't like it at all," 
 said Ikon. " I should be so dreadfully tired before 
 I went to bed." 
 
 " Yes if you sat up all through the six months* 
 But you would have to go to bed in daylight," said 
 Herr Lehrer. " That is what people do in northern 
 countries, when summer comes round in Greenland, 
 for instance, and the north of Norway. Show me 
 Greenland on the globe and Norway." 
 
 " Here and here," said Ikon. 
 
 "Quite right. Now watch, while I spin it slowly, 
 and tell me has England on the globe a short or a 
 long night now ?" 
 
 "Short," Ikon said. "Quite short. The top of 
 the globe is turned so much towards the lamp, that 
 the light shines on England most of the time." 
 
 " We usually call ' the top of the globe ' the North 
 Pole," said Herr Lehrer. " You have answered truly.
 
 128 Among the Stars. 
 
 As the globe now stands, with the North Pole point- 
 ing towards the lamp, or sun, England has long; 
 daylight and short darkness. That is England's 
 summer." 
 
 " I like summer," said Ikon. 
 
 " But in another part of England's year, as you 
 know well, Ikon, it must come about that she has 
 long darkness and short daylight." 
 
 "Yes; we have had that lately," said Ikon; "be- 
 cause it is winter." 
 
 "The full 'day' of twenty- four hours never 
 changes in length," said Herr Lehrer. " The divis- 
 ions of that day into darkness and light do change, 
 however, very much. Now, how is this ?" 
 
 Ikon could give no answer. 
 
 "Why does not summer last always? A few 
 
 -months ago we had in reality what England on this 
 
 little globe has now long light and short darkness. 
 
 What has caused our days to shorten and our nights 
 
 to lengthen, since last summer ? " 
 
 " Winter has come," said Ikon. 
 
 " But why has winter come ? Why should not 
 summer continue?" 
 
 " I suppose because because we have had frost 
 and snow," said Ikon. 
 
 Herr Lehrer smiled.
 
 Summer and Winter. 129 
 
 "Frost and snow come with winter," he said. 
 *' But they do not cause winter, my boy. Did it ever 
 strike you that the sun seemed at all different in 
 summer and winter ? " 
 
 " The sun isn't so hot in winter," said Ikon. 
 
 "No; he has not so much power. And the reason 
 of the sun having less power is that he is lower down 
 in winter nearer the horizon. He does not come 
 up high over our heads, but only rises a little way 
 and soon goes down again. The sun's rays come 
 slanting through the air, instead of beating straight 
 upon us from above." 
 
 " But why ? " asked Ikon. " What makes the sun 
 go away ? " 
 
 " Did I say the sun went away ? " 
 
 "No. You said " began Ikon. "You said I 
 thought you meant that." 
 
 "It is a curious fact," said the Professor, looking 
 at Ikon " that we really are nearer to the sun in 
 winter than we are in summer." 
 
 " Nearer in winter," said astonished Ikon. 
 
 " Only about three millions of miles," said the 
 Professor carelessly. 
 
 " But that is a heap nearer," said Ikon. " It ought 
 to make us oh, ever so much hotter." 
 
 " It does not," said the Professor. " Look here,
 
 130 Among the Stars. 
 
 Ikon suppose a fly were standing on my knee, 
 would he feel the heat of the fire ? " 
 
 "Why no yes," Ikon said. "I suppose the fire 
 would make him warm." 
 
 " No doubt; for if there were no fire, he would be 
 colder. Now, suppose he walked one quarter of an 
 inch nearer to the fire, still remaining on my knee. 
 Would he feel a great increase of heat ? " 
 
 Ikon laughed, and said: 
 
 " He wouldn't feel the least bit of difference. He 
 wouldn't even know he was nearer." 
 
 "You have answered yourself," said the Professor 
 quietly. " We ourselves do not feel ' the least bit 
 of difference'; and by feeling we should not know 
 that we are nearer. It can only be known by care- 
 ful measurement. The three millions of miles, in 
 our great distance from the sun, are much the same 
 as one quarter of an inch on my knee would be in 
 the distance of a fly, standing here, from the fire. 
 
 After a moment, the Professor added: 
 
 "At the same time, it probably does make some 
 difference. In the northern hemisphere, we are 
 nearer the sun in winter and farther in summer. This 
 probably causes our winters to be just a little milder, 
 and our summers just a little less hot. For in the 
 southern hemisphere, where they are nearer to the
 
 Summer and Winter. 131 
 
 sun in summer and farther away from the sun in 
 winter, both summer and winter are more severe." 
 
 "What does really make summer and winter?" 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 Herr Lehrer stood up, and said: 
 
 " Now look once more carefully upon the globe as 
 it stands. The North Pole is, you see, towards the 
 lamp pointing towards the fireplace end of the 
 room." 
 
 " Yes," said Ikon. 
 
 "We are going to let the globe take a journey round 
 the lamp; just as the earth takes her yearly journey 
 round the sun. But as it moves, we must take care 
 that the North Pole always point sin that same direction. 
 For this is the case with our earth. The North 
 Pole of the earth points always to the Pole-star." 
 
 " I remember the Pole-star quite well," said Ikon. 
 " I saw it in daylight through Mr. Fritz's telescope." 
 
 " The earth never turns so as to point with its North 
 Pole just the other way," said Herr Lehrer. " We 
 must not allow this globe to veer about as it journeys, 
 so that the South Pole, instead of the North, should 
 point towards the fireplace end of the room." 
 
 " But the earth does turn round and round," said 
 Ikon, in a puzzled tone. 
 
 " The earth spins upon her axis, as I now make
 
 132 Among the Stars. 
 
 this globe spin. Notice, however, that the axis itself 
 does not move about. It remains steady. The 
 North and South Poles do not sway to and fro. See; 
 I may spin as fast as I like, and the countries rush 
 round; but still the North Pole points in the same 
 direction, never changing." 
 
 Ikon said " Yes," in an earnest tone. 
 
 " As the globe spins, and as the North Pole points 
 ever to the north, you may see that England now 
 has short nights and long days. So too have France, 
 Germany, and other parts of Europe. For it is 
 SUMMER to the northern half of the world, that half 
 being bent or turned towards the sun. How about 
 the south ? Look at New Zealand." 
 
 " New Zealand is right away from the lamp I 
 mean, the sun," said Ikon. " And it has short days 
 and long nights." 
 
 " You see, then, that summer for the north means 
 winter for the south. Do you remember asking me 
 once why your little globe was set thus slanting 
 instead of straight ? " 
 
 " Yes; and you said my globe was made so because 
 the real earth does slant," replied Ikon. 
 
 " Suppose the axis did not slant," said Herr Lehrer. 
 " See If I hold it thus, with the North Pole pointing 
 to the ceiling and the South Pole to the floor which
 
 Summer and Winter. 133 
 
 part of the earth would have summer, and which 
 would have winter ? " 
 
 " I don't see any part more like summer than 
 another," Ikon said, after some thought. 
 
 " Right. There would be no summer in one part 
 more than another. Nights and days would be 
 exactly equal all over the earth. And as I carry the 
 globe round the lamp with the axis still upright, see, 
 the same state of things continues. There are no 
 changes of season no summer and winter, no spring 
 and autumn." 
 
 " Wouldn't that be nice ? " asked the little boy. 
 
 "It may seem 'nice' to us," Herr Lehrer an- 
 swered, smiling. "We should, however, lose many 
 advantages as well as some disadvantages. I do not 
 think we are well able to judge which is really the 
 nicer; and I am quite sure that God knows what is 
 best for us. Now we will come back to where we 
 were before, and I will once more place the globe in 
 its right position, with the axis slanting, and with 
 the North Pole pointing towards the fireplace end of 
 the room. Which season have we now ? " 
 
 " Summer," said Ikon. 
 
 "Summer for the northern hemisphere ; and 
 winter for the southern." 
 
 Herr Lehrer walked round the table a little way,
 
 134 Among the Stars. 
 
 bearing the globe, and keeping its North Pole still 
 pointing steadily towards the same wall as before. 
 
 " Now, Ikon, we have a change. The North Pole 
 no longer is directed towards the sun; but the lamp- 
 light falls on North and South Poles in equal measure. 
 This is what we call the equinox, or the time of equal 
 nights. Twice in the year for a short time, days and 
 nights are of equal length twelve hours each all 
 over the world." 
 
 " Just as if the axis was upright," said Ikon. 
 
 " Yes; only they do not remain equal. Since the 
 summer, England's days have been shortening and 
 her nights lengthening, till each are exactly twelve 
 hours long. In New Zealand, on the contrary, days 
 have beenlengthening and nights shortening, till there 
 also both are just twelve hours in length. So now 
 we have the AUTUMN equinox for England, and the 
 SPRING equinox for New Zealand, at the same time." 
 
 The Professor moved on a little farther, making 
 the north pole of the globe point steadily still to- 
 wards the fireplace end of the room. Exactly 
 opposite his first position, he stood still. 
 
 " Now, Ikon, you may see a marked change. The 
 South Pole is turned towards the lamp; the North 
 Pole is turned away. England now has winter; 
 long nights and short days; the sun not rising high,
 
 Summer and Winter. 135 
 
 and having little power. But New Zealand is enjoy- 
 ing full summer, with long days and short nights." 
 
 The Professor again moved on, till opposite his 
 second halting-place, where he had shown the 
 "autumn equinox" of England. 
 
 " Notice, Ikon," he said "how once more neither 
 North Pole nor South Pole points to the lamp, but 
 both receive the same amount of light. All over the 
 world, days and nights are equal England's day 
 having grown longer, and New Zealand's shorter, 
 till each again is exactly twelve hours long. This is 
 England's SPRING equinox, and New Zealand's 
 AUTUMN equinox." 
 
 Herr Lehrer moved on once more, and reached 
 his first position. 
 
 " Here we are, at the point from which we started. 
 England is in the blaze of summer, with lengthened 
 days and shortened nights; while New Zealand has 
 passed into winter cold and darkness." 
 
 Ikon was delighted. He could not be content till 
 he had carried the globe himself round the table. 
 Two or three attempts were failures; for the North 
 Pole had an awkward trick of pointing about any- 
 where and everywhere in his hands; and also he 
 could not quickly learn that troublesome word 
 "equinox." But at length a successful tour of the
 
 136 Among the Stars. 
 
 lamp was made, each season having its right name 
 given at the right moment. 
 
 " That is the way the earth travels round the sun,'* 
 said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 Then he seemed to be thinking. 
 
 " Ikon, I have something to say that will make 
 you sorry." 
 
 Ikon looked up with a face of alarm. 
 
 " I am going away early to-morrow morning; so 
 this will be our last lesson for the present." 
 
 " Going away ! " said Ikon, in dismay. 
 
 "I did not expect to leave so soon, but unexpected 
 news has made it needful." 
 
 Ikon's eyes were full, and he could not speak. 
 
 " I quite hope to come back again some day: 
 perhaps very soon," said Herr Lehrer. 
 
 " I did want to learn such such lots more,'* 
 half-sobbed Ikon. 
 
 "So you will; so you may," said the Professor. 
 " Keep in mind all I have taught you; and some day 
 I hope to come again and teach you more. I have 
 quite enjoyed our little chats together. And, Ikon 
 don't look so sad, for I have something to say. If 
 you have any questions to ask, or if you think of 
 anything which puzzles you, then you may write to 
 me."
 
 Summer and Winter. 137 
 
 " May I really write by post ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 "Yes; certainly you may. I will give you some 
 envelopes, ready directed. So now do not be un- 
 happy any more. Remember, I really mean to come 
 again, perhaps very soon." 
 
 Ikon dried his eyes, and tried to be cheerful. But 
 he found it hard work next morning to say good-bye; 
 and the house afterwards felt strangely desolate, 
 without the kind Professor in and out. 
 
 Still Ikon had the envelopes, all directed and 
 stamped and ready for little notes to be put inside. 
 That was one comfort. 
 
 JO
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 LETTERS TO AND FRO. 
 
 ABOUT one week after Herr Lehrer's departure, 
 Ikon's first letter was sent off. It cost him much 
 time and trouble. 
 
 Letter I. 
 "DEAR HERR LEHRER, 
 
 " Please, I do not think you ever told me about 
 whether the stars can die. I am afraid it is a silly 
 question, but I do want to know so much. And I 
 want to know the name of my star that I could not 
 find at least, the name that you thought might be 
 the one. Is that star of mine really a big sun ? 
 " I am, your affectionate 
 
 "IKON." 
 
 Answer to Letter I. 
 "MY DEAR IKON, 
 
 " The name which I supposed to belong to 
 ' your star ' was ARCTURUS.
 
 Letters To and Fro. 139 
 
 " Arcturus is a large beautiful sun, very very far 
 away. If Arcturus were where our sun is now, it 
 would look to us at least as large and bright as the 
 sun does. 
 
 "Arcturus is one of the 'fixed stars.' But that 
 does not mean that this star really never moves. 
 We know of no star with more rapid movement 
 than Arcturus. To men he does indeed seem to 
 remain almost in the same place in the sky among 
 other stars. Yet all the while Arcturus is rushing 
 through space at the great speed of about fifty-four 
 miles each second. Not forty miles an hour, like the 
 train we have talked of, but fifty-four miles a second. 
 Think of this ! 
 
 " So you want to know whether a star can ever 
 die. 
 
 " I wonder what you mean by ' dying.' A star has 
 not life like a little boy. The light of a star might 
 die out, if God so willed, leaving a cold and dark 
 body just as a furnace-fire may die out, leaving 
 cold cinders behind. One or two stars have been 
 known to vanish; and we suppose that their light 
 may have died out, or have grown too faint for us 
 to see. 
 
 " Once upon a time our own earth was most likely 
 a little star, all aflame and brilliant. But the fires
 
 140 Among the Stars. 
 
 of earth have died out long ago; and after being 
 through long ages a very hot ball, earth has slowly 
 cooled down to her present state. The little star 
 has turned into a little planet. 
 
 " If the earth now shines as we know she does 
 she shines only with borrowed sunlight. Yet I do 
 not think you would call ours a dead world, Ikon. 
 There is much more of life on earth now, than in 
 the days when she was a little star, blazing, and 
 shining with her own radiance. 
 
 "Your affectionate friend, 
 
 " A. LEHRER." 
 
 Letter II. 
 "DEAR HERR LEHRER, 
 
 " I do like to think of our earth being a dear 
 little star ! But I am glad it is not now, because 
 then I suppose we couldn't live on it. 
 
 "Were all the planets stars once upon a time? 
 And please, will all the stars be worlds by-and-by, 
 if they get cold enough ? 
 
 " Oh, and there is something else. Do all the 
 planets lean over like our earth; so as to have summer 
 and winter and all that ? 
 
 " Thank you so very much for your kind letter. I 
 have read it six times, and I am your affectionate 
 
 " IKON."
 
 Letters To and Fro. 141 
 
 Answer to Letter II. 
 
 " MY DEAR IKON, 
 
 " I am pleased to see you exercising your little 
 brain on these matters. Only remember that we 
 cannot always give the answers to such questions. 
 Our Father in Heaven knows; but often we do not. 
 
 " It seems likely that all the planets were once, 
 long long ago, globes of heat and flame and light, 
 much like the sun, only a great deal smaller. 
 
 " Some of them are now quite cooled down, like 
 our earth. Some perhaps are even more thoroughly 
 cooled; since a goodly amount of heat still remains 
 in the earth, deep underground. Some are probably 
 much less cooled than the earth. Jupiter, for in- 
 stance, being so enormous in size, would take much 
 longer than our little earth to become cool. And 
 certain signs make us believe that both Jupiter and 
 Saturn are still in a very heated state not covered 
 with great flames, like the sun, yet far too hot for 
 any human beings to live there. 
 
 " As for the stars, I cannot say what purposes 
 God may have for them, in the far far distance. 
 The mighty furnace-fires of sun and stars will last, 
 I suspect, much longer than you or I are well able to 
 imagine. But it is possible that some of the smaller
 
 142 Among the Stars. 
 
 fainter stars are parting with their heat more quickly. 
 We know very little as to all this. 
 
 " The planets do slant, my boy, each one more or 
 less, like our earth. Jupiter is placed almost upright; 
 so there are days and nights of nearly equal length, 
 all over Jupiter, all his year round. Venus again 
 seems to lie over very much indeed, far more than 
 our earth does; and this, one would fancy, must 
 cause rather unpleasant changes of season. 
 " Believe me, 
 
 " Your affectionate friend, 
 
 "A. LEHRER." 
 
 Letter III. 
 
 "DEAR HERR LEHRER, 
 
 "I hope you won't think me a great trouble. 
 You said once that people are more likely to be living 
 on Mars than on Jupiter. And I should like so much 
 to know why. Is it because Jupiter is so hot still ? 
 Would you mind telling me, please ? 
 
 "Your affectionate, 
 
 " IKON." 
 
 Answer to Letter III. 
 "MY DEAR IKON, 
 
 " If Jupiter is in such a state of heat as some
 
 Letters To and Fro. 143 
 
 believe, he would make a very uncomfortable home 
 for men. 
 
 "Do you remember seeing Jupiter with his four 
 moons through the telescope ? Do you remember 
 the curious markings or belts on Jupiter ? 
 
 "Those belts of colour are believed to be enormous 
 masses of cloud. Jupiter seems to be quite en- 
 wrapped in clouds. 
 
 " It is a rather puzzling question, what causes 
 these clouds to remain always floating above Jupiter. 
 The sun can have little power at that great distance 
 five times as great as his distance from us. It 
 seems quite out of the question that the heat of the 
 sun alone can draw up such enormous quantities of 
 vapour, and keep them floating as clouds above 
 Jupiter. 
 
 " But if Jupiter himself is very hot still so hot 
 that water on him would all boil away into steam 
 then the puzzle is at an end. 
 
 " This vast cloudland above Jupiter must be a 
 very stormy and wild cloudland. Such tremendous 
 storms are seen to sweep along, through the tele- 
 scope, that the worst hurricanes of earth are nothing 
 beside them. 
 
 "You know what a 'hurricane' is, I hope. If 
 not, ask Miss Mundy.
 
 144 Among the Stars. 
 
 " There are other reasons which make us believe 
 Jupiter to be still in a very hot state. One reason is 
 that he seems to shine more brilliantly than the sun 
 alone would make him shine at that distance. 
 
 " Mars is in quite a different state from Jupiter. 
 
 " We really know more of Mars than of any other 
 planet. Mercury and Venus seem to be much 
 covered with white clouds owing most likely to the 
 heat of the sun. Mercury and Venus are nearer to 
 the sun, you know, than we are. But Mars is farther 
 away. 
 
 " Clouds are seen to drift over Mars, just as they 
 drift over earth. But the surface or ground of Mars 
 is plainly to be seen. And there are very odd mark- 
 ings, with red and green tints, which seem to show 
 land and water. But Mars has less sea than we 
 have. If people really do live on Mars and about 
 this we know nothing they never need be sea-sick. 
 Every journey might just as well be taken by land as 
 by sea. 
 
 " Something else on Mars is very interesting. We 
 can see round white caps at the North and South 
 Poles. 
 
 " You know, I dare say, that we always have snow 
 at our North and South Poles. It lasts the whole 
 year; but in the northern summer, there is less snow
 
 Letters To and Fro. 145 
 
 at the North Pole, and more snow at the South Pole; 
 and in the southern summer, there is less snow at 
 the South Pole, and more snow at the North Pole. 
 
 "Now, the very same thing seems to happen on 
 Mars. We see plainly these little white caps at the 
 two poles. When the North Pole of Mars is turned 
 towards the sun, then the northern white cap grows 
 less, and the southern white cap which is turned 
 away from the sun grows bigger. But when the 
 South Pole of Mars is turned towards the sun, then 
 the southern white cap grows less, and the northern 
 white cap which is turned away from the sun grows 
 bigger. 
 
 "Is not this strange? So Mars seems to have, 
 not only clouds and rain, and land and water, but 
 also frost and snow, and summer and winter, very 
 much like our own. 
 
 " And is it not wonderful that men should be able 
 to find out all this about a world so many many 
 millions of miles away ? 
 
 " Your affectionate friend, 
 
 " A LEHRER." 
 
 Letter IV. 
 " DEAR HERR LEHRER, 
 
 " May I ask you about the moon ? I want te
 
 146 Among the Stars. 
 
 know what the man is, with the bundle of sticks. 
 And is there anybody perhaps living there ? And 
 does the moon seem as much like our earth as Mars 
 does ? 
 
 " I have not forgotten that the moon is 2,000 miles 
 in di I don't know how to spell that word I 
 mean, straight through the middle. And if the 
 world was as big as a marble, the moon would be as 
 little as a pea. And you said the moon was a moon, 
 but it really was a little planet too. 
 
 " Papa took me out in the garden last night quite 
 late, to see a balloon. And I ran to the end of the 
 terrace, and saw the moon shining down on the sea, 
 and on a big rock. There was a man trying to fish; 
 and it did look so pretty. 
 
 " I liked your last letter so very very much, and I 
 read it lots of times, and I am, 
 
 " Your affectionate 
 
 " IKON." 
 
 Answer to Letter IV. 
 " MY DEAR IKON, 
 
 " I am very busy and can only write a hurried 
 letter to-day. But I am sending you a little book, 
 which tells you about the moon. Much of the book 
 is too hard for you; but I have marked certain parts.
 
 Letters To and Fro. 147 
 
 " The moon is of great interest to all of us, because 
 she is our near companion, and in a sense our 
 servant. 
 
 " Yes the moon, though a moon, is also a little 
 planet. And while the moon travels round and 
 round the earth, she also travels round and round 
 the sun. 
 
 " You are quite right about the size of the 
 moon about 2,000 miles in diameter. With re- 
 gard to her distance, you already know that a 
 railway train, going always at the rate of forty 
 miles an hour, might reach her in eight months 
 and a half. 
 
 " The moon appears to us much more like a dead 
 world than any other which we know. 
 
 " All over the moon there are great numbers of 
 curious round hollows. Some of these are very big 
 as much as one hundred miles across and more. 
 Some are quite small. The whole face of the moon 
 seems to be quite pitted with them, like the face of 
 a man badly marked with small-pox. A picture of 
 part of the moon in the little book I am sending 
 you, will show what I mean. 
 
 " These round hollows, or at any rate, the larger 
 ones, are believed to be craters of volcanoes. Only 
 the volcanoes in the moon seem to be all now
 
 148 Among- the Stars. 
 
 dead and silent not active, like the volcanoes on 
 earth. 
 
 " We can also see mountains on the moon, and 
 shadows cast by the mountains; and there are light 
 parts and grey parts. These are the markings which 
 look to you like a man with a bundle of sticks. 
 
 " So far as we can tell, there is no water on the 
 moon. There are no seas, no rivers, no lakes, no 
 streams, no brooks. There is little or no air cer- 
 tainly not enough for a man to breathe. No ani- 
 mals can live there; no plants or trees can grow 
 there. 
 
 " You must try to fancy a bleak and barren land, 
 with harsh rocks, and rugged mountains, and 
 deep hollows. Nothing soft or green or smiling 
 about it. 
 
 "The sunlight there falls with intense brightness, 
 and casts black shadows. Overhead there is a black 
 instead of a blue sky; with stars shining at the same 
 time as the sun; and a splendid earth in the sky, 
 instead of a moon. You will find all this and more, 
 in the little book. 
 
 "The moon's day lasts about fourteen of our days, 
 and her night is the same length. Such a day of 
 glaring fearful heat and such a night of awful cold 
 as we cannot- even picture to ourselves.
 
 Letters To and Fro. 149 
 
 " The want of air and water in the moon causes 
 all this great difference between her and our 
 earth. 
 " And now I have not another minute. 
 
 " Your affectionate friend, 
 
 "A. LEHRER."
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A DREAM WITHOUT AN ENDING. 
 
 IT was long before Ikon could write again. The 
 exchange of letters came suddenly to an end, for 
 Ikon fell ill. 
 
 During some days he read eagerly the little book 
 about the moon, hardly ever content to let it out of 
 his hands. All marked parts, and some parts that 
 were not marked, he read and re-read, going over 
 them again and again, till they were quite fixed in 
 his memory. 
 
 Dormer was uneasy about all this reading, and 
 she would fain have made him spend his time in 
 play. But perhaps the beginning of the illness was 
 already on Ikon; for he seemed fretful, and would 
 not do as Dormer wished. And Dormer could not 
 bear to oppose him. 
 
 There was, as Herr Lehrer had said, much in the 
 little book that Ikon could not understand. Still,
 
 A Dream without an Ending. 151 
 
 many facts were clear, and as soon as Ikon grasped 
 them, his quick imagination found fresh food to work 
 upon. 
 
 The moon grew to be a real though strange world 
 to him almost what fairyland is to many children. 
 
 He used to sit over the fire in his playroom, 
 pondering the subject in long half-waking dreams. 
 And at night, when Dormer had taken away the 
 candle, he would steal out of bed, and draw aside 
 the window-curtain, and lie watching the soft round 
 face with its silvery smile. 
 
 There was a very pretty view out of this window 
 of a cottage some little way off, outside the garden. 
 Tall poplar trees grew beside the cottage, and a piece 
 of water lay near, crossed by a bridge. 
 
 Ikon delighted in the shining of the moon upon 
 this pond, with the dark tree-shadows lying beside 
 the bright path of moonbeams. 
 
 He had often noticed how stars in the neighbour- 
 hood of the moon disappeared their little glimmer 
 quite put out by her brilliance. But one evening he 
 was much interested to see a bright star quite near 
 the moon. It must have been a very bright star to 
 shine on still, through the moon's radiance. Ikon 
 wondered if perhaps that was his own dear lost star, 
 come back again.
 
 152 Among the Stars. 
 
 Sometimes, in these moods, he would try to picture 
 a journey to the moon; a ceaseless upward rush by 
 train for eight long months and a half. 
 
 Or better still suppose he had wings and could 
 fly there ! How delightful that would be; Ikon 
 never forgot what the Professor had once said about 
 "Wings of Imagination." He used to get a little 
 confused now and then, and could not feel quite sure 
 whether he wished for real wings or imaginary wings. 
 But he had no doubt at all that he would have liked 
 a real journey to the moon. 
 
 In the midst of all this Ikon fell suddenly ill. 
 
 He was not in danger. It proved, however, to be 
 a tedious sort of attack, and Ikon was greatly pulled 
 down by it. He had to spend nearly a fortnight 
 in bed; and he grew very weary of imprison- 
 ment. 
 
 Part of the time his mind wandered slightly, and 
 he had many strange fancies. But it was not till he 
 was much better, and Dormer had ceased to be 
 anxious, that he had one day an odd and disappoint- 
 ing dream about a visit to the moon. That he 
 should dream thus was hardly surprising. His little 
 head had been so full of the subject, that a dream 
 might have come quite naturally. 
 
 For the first time Dormer had lifted the child out
 
 MOONLIGHT ON THE STREAM. 
 
 STARS. 
 
 p. 152.
 
 A Dream without an Ending. 153 
 
 of bed to the sofa, for an hour or two. While there, 
 after having early tea, he fell fast asleep. It was 
 just about the time that Herr Lehrer had often given 
 him a lesson about the stars; and perhaps this was 
 Ikon's last waking thought. 
 
 He fancied himself in his little playroom, lying on 
 the rug before the fire, watching for Herr Lehrer's 
 coming. 
 
 It seemed to him in his dream that he had waited 
 long; and he was growing impatient. Still, he felt 
 sure that his friend would not fail to arrive. 
 
 His certainty proved well founded. All at once 
 a voice said cheerily: 
 
 " Get up, Ikon, get up. Make haste. We have 
 no time to lose." 
 
 Ikon rose slowly, feeling dazed. Herr Lehrer 
 stood near, looking both like and unlike himself. 
 The silvery beard and starry eyes were unchanged; 
 but the Professor wore flowing robes; and, to Ikon's 
 amazement, a pair of strong yet shadowy wings were 
 folded behind his shoulders. 
 
 " Get up, Ikon. Get up," repeated Herr Lehrer. 
 "We have a long journey before us." 
 
 Ikon rubbed his eyes, and said: 
 
 " I must have been asleep. I didn't know I was 
 ii
 
 154 Among the Stars. 
 
 going on a journey. O what beautiful wings ! I 
 wish I had wings too." 
 
 " See ! " Herr Lehrer said, pointing to a large look- 
 ing-glass, which somehow occupied one wall of the 
 playroom. 
 
 Ikon felt no surprise at seeing the glass; but it 
 did astonish him to perceive a reflection of himself, 
 with just such another pair of wings behind the 
 shoulders. 
 
 " How funny ! " Ikon said, laughing with joy. "I 
 never had wings before." 
 
 " Really ! But everybody has wings," said Herr 
 Lehrer. 
 
 " Everybody ! " repeated Ikon. 
 
 "Certainly," the Professor said. "Or else the 
 stumps of them." 
 
 "Mine are not only stumps," said Ikon, with a 
 sense of satisfaction. 
 
 " Decidedly not," said Herr Lehrer. " Very well 
 grown wings indeed." 
 
 " Herr Lehrer said I had Wings of Imagination," 
 murmured Ikon. 
 
 "Of course he did," was the answer; and Ikon 
 wondered vaguely whether this winged visitor really 
 were the Professor after all. The other did not 
 seem to notice his perplexity.
 
 A Dream without an Ending. 155 
 
 "Are these Wings of Imagination ?" Ikon inquired. 
 
 " Certainly," his companion said. 
 
 " And can I fly away with them ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 "Undoubtedly," Herr Lehrer said. 
 
 " And where are we going, please ? " was Ikon's next 
 question. 
 
 " Where ! You ask where, child ! " Herr Lehrer 
 drew nearer, and gazed hard into Ikon's face. 
 *' Have you forgotten your wish so soon ? A visit 
 to the moon, Ikon the moon ! " 
 
 " Can we really and truly go ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " Certainly," answered the Professor, nodding his 
 head. " Certainly." 
 
 " And the sun too ! " cried Ikon. " May we pay a 
 visit to the sun ? And Mars, and Jupiter ? Oh, and 
 Sirius and Arcturus and lots of stars ! " 
 -, " The moon to-night ! " Herr Lehrer said solemnly. 
 
 " But it will take a great while to go," said Ikon. 
 Then he found himself saying something confusedly 
 about " forty miles an hour," and " eight months and 
 a half." 
 
 "Just so," the Professor answered. 
 
 " Forty miles an hour forty miles forty miles," 
 muttered Ikon, as if learning a lesson. 
 
 " Exactly so," said the Professor. 
 
 " Eight months and a half! Eight months and a
 
 156 Among the Stars. 
 
 half 1 " Ikon said the words over and over, without 
 power to stop. 
 
 " Precisely so," said the Professor. 
 
 Ikon was troubled with an indistinct feeling that 
 food would be wanted on the way. He tried to ex- 
 plain to Herr Lehrer, and could not speak. Then 
 he wandered about, hunting vaguely for something 
 in the shape of provisions. Cupboards and side-, 
 boards seemed to be all around him. He pulled out 
 drawer after drawer, saying to himself: 
 
 " Buns and sponge-cakes." 
 
 "Ah, yes," Herr Lehrer said. "Come; shall we 
 be off?" 
 
 The room was growing misty, and Ikon had a 
 nightmare sense of trying to get something done 
 which lay out of his power. Then the cupboards 
 and sideboards, the walls and floor, faded quietly 
 away; and Ikon forgot all about buns, sponge-cakes, 
 and the eight months' journey. Herr Lehrer spread 
 his wings, and Ikon did the same. The two rose 
 swiftly and easily upward. To Ikon's surprise, he 
 found flying to be no trouble at all. 
 
 How happy he was ! To be at last really going to 
 the moon ! In his dream Ikon remembered quite 
 clearly how often he had fancied himself taking this 
 journey. But such fancies had been only fancies.
 
 A Dream without an Ending. 157 
 
 He laughed softly to himself with the thought that 
 now all this was real. 
 
 It was a clear evening, and the stars overhead 
 shone brightly, except where their radiance was 
 dimmed by the brighter light of the half-moon. 
 
 As Ikon and his friend shot up, with arrow-like 
 flight, the earth seemed to drop away beneath them, 
 and the rows of lamps in a neighbouring town 
 shrank together, fading into rows of bead-like specks, 
 then into mere blurred lines. 
 
 Ikon had read lately a very good description of 
 how things looked to a man going up at night in a 
 balloon. It was quite curious how clearly that which 
 he had read and pondered over was now pictured in 
 his dream. 
 
 As lamps and houses faded and shrank, the sky 
 overhead seemed to grow each moment deeper and 
 broader. Few clouds floated in cloudland this even- 
 ing; and no haziness shut off the faint glimmer of 
 human cities below, or the shining of suns and 
 worlds above. 
 
 " What makes the stars so bright ? " asked Ikon. 
 But his companion gave no answer. 
 
 Then Ikon's wings seemed to be failing him, and 
 he could no longer rise with ease. Herr Lehrer was 
 leaving him behind, and Ikon cried in distress:
 
 158 Among the Stars. 
 
 " Oh, stop, stop don't go away ! " 
 
 So the Professor came back, and grasp'ed his hand, 
 and said: 
 
 " Cheer up, child don't tire so soon. We are not 
 far now from the moon." 
 
 And all at once a bright silvery dazzle of light 
 enfolded them on every side. Ikon saw above an 
 enormous moon, filling up a great space in the sky. 
 Each instant as they drew nearer, the great round 
 moon grew yet more enormous. He caught sight too 
 of the well-known markings the man with his 
 bundle of sticks grown unnaturally big. 
 
 " We are almost there ! we are almost there ! " cried 
 the child, clapping his hands in glee. 
 
 Then suddenly other sounds stole into his ears. 
 The Professor faded away; the splendid huge moon 
 vanished; the dazzling light was gone. Ikon found 
 himself lying again on the sofa, a wingless little 
 boy under a warm shawl. And Dormer stood by 
 his side. 
 
 " Come, Master Ikon," she said. " You are having 
 a comfortable sleep; but I mustn't leave you here 
 any longer, or yu won't get a wink to-night." 
 
 Dormer was very much astonished to be answered 
 by a burst of tears.
 
 A Dream without an Ending. 159 
 
 " Why, Master Ikon ! Now, Master Ikon ! " she 
 said, with mingled pity and reproach. 
 
 " O Dormer, why didyo\a wake me ? " sobbed Ikon. 
 " I was having such a lovely beautiful dream." 
 
 "Well, dear, I'll get you quick into bed, and you 
 can go on with your dream," said Dormer. 
 
 " But I never do go on with dreams. Of course I 
 don't," said Ikon fretfully. "And Herr Lehrer was 
 here, and we both had got wings. And we were 
 flying away to the moon, and we had almost/#.y/ got 
 there. And I wanted to see everything so much. 
 And you woke me up, and spoilt it all." 
 
 Dormer had much ado to keep from laughing at 
 the notion of wings. She managed, however, to 
 look pretty grave, and persuaded Ikon to tell her all 
 about his dream, in hopes that his mind would be 
 relieved. 
 
 " That's the queerest child I ever did see in all my 
 life," she said to herself, when Ikon was safely tucked 
 up in his bed for the night.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 UNFOLDED WINGS. 
 
 IKON did not "go on" with his dream. Wish as 
 he might, the Professor with wings came to him 
 no more. 
 
 Somebody else came, however, quite unex- 
 pectedly. 
 
 One day, nearly a week later, when Ikon was 
 lying back in an easy-chair, too tired even for play, 
 Dormer entered, saying: 
 
 " Here's a visitor, Master Ikon." 
 
 Ikon lifted his eyes eagerly. Could it be Herr 
 Lehrer ? He saw his father always twice a day; 
 but not at this hour: and Ikon had no other 
 callers. 
 
 No, it was not the Professor. A young man 
 followed Dormer into the room, small and pale 
 and sickly-looking, with a shy and awkward 
 manner. Ikon knew him again in a moment. It
 
 Unfolded Wings. 161 
 
 was the Professor's friend; the owner of the big 
 telescope. 
 
 " Mr. Fritz ! " he cried, with a bright smile. 
 
 Fritz reached the couch, and said, 
 
 " How do you do ? " seeming terribly bashful and 
 ashamed of himself. 
 
 "Are you really come to see me? "asked Ikon 
 wonderingly. 
 
 " Herr Lehrer asked me," said Fritz. 
 
 " I'm so glad. It is so kind," said Ikon. 
 
 Then there was silence. Dormer^ placed a chair, 
 and Fritz sat down. He stared at Ikon, and 
 seemed at a loss what to do next. 
 
 " I'm so glad you have come," repeated Ikon, 
 feeling less shy than usual, just because he saw Mr. 
 Fritz to be more shy than himself. " I have been 
 wanting and wanting somebody dreadfully, I mean, 
 somebody who knows all about the stars." 
 
 " Nobody does," said Fritz. 
 
 " O yes," cried Ikon. " Herr Lehrer does." 
 
 " No, he doesn't. He knows some things. No- 
 body knows everything about them." 
 
 "O no, of course not. I didn't mean that, of 
 course," said Ikon. " But he knows a great great 
 deal. And so do you, because you have a tele- 
 scope."
 
 1 62 Among the Stars. 
 
 11 That does not follow at all," said Fritz. 
 
 "Won't you talk to me about the stars just as 
 Herr Lehrer does ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 "But you ain't to tire yourself, Master Ikon," said 
 Dormer. 
 
 And with that she went away, leaving the two 
 alone together. Fritz seemed relieved at her de- 
 parture. 
 
 " Herr Lehrer told me you had been ill," he said. 
 " In fact, he desired me to call, and see how you 
 were, and tell you stories." 
 
 " I don't want stories," said Ikon sadly. " Dormer 
 reads me lots. I'd a great deal rather know more 
 about the stars." 
 
 "No doubt," said Fritz. 
 
 Then another pause took place. 
 
 " I had such a funny dream the other day," Ikon 
 said softly at length. 
 
 " Yes, I know you had about the moon," said 
 Fritz. 
 
 "Why, how could you know?" asked Ikon; and 
 unfortunate Fritz grew very red, as if he knew him- 
 self to have made a mistake. 
 
 The truth was, Dormer had told Ikon's father 
 about the child's dream; and Ikon's father had 
 been so much amused as to mention it in a letter to
 
 Unfolded Wings. 165 
 
 the Professor, and the Professor had passed on a 
 few words about the dream to Fritz. But of course 
 nobody meant Ikon to know all this. 
 
 "Oh, it doesn't matter," said Fritz. "People often 
 dream. I dream myself, sometimes." 
 
 Ikon could not exactly see Fritz's answer to be an 
 explanation; but he only asked, 
 
 " Do you ever dream about the moon ? " 
 
 " I am not sure that I ever did," said Fritz. " So 
 you may as well tell me your dream." 
 
 Ikon liked that. He launched out eagerly, and 
 gave full particulars, warming and flushing with his 
 tale. Fritz listened with an odd solemn face of 
 attention, now and then breaking into a short 
 laugh. 
 
 " It was so dreadfully disappointing to stop there," 
 Ikon said, at the end. "If only Dormer hadn't woke 
 me up ! " 
 
 " She could not guess what you were dreaming," 
 said Fritz. "And you have never dreamt a con- 
 clusion ? " 
 
 "O no; I wish I could. I never do go on an- 
 other time with a dream," said Ikon. " Do you ?'* 
 
 "Sometimes," said Fritz. 
 
 " I wish I could. But I can't make myself," sighed 
 Ikon.
 
 164 Among the Stars. 
 
 " Perhaps you had better not try," said Fritz. 
 " Perhaps I might manage to carry on your dream 
 for you." 
 
 " Will you ? Oh, will you ? " cried Ikon. " Can 
 you make yourself dream the rest of it, and then tell 
 it all to me ? " 
 
 " Well, not exactly that," said Fritz. " But Herr 
 Lehrer has desired me to tell you a story, and I 
 always do what Herr Lehrer wishes." 
 
 " Because he is so good ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " Yes; I dare say that is the reason partly." 
 
 "And you w*7/tell me a story?" asked Ikon, rather 
 soberly. 
 
 " I must because Herr Lehrer says so. But sup- 
 pose it is a story of a little boy's journey to the 
 moon, in a dream ? " 
 
 "Oh, that will be splendid," said Ikon, with 
 sparkling eyes. "And you'll make him see everything 
 that a real little boy would see, if he really went to 
 the moon." 
 
 " So far as I know what a real little boy would 
 see," said Fritz; "and of course supposing such a 
 little boy could stay long enough in the moon to 
 see anything at all." 
 
 "Couldn't a little boy stay if he got there?" asked 
 Ikon.
 
 Unfolded Wings. 165 
 
 " Why, no not very well," said Fritz. "There is 
 no air in the moon at least, not enough to be 
 worth mentioning. And people can't possibly live 
 without breathing." 
 
 " I suppose I forgot that in my dream," said Ikon. 
 " I ought to have choked, oughtn't I ? " 
 
 Fritz gave one of his little short laughs. 
 
 "No, that was not necessary. You went with 
 Wings of Imagination. People can go anywhere on 
 Wings of Imagination if their wings are strong 
 enough to carry them." 
 
 " I think it was very conceited of me to dream 
 about my wings being so strong," said Ikon, blushing. 
 
 " Perhaps you had had the thought in your mind 
 before," suggested Fritz, and Ikon blushed still 
 more. " But your notion about stumps was not 
 bad." 
 
 "There's a boy in a cottage who has only got 
 stumps instead of arms," said Ikon. 
 
 " No doubt that put the idea into your head," said 
 Fritz. 
 
 "But of course he hasn't got wing-stumps," 
 pursued Ikon. "Won't you please tell me the story 
 now this minute ? " 
 
 " I I no, I think not," said Fritz slowly. " The 
 fact is, I am not a good hand at extemporizing."
 
 1 66 Among the Stars. 
 
 11 Ex temper what ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 44 Making up a tale at the moment," explained 
 Fritz. " I think I will write it out, and then come 
 and read it to you." 
 
 " To-morrow ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 44 Not to-morrow, but very soon." 
 
 "But are you sure you aren't too busy?" asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 44 Quite sure," Fritz said. 
 
 44 And will the little boy in the story be me ? " 
 
 "Perhaps not," said Fritz thoughtfully. "We will 
 leave that uncertain. I shall call him Eikon." 
 
 <4 My name is Ikon, not Ikone" said the child. 
 
 44 Ikon is derived that is to say, it has grown 
 from a Greek word, Eikon." 
 
 " I wonder what Eikon means ? " 
 
 44 It means an image or a similitude. Something 
 that is like something else." 
 
 44 1 wish my name was Eikon." 
 
 44 Better not wish that," said Fritz. " I want the 
 word for my story." 
 
 41 And will there be a Herr Lehrer with wings?" 
 
 " I rather think on the whole not," said Fritz 
 slowly. "I think it would be more respectful, 
 perhaps, not to give the Professor wings." 
 
 44 1 couldn't help doing it in my dream," said Ikon.
 
 Unfolded Wings. 167 
 
 rather ashamed. " I didn't . mean to be rude to 
 him." 
 
 " Of course not. But to give him wings in my 
 story would be another matter. I propose to have 
 a little girl with wings, instead of a Professor." 
 
 " A fancy little girl ?" asked Ikon. 
 
 " No a real little girl. Her name is Stella. She 
 is a very nice little girl indeed. Perhaps some day 
 you will see her. ' Stella ' means ' a star,' and 
 she is fond of hearing about the stars." 
 
 " Why, she must be like me ! " cried Ikon. 
 
 " Not like you in face," said Fritz. 
 
 "And shall I I mean, will the boy, EikOn, go 
 with Stella to the moon ? " 
 
 " Probably he will," replied Fritz. 
 
 Then Mr. Fritz stood up to say good-bye. 
 
 " I will bring something soon to read to you," he 
 said. And three days later he kept his word
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 MR. FRITZ'S STORY. 
 
 " IT is called ' Eikon's Visit to the Moon," " said 
 Fritz, in a shy voice, as he unrolled some papers, 
 written over-closely in a small and not very distinct 
 handwriting. " You are to shut your eyes while I 
 read, and to imagine that you see exactly what Eikon 
 saw. In fact, for the time you are to believe yourself 
 Eikon, not Ikon. And you must not interrupt me." 
 
 " Mayn't I ask questions ?" 
 
 " Not by the way. When I have done, you may if 
 you like." 
 
 Fritz paused a moment, and looked at Ikon. 
 
 " I think you kept up your own character pretty 
 well in that dream," he said. 
 
 " My character," said Ikon, in a puzzled voice. 
 
 " Yes. You like to talk, don't you ? and to ask a 
 great many questions." 
 
 " O yes," Ikon said, rather bashfully. " At least, I 
 like to talk to some people."
 
 Mr. Fritz s Story. 169 
 
 " To Herr Lehrer ? " 
 
 " Yes and to Dormer and to you, Mr. Fritz." 
 
 " You kept that up in your dream," repeated Fritz. 
 
 Then he went back to his papers. They were 
 rather in confusion, and had to be arranged. 
 
 " Will the real little girl, Stella, read your story ?" 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 " I am not sure. Perhaps some day. Now shut 
 your eyes, and listen." 
 
 Ikon obeyed; but very soon he forgot, and his eyes 
 were opened widely. Fritz began to read in a par- 
 ticularly shy voice, stopping often to clear his throat. 
 Soon, however, he too forgot to be shy; and thence- 
 forward the story went easily and well. 
 
 EIKOWS VISIT TO THE MOON. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 " THE child, Eikon, stood gazing into the midnight 
 sky, a sky richly sprinkled with stars. Who would 
 have thought, to look at those mere points of light, 
 that each one was a sun or a world in itself ? 
 
 "To the east the moon had lately risen; a silver 
 crescent, sending soft light upon earth. 
 
 '"If I could but visit the stars! ' sighed the child, 
 as he had often sighed before. 
 
 22
 
 170 Among' the Stars. 
 
 " He stood watching long with upraised eyes, till 
 weariness overpowered him. Then he sat down, 
 leaning his head against a grassy bank, and gazing 
 skyward still. But presently his eyes closed, and he 
 sank into heavy sleep." 
 
 " Was he out of doors ? Wouldn't he catch cold ? " 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 "You must ask no questions," responded Fritz. " I 
 have written down all I have to say." 
 
 " It seemed to Eikon that he had not forgotten 
 himself more than three seconds, before a clear 
 flute-like voice said: 
 
 " ' Eikon ! ' 
 
 " Eikon sprang to his feet. To his surprise a blue- 
 eyed girl stood beside him " 
 
 " Oh, has Stella got blue eyes ? " cried Ikon. 
 
 " A blue-eyed girl stood beside him; not much 
 taller than himself, and dressed in white. She was 
 fair and gentle-looking, with long hair in curls. Two 
 gauzy silvery wings of strange texture were folded 
 together behind her shoulders." 
 
 " What's ' texture ' ? " asked Ikon. " I should like 
 to know that little girl. Only of course the real 
 Stella wouldn't have wings."
 
 Mr. Fritz's Story. 171 
 
 Fritz put down his paper with a grave face. 
 
 " Ikon, if you go on interrupting me, I shall read 
 no more." 
 
 " I won't please do read I won't interrupt again!" 
 cried Ikon, in a great fright; and Fritz went on: 
 
 "'Are your wings strong to-night?' asked the 
 little girl. 
 
 " Eikon felt no surprise at seeing the little girl 
 with wings; but it did surprise him to hear of his 
 own wings. He peeped over one shoulder, and there 
 undoubtedly they were; soft gauzy wings, all ready 
 for use. 
 
 " ' Will you go with me yonder ? ' asked the child, 
 lifting her hands towards the starry sky. 
 
 "'To the stars! O yes! Which shall it be?' 
 asked Eikon earnestly. ' Sirius ? The Pleiades ? ' 
 
 " ' I think we will try an easier flight first. Your 
 wings are not practised,' she said. 'The Pleiades 
 and Sirius are so very very far away. Our near 
 neighbours, moon and sun, should have our first 
 attention.' 
 
 " ' Oh, certainly the moon and the sun I quite 
 forgot our own sun and moon,' said Eikon. ' And I 
 have so often longed to visit the moon. What a beau- 
 tiful place we shall find ! How soon shall we start ?
 
 172 Among the Stars. 
 
 " ' Now. There is no need for delay ! ' 
 " ' But shall we not need food with us ? ' 
 " ' Food ! O no,' the child answered. ' The 
 want of food is not felt by those who soar on the 
 Wings of Imagination. We shall travel rapidly far 
 more rapidly than the fastest express train.' " 
 
 " She talks most dreadfully like a grown-up per- 
 son," whispered Ikon very softly to himself. Fritz 
 paid no attention to the remark, but possibly he 
 took a hint from it for the future. 
 
 " ' Is this your first visit to the moon ? ' asked Eikon. 
 
 " 'No,' she answered. 'I have been many times. 
 But it will be your first trip. Come ! ' 
 
 " ' Will you not tell me your name ? ' 
 
 " ' My name is Stella; and yours I know is Eikon. 
 So now we are friends. Come ! ' she repeated. 
 
 " The two young creatures spread their wings, and 
 sprang joyously aloft. 
 
 " How delicious it is to float upward away from 
 earth, borne upon the powerful Wings of Imagina- 
 tion ! Those who possess only the stumps of these 
 wings, or who have rendered them useless through 
 want of practice, can crawl but heavily along the 
 roads of learning. 
 
 " Side by side Stella and Eikon rose through the
 
 A FLIGHT TO THE MOON. 
 
 STARS. 
 
 p. 172.
 
 Mr. Fritz's Story. 173 
 
 darkness towards the glittering sky. Beneath, all 
 seemed to shrink and dwindle and fade. Above, 
 all seemed to stretch and widen and glow. 
 
 " ' What makes the stars so strangely brilliant ? ' 
 Eikon asked in subdued tones. ' I never saw them 
 shine like this before.' 
 
 " ' You have never been so high, perhaps,' Stella 
 answered. 
 
 " ' Is it because we are much nearer to them ? ' 
 inquired Eikon. 
 
 " ' No, that is not the reason. The fixed stars are 
 so enormously far away, that this slight difference 
 counts for nothing. They shine more brightly to 
 our eyes, because of the thinness of the atmosphere. 
 There is so little air up here, that if we had come as 
 men commonly journey we could not breathe. But 
 these wings will bear us safely where by any other 
 mode of travelling we should die.' 
 
 " ' I have not noticed any difference in the air,' 
 said Eikon, in surprise. ' Will it grow thinner still 
 as we ascend ? ' 
 
 " 'Yes; rapidly,' replied Stella. 'At a height of 
 fifty or a hundred miles there is practically no air. 
 But do not be anxious. You will not suffer.' 
 
 " ' I suppose we are now at a great height,' said 
 Eikon.
 
 1/4 Among the Stars. 
 
 " ' Far above the topmost peak of earth's loftiest 
 mountain,' Stella answered. 
 
 "As the two rose, they soon left darkness behind, 
 and emerged into dazzling light. Eikon was de- 
 lighted with the change. Stella bade him look back, 
 and mark the dark shadow out of which they had 
 come. 
 
 "'See,' she said, 'we have left behind us, not 
 only earth, but also earth's shade. Just as every 
 tree casts its shadow on the ground, so every 
 planet casts its shadow into space. That is the 
 meaning of night. Earth throws a perpetual 
 shadow, always in the direction away from the 
 sun; and in that shadow is man's night. Now 
 we are travelling through space; and in these 
 vast reaches of space around our sun, there is 
 never any night, except just where a rushing 
 planet casts its shadow. We are now in a region 
 of perpetual day.' 
 
 "'I do not quite understand what you mean by 
 " space," ' said Eikon. 
 
 "'The sun and moon, the planets and stars, are 
 all set or placed in space,' replied Stella. ' At your 
 home, the tables, chairs, and stools are all set or 
 placed in a room. Only, the pieces of furniture are 
 at rest; whereas the stars and planets are always
 
 Mr. Fritz's Story. 175 
 
 moving. Besides, there are no walls, or floor, or 
 ceiling to space.' 
 
 " ' How far does space reach ? ' asked Eikon. 
 ' And what lies beyond space ? ' 
 
 '"I do not know,' the child answered, with a 
 serious look in her blue eyes. 'HE who created 
 space alone knows how far space reaches. And if 
 space has bounds if there is any beyond to space 
 we only know, Eikon, that God is there.' 
 
 " This seemed to Eikon a wonderful and beautiful 
 thought. 
 
 " ' How gloriously the sun shines,' he said, falling 
 into Stella's gentle and reverent tone. ' What a 
 blaze of light ! And how black the sky has 
 grown.' 
 
 " ' The air has become so thin,' she said. ' With- 
 out air there cannot be a blue sky ! ' 
 
 " ' And are we really in space now ? ' asked 
 Eikon. 
 
 " ' You have been in space all your life, Eikon, for 
 the world itself is in space. But we are passing now 
 into regions of space away from earth.' 
 
 '"Oh, what is that?' cried Eikon, as a small 
 dark body rushed past them earthward, with light- 
 ning speed, flashed into a blaze of flame, and 
 vanished.
 
 176 Among the Stars. 
 
 11 ' Only a shooting-star,' Stella answered. ' Have 
 you never watched for shooting-stars at night ? ' " 
 
 " O yes," whispered Ikon eagerly. " I didn't know 
 they were that sort of thing though." 
 
 " ' Yes,' Eikon replied. ' I imagined, however, 
 that the shooting-stars were suns, like other stars; 
 not little bodies like this ? ' 
 
 " 'The real stars are suns: but a shooting-star is 
 not a real star. It is only a meteorite,' said Stella. 
 ' We may expect to meet many of them on our way 
 to the moon.' 
 
 " ' I hope they will not strike us,' said Eikon, with 
 a shudder. 
 
 " ' No fear,' Stella said, smiling. ' We are here 
 on Wings of Imagination, remember. But for that, 
 there would indeed be danger.' 
 
 " ' Will not that shooting-star fall down on earth 
 and kill somebody ? ' asked the boy. 
 
 " ' O no; it will probably have burnt out long be- 
 fore it reaches the ground. A little dust may fall, 
 and that is all. Now, Eikon, shut your eyes, and 
 take my hand. Come where I lead, and do not 
 open your eyes again until I give you leave.' 
 
 " Eikon obeyed, though not willingly. He was 
 conscious of swift and steady motion, his own weaker
 
 Mr. Fritz's Story. 177 
 
 wings being helped on by Stella's more practised 
 pinions. Once he said, 
 
 " ' We are going so fast; and yet I feel no wind.' 
 
 " ' There cannot be wind where there is no air, 
 said Stella. 'Wind is moving air.' 
 
 " ' Then is there nothing here ? ' asked Eikon, 
 almost opening his eyes in surprise at the thought. 
 
 " ' Nothing that we can see or feel. But there is 
 believed to be a something everywhere through space, 
 very much lighter and thinner than the thinnest air 
 which we can possibly imagine. This something we 
 call "ether."' 
 
 "Then the two swept onward in silence; and 
 suddenly Eikon found himself standing upon his 
 feet. 
 
 " ' Open your eyes,' said Stella softly. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 " ' Why, we are back on earth again ! ' exclaimed 
 Eikon, in disappointment. 
 
 " Stella smiled and said, 
 
 " ' Are we ? Look around.' 
 
 " ' It's only earth,' repeated the boy. 
 
 " If so, it was a strange earth. Eikon rubbed his 
 eyes, and gazed about, with a sense of bewilderment. 
 
 " In front, far away, extended a bare and barren
 
 178 Among the Stars. 
 
 plain, upon which the sun's rays poured down with 
 a dazzling and sweltering heat. The glare was so 
 intense that Eikon could not face it. 
 
 " He turned to the right, and saw a range of 
 mountains, jagged and rocky, casting shadows of 
 inky blackness. No rivulets poured down these 
 mountain sides; no grass or plants or trees were 
 anywhere to be seen. 
 
 " To his left, rose an enormous rocky parapet, ex- 
 tending for miles, but gradually curving away as if 
 around some unseen centre. Here, too, were the 
 harsh and rugged outlines; the utter want of soft- 
 ness; the fierce glare of sunlight; the deep black- 
 ness of shadow. 
 
 " The plain in front was dotted at greater and 
 smaller intervals with sharply-cut circular hollows, 
 some small, some large, usually surrounded by ridges 
 of hard rock. 
 
 " Stella waited patiently, while Eikon's eyes wan- 
 dered around. 
 
 " ' Look up,' she said softly at length. 
 
 " Eikon obeyed. He beheld a sky of midnight 
 blackness, bespangled with brilliant untwinkling 
 stars. Strange to say, the stars shone thus although 
 it was full day, and the sun beat down in unutterable 
 splendour.
 
 Mr. Fritz's Story. 179 
 
 " The sun ! Was that indeed the very same sun, 
 which Eikon was used to see from his earth-home ? 
 A crown of golden and many-coloured light en- 
 circled the dazzling orb; and a glorious fringe of 
 radiance, ever changing in hue and quivering with 
 motion, streamed outward far into space on all 
 sides. 
 
 " ' Is that our sun ? ' asked Eikon in amaze. 
 
 " ' That is our sun, Eikon, only seen without the 
 veil of air to soften his glory,' replied Stella. ' See 
 yonder.' 
 
 " Eikon again looked, and his eyes fell upon a 
 splendid sight in the heavens a shining body, not 
 so very unlike the moon he had often watched 
 from earth, when at her third quarter, but about 
 sixteen times as large, exceedingly radiant, and 
 bordered all round the outer edge by a hazy band. 
 On this beautiful moon-like orb were many curious 
 markings, which reminded Eikon of his large 
 school-map of the world, hanging on the wall at 
 home. 
 
 " ' And that is ' he said wonderingly. 
 
 " ' That is THE EARTH,' Stella said. 
 
 " * How magnificent ! I never knew we had such 
 a perfectly radiant world to live in,' the boy said, 
 deeply stirred at the sight.
 
 l8o Among the Stars. 
 
 " ' We may dwell in the very midst of God's 
 glorious things, and yet not see them,' Stella said 
 gently. 
 
 " ' And this this really is the moon ? ' said Eikon, 
 as if hardly able to believe it. 
 
 " ' This is the moon. Have you any doubt ? 
 Yonder is our earth which we have left. No other 
 world lies so near.' 
 
 "'And we have come all this great distance!' 
 mused Eikon. 
 
 " ' About two hundred and forty thousand miles,' 
 said Stella, smiling. ' A mere nothing in astronomy.' 
 
 " ' Shall we ever get back ? ' 
 
 " ' Have no fear,' Stella answered cheerfully. 
 ' But you have more to see here, before we return. 
 Look again at the sun. Is he not a dazzling object ? ' 
 
 " ' Why do we not see from earth that crown of 
 gorgeous light ? ' asked Eikon. 
 
 " ' On earth we look through a thick atmosphere, 
 and all those delicate tints and lines of light are lost. 
 Not that they can never be seen from earth but it 
 is only possible under certain conditions. You may 
 see earth's atmosphere now the hazy band which 
 is folded around her. See, too, you can almost make 
 out the different continents on her surface. The 
 part which lies in darkness includes your home,
 
 Mr. Fritz's Story. iSl 
 
 Eikon; for you know that, when we left, night had 
 begun.' 
 
 " ' We have been so long in coming, that it must 
 be at least next day at home,' said Eikon. 
 
 " ' Not so long as you would suppose. How do 
 you like this heat ? ' 
 
 " ' It is fearful/ Eikon answered. ' I wonder at 
 myself for being able to stay here.' 
 
 " ' Wings of Imagination,' Stella said softly. ' Had 
 you come in any other way, you could not stand the 
 heat for three seconds. If I could conjure into ex- 
 istence a pond of water on this spot, it would boil 
 away almost instantly into steam.' 
 
 " ' Do you not think we might find some water 
 in one of those round holes ? ' asked Eikon. 
 
 " ' In the craters ? See for yourself.' 
 
 " ' Are these volcanic craters ? ' inquired Eikon. 
 'I have seen pictures of volcanoes at home; but 
 they were quite different.' 
 
 " ' Earth's volcanoes are often active still. The 
 moon's volcanoes are dead. That makes a great 
 difference,' said Stella. 'Yes, it is believed that 
 these are volcanic craters the larger ones at all 
 events. Yonder wall of rock surrounds a great 
 crater, about a hundred miles or more across. But 
 no fire or smoke or lava is ever seen to come
 
 1 82 Among the Stars. 
 
 from them. Everything upon the moon seems 
 dead.' 
 
 " Eikon exclaimed, ' Oh ! ' as a round hard 
 body came rushing downward out of the sky, and 
 struck the ground close to where they stood, with 
 a seemingly tremendous blow. The very ground 
 shook beneath it; yet there was no sound. Eikon 
 stared. 
 
 " ' I did not hear it,' he said. 
 
 " ' There are no noises in the moon, Eikon, for 
 there is no air to carry sound,' replied Stella. ' If 
 you and I were here in any other way except on 
 Wings of Imagination, we could not hear each other 
 speak. That was only another meteorite.' 
 
 " ' A shooting-star. But it did not blaze into 
 flame and burn away, as it came,' said Eikon. 
 
 "'No; there is nothing to make it do so. 
 Meteorites that fall to earth, catch fire in their rush 
 through our atmosphere. But here there is no air. 
 If you watch, you will see many such meteorites 
 fall while we are here.' 
 
 " ' I wonder where they come from,' said Eikon. 
 
 " ' Millions and millions of them are always rush- 
 ing round the sun, in all parts of his system; and 
 many fall upon the earth and other planets.' 
 
 " ' And the moon,' added Eikon.
 
 Mr. Fritz's Story. 183 
 
 " ' Yes and the moon,' repeated Stella. ' Some 
 believe that the smaller hollows on the moon are not 
 craters at all. It is supposed that they were made 
 long ago by large meteorites falling, at a time when 
 the surface of the moon was soft. But I do not 
 think anybody is quite sure about this yet.' 
 
 PART III. 
 
 " Eikon looked wistfully at the rocky parapet of 
 the great crater. 
 
 " ' Perhaps we could find some water over there/ 
 he said. 
 
 " ' We will explore, by all means. However, I 
 may as well tell you at once that there is no water 
 on the moon.' 
 
 " ' No water at all ! ' said Eikon. 
 , " ' Apparently not at all events on this side. I 
 cannot speak as to the other side, never having been 
 there.' 
 
 " 'Why not go now ?' Eikon desired to know. 
 
 " ' The moon only turns one side towards earth 
 always the same side,' said Stella. ' No one knows 
 anything about the further side. My Wings of 
 Imagination cannot carry me there; for I have no 
 knowledge of what exists on the other side. Come 
 shall we mount the rocks ? Spring, Eikon ! '
 
 184 Among- the Stars. 
 
 "Eikon had rarely in his life been more astonished. 
 Instead of alighting at a distance of three or four 
 feet, he cleared with ease a space of thirty or forty 
 feet. 
 
 "'Why, how is this?' he exclaimed. 'I never 
 made such a leap in my life before.' Yet his exulta- 
 tion was a little damped by seeing that Stella had 
 done the same as himself. 
 
 "'Ah,' Stella said, with a smile; 'you have not 
 been used to leaping on the moon. Weight here is 
 less than on earth.' 
 
 " ' I can believe that. I never knew what it was 
 to feel so light and agile. But what can be the 
 reason ? ' 
 
 "'Merely the smaller size of the moon,' replied 
 Stella. 
 
 " A few more such springs, and some swift climb- 
 ing and running, brought them soon to the summit 
 of the grim parapet, which now could be seen ex- 
 tending far in one huge unbroken circle. Within 
 was enclosed a deep hollow. At the centre of this 
 hollow a group of three or four high hills could be 
 seen, all sharp and jagged and shaped like cones. 
 Inky shadows fell from them upon the floor of the 
 crater. The whole scene was intensely dreary. No 
 water; no grass; no blue and green tints; nothing
 
 Mr. Fritz's Story. 185 
 
 to soften the harsh outlines. Only black shadows 
 and a black sky, contrasting with the fierce white 
 glare of sunshine. 
 
 " ' Oh, this is terrible,' said Eikdn, shuddering. 
 'I could not bear to live here.' 
 
 " ' I have not shown you the worst yet,' Stella 
 said in a low voice, as if she too felt the oppression 
 of the sight. 'You know now something of what 
 the moon is in her day-time. You have yet to learn 
 the bleak horrors of her night.' 
 
 " 'Surely no living creatures can possibly exist on 
 such a world ? ' said Eikon. 
 
 " 'One would suppose not,' Stella replied dreamily. 
 'Sit down, Eikon, and let us vrait. The sun will 
 set in less than a week, and then night will 
 come.' 
 
 "'A week ! ' gasped the boy. 
 
 " ' Less than a week. Three or four days, I should 
 have said. The moon's day lasts a fortnight of our 
 earthly days, and her night another fortnight. But 
 her day is now a good deal more than half over; for 
 the sun has long passed his highest position in the 
 heavens. We will wait here three or four days, 
 and see him set. Time will go very quickly. 
 Remember, our waiting will be only on the Wings of 
 Imagination.' Stella spread her gauzy wings, with 
 13
 
 1 86 Among the Stars. 
 
 a smile, as she spoke, and gently waved them :o 
 and fro. 
 
 " Eikon readily agreed. Together they watched 
 the sun, as slowly, very slowly, he crept across tb 
 black sky. The stars moved in like manner, much a* 
 the stars are seen from earth to move; only here they 
 could be watched in daylight, and from earth they ca^ 
 only be watched at night. Moreover, here they ap- 
 peared to move with exceeding slowness, like the sun. 
 For the changes which on earth can be seen to take 
 place in twenty-four hours, on the moon can only be 
 seen to take place in twenty-eight days of earth-time. 
 
 "While the sun and stars thus lazily advanced to- 
 wards their setting, the radiant earth never stirred 
 from her place, seeming always to hang like a glo- 
 rious fixed globe at one spot in the sky. Changes 
 of another kind were visible, however. For earth 
 could be seen to wax and wane, going through her 
 month of phases, even as we on earth see the moon 
 wax and wane. 
 
 " ' If we were here twenty-eight days, we should 
 see earth pass through all her quarters in turn, from 
 new-earth to full-earth, and back again to new- 
 earth,' said Stella. 
 
 " ' Like new-moon and full-moon, I suppose,' 
 Eik6n replied. ' How wonderful it all is.'
 
 Mr. Fritz's Story. 187 
 
 " By-and-by the radiant sun went down. Then, 
 with startling suddenness, night was upon them. 
 
 " It was not, indeed, a night of darkness. On this 
 side of the moon there is at all times the beautiful 
 shining of earth; equal at her full to more than a 
 dozen full-moons, and equal at her crescent to more 
 than a dozen crescent-moons. 
 
 " But the cold was fearful intense past words to 
 describe. If in the moon's day, water would pass 
 instantly into steam; in the moon's night, water 
 would change no less rapidly into the hardest ice. 
 
 "Except on Wings of Imagination, no human being 
 could have endured the awful chill. Stella and Eikon 
 drew closer together, shivering at the desolation of 
 the scene. The harsh mountain ranges showed 
 plainly still in earth's cold light; and countless stars 
 shone overhead with steady radiance; and the deep 
 silence was unbroken by any sound of movement or 
 of life. 
 
 '"Eikon, have you had enough?' Stella asked at 
 length. 
 
 "'Yes oh, yes. Let us go home/ entreated 
 Eikon. 
 
 " ' Then take my hand,' she said, ' and spread 
 your wings. Shut your eyes, and have no fear.' 
 
 "Again with swift flight they rose upward, this time
 
 1 88 Among the Stars. 
 
 leaving behind the dreary wastes of moonland, and 
 passing earthward. Soon they came out of moon's 
 shadow, and once more found themselves in the full 
 blaze of perpetual sunlight. 
 
 " Before Eikon could have thought it possible, he 
 was back in the garden he had left. 
 
 " How fair and sweet seemed the colouring and 
 shades of earth, even by night, after the terrible 
 scenes he had quitted ! 
 
 " ' Oh, I would not live on the moon,' Eikon cried. 
 ' Earth, dear old earth, is better of the two.' 
 
 "And as Eikon said these words, Stella faded from 
 his sight, and he awoke."
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THINGS LIGHT AND HEAVY. 
 
 "I'M glad he finished his dream properly before he 
 woke up," said Ikon, in a deeply-interested voice. 
 " He managed much better than me, didn't he ? " 
 
 " Better than /," suggested Fritz. 
 
 "O yes Miss Mundy always tells me that. I 
 wish I could go to the moon too, Mr. Fritz. But 
 oh dear, I do like that story so very very much. 
 Only I wish Eikon had seen lots and lots of things 
 more before he came back." 
 
 " Giants and griffins ? " asked Fritz. 
 
 " No, real things, I mean. Oh, and why didn't he 
 and Stella go round to the other side of the moon ? 
 I do wish you had made them, Mr. Fritz." 
 
 " Couldn't," said Mr. Fritz. 
 
 " Couldn't you really ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " I didn't know what to make them see there." 
 
 " Don't you really know ?"
 
 190 Among the Stars. 
 
 Fritz shook his head. 
 
 " Not much, at all events," he said. " There would 
 be the sun, of course and the black sky, and the 
 stars shining by daylight, probably. And most 
 likely, the same sort of scenery. But nobody really 
 knows, for no human being has ever looked on that 
 side of the moon." 
 
 " Nobody ever ? " inquired Ikon seriously. 
 
 "Nobody, ever," repeated Fritz. "The moon 
 always turns the same side to us, and the opposite 
 side is always turned away." 
 
 "But I suppose it's most likely just the same as 
 this side," said Ikon. 
 
 " Can't say. Very possibly," responded Fritz. " I 
 know one difference. At night there is no earth- 
 light." 
 
 " Don't they see the big earth shining like a great 
 moon ?" 
 
 " No, never. There are only the stars at night. 
 I don't know who you mean by ' they,' " added Fritz 
 drily. 
 
 " Oh, I meant people but of course there are not 
 any people on the moon," said Ikon. 
 
 " Probably not," said Fritz. 
 
 "Well, I know one thing," remarked Ikon, nodding 
 his head with an air of confidence, " I know one
 
 Things Light and Heavy. 191 
 
 thing, Mr. Fritz. The moon doesn't spin round and 
 round on its axis, like the earth and the planets. 
 Because if it did, of course the other side would come 
 round sometimes, so that we could see it." 
 
 " The moon does spin on her axis," said Fritz. 
 " That is what caused the sun and stars to ap- 
 pear to set, when Eikon and Stella watched 
 them." 
 
 " O yes I forgot about the sun setting. But how 
 very funny and extraordinary it was that the earth 
 shouldn't have gone on and set too," remarked Ikon r 
 puckering up his forehead. 
 
 " It does seem odd at first sight," said Fritz, trying 
 not to laugh. " But look here, Ikon. You know, 
 don't you, that the moon goes round and round the 
 earth ? " 
 
 Ikon nodded. 
 
 " As the moon goes round the earth, if she did not 
 spin on her axis we should see every part of her in 
 turn." 
 
 "Should we?" 
 
 " Certainly. If you were to move slowly round me, 
 never turning on your feet, but keeping your face 
 steadily fixed in one direction, I should see first your 
 back, then your side, then your face, then your other 
 side."
 
 192 Among the Stars. 
 
 " O yes, of course you would," said Ikon, his face 
 brightening. 
 
 " And if you were to move slowly round me, spin- 
 ning fast on your feet as you went, I should still have 
 views of you all round." 
 
 Ikon looked assent. 
 
 " But if you were to move round me, starting with 
 your face turned towards mine, and if as you went 
 you were to spin very slowly on your feet so slowly 
 that one spin would take just the same time as once 
 going round me " 
 
 " Yes" said Ikon. 
 
 " Then I should only see your face all the while, 
 and never your back." 
 
 Ikon was greatly interested. He could not be 
 content without trying the three modes. Fritz had 
 to move his chair to the middle of the room. Then 
 Ikon walked round him; first, keeping his face 
 always in one direction; next, spinning so fast that 
 he became giddy and nearly fell down; lastly, having 
 his face steadily turned in towards Fritz all the 
 while. 
 
 " But I didn't seem to spin on my feet a bit this 
 time," he protested at the close. 
 
 " You did spin, Ikon, whether it seemed so or not. 
 As you moved round me, your face pointed to each
 
 /
 
 Things Light and Heavy. 193 
 
 part of the room in turn. That shows that you were 
 in reality turning slowly on your feet." 
 
 " Is that just how the moon goes ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " That is how the moon goes. The time that the 
 moon takes to spin once round upon her axis, is 
 exactly the same as the time that she takes to 
 journey once round the earth. Both are twenty- 
 eight days. This is how it happens that one side of 
 the moon is always turned towards us, and never 
 the other side. And this is why our earth shines 
 always upon one side of the moon, so that anybody 
 living there could see the earth seemingly fixed to 
 one place in the sky." 
 
 " But," Mr. Fritz, said Ikon slowly, " couldn't you 
 have made Eikon go to the other side of the moon, 
 an A fancied something for them to see ?" 
 
 " Certainly I could," said Fritz drily. " I might 
 have made them find Jack and the Beanstalk there, 
 or Cinderella and her glass slipper. But I thought 
 you wanted sense in my story, instead of non- 
 sense." 
 
 " O yes, that I do" cried Ikon. " I don't want 
 nonsense." 
 
 " People have fancied a good many things about 
 the other side of the moon," said Fritz. " Some have 
 wondered whether there is perhaps air there, and
 
 194 Among the Stars. 
 
 perhaps water, and perhaps grass and trees and 
 animals. But these are mere guesses." 
 
 "At any rate, I'm quite sure Jack and Cinderella 
 aren't there," said Ikon, laughing. " Mr. Fritz, 
 please don't go yet. I want to ask you something 
 else. About Eikon jumping so easily on the moon. 
 I couldn't make out what you meant. Stella said 
 it was because the moon was small." 
 
 " Do you know what causes weight, Ikon ? " 
 
 " Things being big," said Ikon. 
 
 " You mean that a big thing is heavier than a, 
 small thing. But this is not always the case. A 
 down pillow is larger than an iron door-scraper; yet 
 the pillow would not weigh the heaviest." 
 
 " O no. Some sorts of things weigh more than 
 other sorts," said Ikon. 
 
 " That brings us back to my question. What 
 causes weight ? " 
 
 Ikon thought, and thought in vain. 
 
 " Why doesn't this table float up in the air ?" asked 
 Fritz. 
 
 "Why, it can't, Mr. Fritz. It is too heavy a 
 great deal too heavy." 
 
 " Just so. And it is heavy because " 
 
 Ikon said humbly, 
 
 "I don't know."
 
 Things Light and Heavy. 195 
 
 " Because," said Fritz, " the earth drags it down." 
 
 " Is that why ! " asked Ikon. 
 
 " That is why. The earth pulls down everything, 
 trees and hills, and houses and people, and stones, 
 everything, in fact." 
 
 '' But what makes the earth pull ?" 
 
 " Everything pulls everything else," said Fritz. 
 " But the earth is so enormously bigger than any 
 single thing upon the earth, that all lesser pullings 
 are quite lost sight of in her great dragging of every- 
 thing towards herself. We call this pull 'attrac- 
 tion.' And the downward pressure of all things to- 
 ward the earth we call ' gravitation.' " 
 
 " But what makes the earth pull ? " repeated Ikon. 
 
 " God makes it do so," Fritz answered gravely. 
 
 Ikon was silent for some seconds. 
 
 "The amount of attraction or pulling in each in- 
 stance depends on two things," said Fritz. " First, 
 on the bulk of the earth; secondly, on the bulk of 
 the thing attracted." 
 
 " But you said the biggest things weren't the 
 heaviest," said Ikon. 
 
 " Not always. However, if I have two pieces of 
 iron, one large and one small, the large piece will 
 weigh the most." 
 
 Ikon responded by " Yes."
 
 196 Among the Stars. 
 
 " If I have two pieces of oak, one large and one 
 small, the biggest again will be the heaviest." 
 
 " Yes," repeated Ikon. 
 
 " But it will not do to try the iron against the 
 wood. Iron is of a closer make than wood, it has 
 more substance pressed into a smaller space. So a 
 piece of iron is heavier than a piece of wood the 
 same in size." 
 
 " But you haven't told me about the moon, Mr. 
 Fritz." 
 
 "We are coming to that. I said just now that the 
 weight of any one thing depended partly on its own 
 size, partly on the size of the earth. Now, of course, 
 the size of the earth does not change." 
 
 " It doesn't grow bigger," said Ikon, smiling at the 
 thought. 
 
 " Suppose the earth were bigger," said Fritz. 
 " Suppose our world were as large as Jupiter, her 
 make being the same as it is now. Then her attrac- 
 tion would be very much greater than at present. 
 Objects on her surface would be pulled towards 
 the ground with tremendous force; and everything 
 would be heavier. A man who can now walk easily 
 upright, would then be dragged down with such 
 power that he would have to lie flat on the ground." 
 
 " Couldn't he stand at all ? " asked Ikon. " Couldn't
 
 Things Light and Heavy. 197 
 
 you stand, if you were in a world as big as 
 Jupiter?" 
 
 " No," replied Fritz. " Not unless I were differently 
 made. I should want, for instance, much stronger 
 muscles, before I could resist the great downward 
 pull of such a world, and be able to stand upright." 
 
 " I'm glad we don't live on Jupiter," remarked 
 Ikon. 
 
 " But on the other hand," said Fritz, " suppose 
 our earth were much smaller than she is now ! Sup- 
 pose the earth were just the size of the moon ! " 
 
 " Yes ? " Ikon said. 
 
 "Then the downward pull would be so much 
 slighter, that the weight of everything would be 
 lessened. A block of stone which a man now is not 
 able to stir, might then be lifted by a child." 
 
 "Is that why Eikon could jump so high?" asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 " That is why. Have you anything else to ask ? 
 For I must go." 
 
 " I don't think I know why the earth in the sky 
 had halves and quarters like our moon," said Ikon. 
 
 " Do you understand why the moon has phases, 
 Ikon ? " 
 
 " Phases ? " repeated Ikon, in a puzzled voice. 
 
 " Halves and quarters, I mean."
 
 198 Among the Stars. 
 
 " No," said Ikon. " I don't know, Mr. Fritz." 
 
 " Some day you ought to have a lesson on that 
 subject. I can't wait for it to-day." 
 
 " Will you write some more about Eikon and 
 Stella ? " asked Ikon imploringly, as he rose. 
 
 " We shall see," said Fritz. 
 
 " Mayn't they fly off and visit the sun ? O, do 
 please let them ! That would be beautiful ! " said 
 Ikon, with sparkling eyes. 
 
 " I'll consider the matter," Fritz answered.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 \ 
 
 ANOTHER STORY. 
 
 A FEW days later Fritz came again, with a small 
 roll of papers in his hand. 
 
 "It is done, Ikon," he said in his shyest tone. 
 " The child Eikon has had another dream." 
 
 " The sun ! Has he been to the sun ? And Stella 
 too ?" cried Ikon. 
 
 "Well, yes something of the sort. They have 
 paid a visit to the neighbourhood of the sun. I 
 could not well take them nearer." 
 
 "Oh, you dear dear kind Mr. Fritz !" cried Ikon 
 rapturously. " Do please read it to me. Don't wait 
 for anything. I do so want to know what they saw." 
 
 The story was as follows: 
 
 * >S JOURNEY TOWARDS THE SUN. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 " THE child stood again in the garden, leaning idly 
 against a small tree. Stars overhead could not be
 
 2oo Among the Stars. 
 
 seen, because of the sunshine which flooded the 
 air. 
 
 "Eik6n was not thinking about stars. He had 
 been trying to look at the sun, till purple spots and 
 blots were before his eyes wherever he glanced. 
 Eikon did not know the danger of using his eyes 
 thus." 
 
 " Why, is that dangerous ? " asked Ikon. " I have 
 tried ever so often to look at the sun." 
 
 " Don't try again," said Fritz. " People have lost 
 their sight in time, by such attempts." 
 
 " Mayn't I ever look ? " 
 
 "Yes, sometimes when the sun is setting; or 
 when there is enough mist or fog to dim his bright- 
 ness. A bit of smoked glass will make it safe at any 
 time." 
 
 " I'll ask Dormer for some smoked glass this very 
 day," said Ikon. 
 
 Then Fritz went on: 
 
 " He was wishing that it were only possible to pay 
 a dream-visit to the sun, such as he had already paid 
 to the moon. 
 
 "And while he thought, the heat of the day made 
 him listless, so he sat down upon a grassy bank, and 
 presently fell asleep.
 
 Another Story. 20 1 
 
 " He did not know himself to be asleep. He 
 fancied that he was only lying on the bank, thinking 
 still about the sun, and wishing to fly away from 
 earth. 
 
 "And suddenly a silver voice said, 'Eikon ! ' 
 " Then he started up to find Stella beside him, 
 blue-eyed, and fair-haired, and robed in white, with 
 folded gauzy wings." 
 
 "Does the real live Stella always wear white frocks ?" 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 " I am not sure," replied Fritz doubtfully. " I have 
 seen her in white. Ikon, I do not like these inter- 
 ruptions. You are too fond of hearing your own 
 voice." 
 
 "I'll be good," whispered Ikon; and Fritz con- 
 tinued: 
 
 " ' Eikon ! ' she said. 
 
 " 'O Stella, Stella, I am glad,' cried the boy. ' I 
 have longed so much for you, that we might take 
 another journey to the skies.' 
 
 " ' What ! Did you not have enough in your last ?* 
 she asked, softly smiling. 
 
 " ' O no, no. I want to see the sun, dear Stella, 
 said the boy beseechingly. 
 14
 
 2O2 Among the Stars. 
 
 '"That is a much longer voyage than before,' 
 said Stella. 'The moon is only two hundred and 
 forty thousand miles away; but the sun is ninety-one 
 millions of miles."' 
 
 " Ninety-one millions of miles ! What a lot ? " 
 murmured Ikon. 
 
 " ' Ninety-one millions of miles ! That does in- 
 deed sound enormous!' replied Eikon. 'But on 
 Wings of Imagination, Stella ' 
 
 " 'If your wings are strong enough, let us go, by 
 all means,' she answered. ' Come, shall we try ? 
 We can but turn back halfway.' 
 
 " Stella did not this time bid Eikon close his eyes. 
 He spread his wings, and sprang joyfully upward. 
 . " Together they rose through the sunny air, till 
 the highest flight of the lark was left far behind, 
 and hills dwindled into flatness. No shadow of 
 night lay behind them now; but green fields and 
 the broad sparkling ocean. 
 
 " Yet, as they swept rapidly upwards, changes 
 came to pass. They reached cloudland, and Eikon 
 was astonished at the curling wreaths of white mist, 
 which from below had looked, so firm and still against 
 the blue sky. Leaving these light clouds they rose
 
 Another Story. 203 
 
 higher, and soon the earth beneath glowed in the 
 sunlight with a strong white glare; and the sky over- 
 head grew from blue to the darkest purple, then 
 deepened into inky black. 
 
 " Stars came out one by one, as at night; only the 
 sun still shone intensely. And the wreath of radiant 
 light fringing the sun was once more visible, as seen 
 from the moon. 
 
 " ' We have left earth's atmosphere behind us 
 now,' Stella remarked. 'There is no air here.' 
 
 " ' Only what you call ether" said Eikon. 
 
 " ' Yes that we suppose.' 
 
 " ' Shall we come across the moon on our way to 
 the sky ? ' asked Eikon. 
 
 "Stella shook her head. 'The moon, is at this 
 moment, on the other side of the earth,' she said. 
 
 " ' Or any of the planets ? ' asked Eikon. 
 
 " ' No,' she said. ' Not if we travel direct from 
 earth towards the sun. Neither Venus nor Mercury 
 lie at this moment anywhere near the straight line 
 between earth and sun. And all the other planets, 
 you know, have their pathways outside the pathway 
 of our earth.' 
 
 "'I should have liked to land at Venus half-way,' 
 observed Eikon wistfully. 
 
 "'It would not be half-way/ Stella answered.
 
 204 Among the Stars. 
 
 ' Venus at one point in her orbit does certainly pass 
 somewhere about half-way between the sun and our- 
 selves. But at the present moment a journey to 
 Venus would be quite as long as a journey to the sun 
 himself. And a journey to Mercury would be even 
 longer; since Mercury is on a part of his orbit quite 
 beyond the sun.' 
 
 "'Then there is actually no planet at all just 
 now between earth and sun,' said Eik6n. 
 
 " ' None known to us. That is no uncommon 
 state of things. However, if you keep a look-out 
 you may see some passing meteorites here and there. 
 Ha ! ' as a small body rushed past, glowing in the 
 sunlight. ' There is one.' 
 
 " 'Where is it going?' asked Eikon wonderingly. 
 
 "'I do not know,' she said. 'Each meteorite 
 has its own little pathway round the sun. But if it 
 comes near enough to one of the planets, it will be 
 drawn aside, and will fall down upon the planet. 
 Millions of meteorites are destroyed thus every hour.' 
 
 " 'There is another ! ' exclaimed Eikon. 
 
 " ' Yes and here comes a third. But this is 
 nothing. In parts of the Solar System they flow in 
 a continuous stream, countless millions travelling 
 in company.' 
 
 " ' Ah ! what is that ? ' cried EikOn, when they
 
 Another Story. 205 
 
 had advanced a considerable distance through the 
 glare of sunshine whether thousands or millions of 
 miles Eikon could not tell, so swift and arrow-like 
 was their flight. ' Look ! what is that ? ' 
 
 " For at a little distance he saw a bright star-like 
 object, with a tail of soft light curving away into 
 space. 
 
 " ' That is only a comet,' said Stella. ' Have 
 you never seen a comet before ?' 
 
 "'Once, I think,' Eikon said, with some hesita- 
 tion. ' How wonderful and beautiful ! Is that 
 comet another sun ? ' 
 
 "'O no,' Stella said, smiling. 'The body of a 
 comet is much smaller and lighter than you would 
 suppose; though some of them have enormous tails. 
 But this is a very small one.' 
 
 " ' Where is it going ? ' asked Eikon. 
 
 " ' Round and round the sun, I suppose,' she 
 answered. 
 
 " ' You suppose but you do not know, Stella ? ' 
 
 " ' I have little doubt that it is so with this comet/ 
 said Stella. 
 
 " 'And the tail is what ? ' asked Eikon. 
 
 " ' No one can answer that question, Eikon. There 
 is hardly anything in nature more puzzling than the 
 tail of a comet ! '
 
 206 Among' the Stars. 
 
 " ' I should like very much to go nearer,' mur- 
 mured Eikon. 
 
 " ' Not now,' said Stella. ' We have enough to 
 think about to-day. You had better leave alone 
 thoughts of comets and meteorites, and fix your at- 
 tention on the great sun. See how much nearer we 
 are how large he has grown. Were we not here on 
 Wings of Imagination, we could not for an instant 
 face this tremendous heat.' 
 
 " ' We shall not be blinded, I hope/ said Eikon, 
 amazed at the surpassing glare of light, as if from 
 an enormous electric globe, which seemed to fill all 
 space around them. So intense and overpowering 
 was the radiance, that the brightest summer's day 
 on earth would have been as dim twilight in com- 
 parison; and Eikon found himself positively unable 
 at such a moment to picture in his mind the meaning 
 of the word ' darkness.' 
 
 " ' No,' Stella answered. ' It will neither blind us 
 nor drive us mad, as would certainly be the case if 
 we were not here on Wings of Imagination only.' 
 
 " ' Stella, do you think the glory of heaven itself 
 can go beyond this ? ' asked the boy softly, as they 
 floated side by side in the ocean of dazzling bril- 
 liance. 
 
 " ' I think it must,' she said gently. ' For after
 
 Another Story. 207 
 
 all our sun is only one of the many lamps which 
 were made by Him whose throne is in heaven. I 
 think the glory of His throne and presence must sur- 
 pass all other glory. But those who are in heaven 
 are fitted to endure heaven's light, and to rejoice in 
 it. Now, Eikon, look steadily at the sun, and tell 
 me what you see.' 
 
 PART II. 
 
 "'I see a glorious sun of enormous size,' said Eikon. 
 * A round body still, glowing with an extraordinary 
 blaze of light, past the power of words to describe. 
 
 " ' Look attentively,' Stella said. 
 
 " ' Stella, I see strange dark spots upon the sun, 
 several of them, all different in shape. They are 
 blackest in the centre, and they have grey edges. 
 Some are bridged over with grey streaks across the 
 darkest part. Some seem to remain the same, but 
 one is changing quickly. See ! the grey bridge has 
 broken up and vanished.' 
 
 " ' Those are sun-spots,' said Stella. 
 
 " ' Are they stains upon the bright sun ? ' asked 
 Eikon. 
 
 " 'No, not stains. They are believed to be great 
 rents or holes in the outer burning envelope of the 
 sun, letting us see through to lower depths.'
 
 208 Among the Stars. 
 
 " ' I suppose those black depths are quite cool and 
 shady, compared with the outside,' said Eikon. 
 
 "'No; probably not,' she answered. 'The 
 blackness is perhaps only in comparison with the 
 outside glare. Some believe that those black depths 
 are the most intensely hot of all. These spots are 
 supposed to be caused by tremendous storms and 
 hurricanes on the sun. How large should you take 
 them to be, Eikon ? ' 
 
 '"It is difficult to judge,' the boy said. 'Cer- 
 tainly they are not really small. Perhaps they may 
 equal in size the great craters on the moon.' 
 
 " Stella quite laughed. ' One of those bigger 
 spots,' she said, ' is most likely from fifty thousand 
 to a hundred thousand miles across. The whole 
 moon might lie as a little boulder in one corner of 
 it. Fifty such planets as our earth thrown in would 
 not fill up that hole ! ' 
 
 " ' You do not really mean it, Stella ? ' 
 
 " ' I do indeed. Ah, if we could go close and look in! 
 But even in imagination that is too much,' she said. 
 
 " ' What are those other spots ? ' asked Eikon 
 suddenly. ' Not black, but most intensely bright 
 brighter even than the radiant surface of the sun.' 
 
 " ' They are called facul&J Stella answered. ' I 
 can give you no English word. But they too are
 
 Another Story. 209 
 
 doubtless caused by great stormy disturbances, and 
 outbursts of tremendous flame.' 
 
 " ' See such a bright spot has appeared this in- 
 stant,' said Eikon. ' It grows brighter as I look.' 
 
 " ' It may be of the nature of some volcanic out- 
 burst,' she answered. 
 
 " ' And, Stella oh, Stella, I notice something 
 else,' cried the boy. ' The whole face of the sun is 
 strangely mottled all over. What extraordinary 
 markings almost like tiny slender leaves, lying 
 closely side by side, or crossing each other in all 
 directions. Thousands upon thousands of them.' 
 
 " 'Those tiny leaves, as you call them, are each 
 hundreds of miles probably in length,' said Stella. 
 ' Some have described them as being shaped like 
 grains of rice.' 
 
 " ' But what are they, Stella ?' 
 
 " ' No one can yet answer that question,' said 
 Stella quietly. ' Go on tell me more. 
 
 " ' Round the edge of the sun O how marvel- 
 lous ! round the edge of the sun it is as a sea of 
 quivering fire; not water, but fire, Stella. I seem to 
 see the very rising and falling of the billows, like 
 the waves against the horizon, on a stormy day by 
 the ocean. How grand ! " 
 
 " 'It is a sea. and a sea of fire,' said Stella.
 
 2io Among the Stars. 
 
 * Those are indeed fiery billows of enormous size, 
 ever rising and falling.' 
 
 " 'All around the sun's edge,' said Eikon. 
 
 " ' All over the sun's surface, Eikon. For the sun 
 is perpetually turning round and round, just as the 
 earth does; and every part of his surface is at the 
 edge sooner or later. That which we see at the edge 
 of the sun is merely a side-view of what really covers 
 the whole globe. When you at home see waves 
 against the horizon, on the ocean, you may be quite 
 sure that there are like waves all over the surface 
 between you and the horizon.' 
 
 " ' There is something else,' cried Eikon. 
 ' Strange jagged crimson shapes, standing high out 
 of that fiery sea some like jets and fountains of fire, 
 and others like sharp-toothed mountains of fire, and 
 others again like great flames darting upward.' 
 
 " ' And they no doubt are flames,' said Stella. 
 ' These are most likely a kind of volcanic outburst 
 here and there.' 
 
 " ' Like the white spots on the sun ? ' asked Eikon. 
 
 " ' Perhaps a side-view of the very same kind of 
 thing,' she answered. ' What do you think, Eikdn, 
 of flames ten or twenty thousand miles in length ? 
 Those strange red " prominences," as men call them, 
 must be of the nature of flame.'
 
 Another Story. 21 1 
 
 44 4 See, there is a fresh one bursting upward at 
 this moment,' cried Eikon. * It is rising rising 
 oh, what a height ! ' 
 
 4 ' 4 Yes. Our earth might lie as a little ball at the 
 foot of that fiery peak," said Stella. 
 
 44 'There it has exploded, or broken,' Eikon said 
 presently. 4 Now it is slowly dying down again. 
 How perfectly wonderful.' 
 
 44 4 Wonderful, indeed ! For these outbursts may 
 be watched, not only from where you and I now 
 are, Eikon, but actually from earth itself through 
 powerful telescopes,' said Stella. 4 Think what the 
 outburst of flame must be, which can be seen at a 
 distance of ninety-one million miles.' 
 
 44 4 Could /see it through a telescope ? ' asked Eikon. 
 
 44 4 Not at all times,' she answered. 4 The thick 
 air of earth, and the glare of sunlight in that air, 
 hide from us these strange sights. But they may be 
 seen in a total eclipse.' 
 
 " * A total eclipse ! ' repeated Eik6n. 4 What is 
 that?' 
 
 444 The moon sometimes passes exactly between 
 earth and sun, so that for a few seconds she entirely 
 hides the sun from us. Then, when the dark body 
 of the moon just covers the bright surface of the 
 sun, these strange red flames, together with the
 
 212 Among' the Stars. 
 
 fiery sea, may be plainly seen. Now, Eikon, look 
 again, and notice what comes next, outside the peaks 
 and fountains of flame.' 
 
 " ' Ah, there is the beautiful fringe of light which 
 we saw from the moon,' said Eikon. 'What is it 
 called ? ' 
 
 " ' The corona, or crown,' Stella replied. 
 
 " ' But it was many-coloured then, with changing 
 tints,' said Eikon. ' Now it is silvery white, and 
 the crown has violet rays. Some of the rays have a 
 strange appearance, as if bent and twisted in bundles. 
 And what a distance they reach ! ' 
 
 " ' Some suppose these rays of light to be a con- 
 stant outpouring from the sun perhaps an enor- 
 mous and ceaseless stream of meteorites, 'said Stella. 
 
 * Do you see also, Eikon, a fainter radiance, outside 
 the corona, and reaching far far away into space ? 
 This may be often seen from earth, before sunrise or 
 after sunset; and it is called the Zodiacal Light.' 
 
 " ' Stella, cannot we go nearer yet ? ' cried Eikon. 
 
 * Cannot we look into the dark spot, and stand beside 
 the fiery mountains, and examine the crown of light ?' 
 
 " ' I fear not,' she said gently. ' We should not 
 know what to see. We could not distinguish what 
 is true from what is fancy. I cannot take you nearer 
 to the sun. Eikon ! ' "
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 WHY THE STORY WAS NOT ENDED. 
 
 " Is that all ? " asked Ikon, opening his eyes wide. 
 
 Fritz rubbed his head, 
 
 " I didn't know how to carry it on," he said. 
 
 " But couldn't you oh, couldn't you have taken 
 them close to the sun ? It seems so uncomfortable, 
 their just floating about nowhere," said Ikon, in a 
 dissatisfied tone. 
 
 " Somewhere, not nowhere," said Fritz. 
 
 " Well, but I mean they weren't on anything," 
 said Ikon. " They only just went floating about, 
 millions of miles away from everything. Couldn't 
 you have taken them right to the sun ? Because 
 of course they wouldn't be burnt, when they had 
 Wings of Imagination." 
 
 " When they travelled on Wings of Imagination, 
 you mean, I suppose," said Fritz. " I did think of 
 that. But I found serious difficulties. We really
 
 214 Among the Stars. 
 
 know so little of the sun. If I had landed them 
 there, I should only have landed myself in perplexity. 
 Besides, there seems to be nothing to land them on. 
 Even in imagination I could hardly make them 
 stand or sit on billows of fire and mountains of 
 flame." 
 
 " But there are the spots," said Ikon. " Mightn't 
 Eikon and Stella have explored inside those black 
 holes ? " 
 
 "They are not holes, like holes in a rock," said 
 Fritz. "It is so difficult to give a child of your age 
 any true idea of these things. A hole on the surface 
 of the sun may only mean a break in the fiery sea, 
 where the outer envelope is torn open by a tremen- 
 dous whirlwind." 
 
 " But couldn't Eikon have peeped through ? " per- 
 sisted Ikon. 
 
 " You forget the size of the spots when you talk of 
 'peeping through,'" said Fritz, in rather a severe 
 tone. "A dozen or fifteen worlds, such as ours, 
 strung like beads on an enormous rope, and hung 
 across the opening, would not reach from one side 
 to the other of the biggest sun-spots which are 
 sometimes seen." 
 
 Ikon said only, " O dear ! " to this. 
 
 " Besides," added Fritz, " I cannot at all be sure
 
 Why the Story was not Ended. 215 
 
 what he ought to find within. So it was safer to 
 keep at a distance." 
 
 " The grey edges and bridges, and the black 
 middle," suggested Ikon. 
 
 " The umbra and penumbra yes. But nobody 
 knows what the grey edges and the black centre 
 would look like, if one were near. You are a 
 rather unreasonable little boy, I think. You don't 
 want a nonsense-story, and yet you are vexed because 
 I don't attempt to describe more than I know." 
 
 " I won't be vexed," said Ikon eagerly. "You are 
 so kind to take such a lot of trouble. Only won't 
 you please do one thing won't you just tell me a 
 little more about the sun now, in your own words?" 
 
 Fritz looked up to the ceiling, and down on the 
 floor, and seemed to think it would be rather nice to 
 run away. But Ikon's wistful black eyes held him 
 captive. 
 
 " You know the size of the sun ? " Fritz burst out 
 abruptly at length. 
 
 "O yes," Ikon said. "It has got a diameter more 
 than eight hundred and fifty thousand miles long." 
 
 "Don't say it has got!" said Fritz. "It 'has a 
 diameter.' That is enough." 
 
 Ikon nodded. 
 
 "Well ! " Fritz said, rubbing his forehead, "if you
 
 216 Among the Stars. 
 
 had more than one million worlds, all the same size 
 as our earth, and if you rolled them all together into 
 one huge globe, that globe would be scarcely as 
 large as the sun." 
 
 "Wouldn't it really?" asked Ikon. 
 
 " No. Of course I am talking now about the 
 seeming size of the sun," said Fritz. " I don't know 
 at all how large the solid part of the sun may be. 
 We can only measure the sun as a whole, including 
 his fiery surroundings, a sort of atmosphere of fire." 
 
 " And a sea of fire," said Ikon. 
 
 " You can call it a sea, if you like, but it is a sea 
 where there is no water. The waves are waves of 
 flame." 
 
 " Perhaps there is a real small sun inside, quite 
 cool and comfortable," suggested Ikon. 
 
 " There may be a firm central body, very likely. 
 I don't know what to say to the idea of coolness or 
 comfort, under such an envelope of flames. However 
 as to the weight of the sun! We know something 
 about that. Suppose we had an enormous pair of 
 scales." 
 
 " Cook has scales in the kitchen," said Ikon. 
 
 " These would be much bigger scales. They must 
 be so tremendous that in one scale we can put the 
 whole great sun."
 
 Why the Story was not Ended. 217 
 
 " O dear me ! " gasped Ikon. " They would have 
 to be big ! " 
 
 " The question would be, what to put in the other 
 scale, so as to out-weigh the great weight of the sun," 
 said Fritz. 
 
 "Wouldn't a star do?" 
 
 " Might ! " said Fritz. " But we can't weigh the 
 stars. The planets have been weighed, and the sun 
 too." 
 
 " Have they really ? " asked Ikon, with astonished 
 eyes. 
 
 " Certainly. Not in scales, but by calculation. 
 You cannot possibly understand all this, till you are 
 older. Now suppose we have put the sun into one 
 scale. We then bring together in imagination all 
 the planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, 
 Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and the Asteroids, rolling 
 them into one huge ball." 
 
 " Will that ball be heavy enough to weigh down the 
 other scale, Mr. Fritz?" 
 
 " No," said Fritz. " The other scale would scarcely 
 stir under it. You would need about seven hundred 
 and forty of such balls, each as heavy as all the 
 planets put together, before the two scales would 
 hang equal." 
 
 Then there was a pause, 
 15
 
 2i8 Among the Stars. 
 
 " Mr. Fritz," said Ikon. 
 
 "Yes, Ikon." 
 
 " I don't think I can really quite understand that 
 sort of enormous bigness." 
 
 " Of course you can't," said Fritz. 
 
 "And when you talk about millions and millions 
 and millions of miles, I do try to make myself see 
 them. But it seems as if they couldn't get inside my 
 head." 
 
 " Quite true," assented Fritz. 
 
 " I liked it much best when Herr Lehrer made the 
 sun and planets all seem to get a little together." 
 
 " Well, yes, that is the best plan," said Fritz. 
 
 " Only I wish I could understand properly all about 
 the great big real sizes." 
 
 " It's no use to worry yourself," said Fritz. " Man's 
 mind is only made with a certain grasp. Your hand 
 can't hold a larger thing than it is made to hold; 
 and your mind cannot either." 
 
 Ikon looked at his little fingers curiously. 
 
 " But if I had a man's hand, I could hold some- 
 thing bigger," he said. 
 
 "And if you had a man's mind, you could grasp 
 matters which you cannot grasp now. Nevertheless, 
 there would always be very much beyond your grasp." 
 
 " Even if I were like Herr Lehrer ? "
 
 Why the Story was not Ended. 219 
 
 " Herr Lehrer has a great mind," replied Fritz. 
 " But Herr Lehrer is always saying how little he 
 knows and understands." 
 
 " Doesn't Herr Lehrer know all about a comet's 
 tail ? " asked Ikon, after a pause. 
 
 " Nobody does," said Fritz. 
 
 " Not what it is made of? " 
 
 " No," said Fritz. 
 
 " I should like to see a comet quite close a real 
 big comet," said Ikon. " Have you seen a comet, 
 Mr. Fritz?" 
 
 " More than one; but not quite close." 
 
 " Do tell me about a real big comet," said Ikon. 
 
 " I have seen several," replied Fritz. " Yesterday 
 evening I was looking at the picture of a comet 
 which appeared in 1861. That was a remarkable 
 one." 
 
 " Had it got a tail, Mr. Fritz ? " 
 
 " It had a tail. It also had a head. We call the 
 head a nucleus. Most comets have a head and a 
 tail." 
 
 "Was the picture pretty? Was it a very nice 
 comet ? " 
 
 " Sir John Herschel was particularly interested in 
 that comet, so no doubt it was ' nice,' " said Fritz 
 drily. " The picture gives the comet as he saw it."
 
 22O Among the Stars. 
 
 " Who is Sir John Herschel ? " inquired Ikon. 
 
 " He was a famous astronomer; and his father, 
 Sir William Herschel, was still more famous." 
 
 "And he liked that comet ?" pursued Ikon. 
 
 " Everybody liked to see that comet. It was large, 
 and very bright. At one time it came so near our 
 earth, that some thought we might even have passed 
 through part of its tail. But no one could be sure.". 
 
 "Wouldn't a comet's tail burn us ? " 
 
 " Probably not. We cannot say much as to the 
 nature of comets' tails; only we know them to be of 
 the lightest and thinnest possible make." 
 
 "Mr. Fritz, are you going to tell me any more 
 about the sun ? " Ikon asked suddenly. 
 
 Fritz considered for some moments, and said 
 " He always turns round and round upon his axis." 
 
 " Like the earth," said Ikon. 
 
 " Yes; only the sun takes twenty-six days, instead 
 of twenty-four hours, to spin once." 
 
 " Two days less than the little moon," said Ikon. 
 
 " True. This spinning movement of the sun was 
 first found out through the spots. Men saw the 
 spots slowly travelling across the sun's face, taking 
 nearly a fortnight to cross, disappearing for a fort- 
 night on the other side, and then appearing again." 
 
 " Do the spots always keep the same ? I thought
 
 THE COMET OF 1861. 
 
 STARS. 
 
 p. 220.
 
 Why the Story was not Ended. 221 
 
 Eikon and Stella saw one changing and going to 
 pieces." 
 
 " Some spots remain the same, with little or no 
 change for many weeks. Others break up and vanish 
 in a few days, or a few hours, or even in a few 
 minutes. You must remember that the whole 
 surface of the sun is in a state of tremendous 
 turmoil all roaring flames, and fiery billows, and 
 furious storms. In fact, we cannot possibly picture 
 to ourselves the real condition of things there." 
 
 "Are Stella and Eik6n going to visit somewhere 
 else ? " asked Ikon, in a beseeching voice. 
 
 " I don't quite know," said Fritz. " Perhaps I will 
 try. But this last attempt seems rather a failure." 
 
 " I should like Eikon very much to go to Mars, and 
 to travel about everywhere, without ever having to 
 be sea-sick." 
 
 "But it would be rather awkward," Fritz re- 
 marked, " to take him to Mars, and make him walk 
 about there, when I have not the least idea what he 
 ought to see." 
 
 " I wish we did know a great deal more," sighed 
 Ikon. " There seem to be such lots of things you 
 can't tell me " 
 
 " I dare say we are none the worse, in the end, for 
 being made to feel our own ignorance," said Fritz.
 
 222 Among the Stars. 
 
 " Must you go ? " asked Ikon, as he rose. 
 
 " I really must," said Fritz. 
 
 " Couldn't you just end that story, and let them 
 come back and wake up." 
 
 " I'll consider," said Fritz. " Well, yes I have an 
 idea. I will come again soon, and give you one more 
 reading. And that will be the last before I leave 
 home." 
 
 " Are you leaving too ? O I am sorry ! " said Ikon. 
 " Everybody seems to go away." 
 
 " Never mind. Your turn will come some time," 
 said Fritz kindly.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 A SEQUEL TO THE STORY. 
 
 THREE or four days later Fritz appeared again, with 
 the usual little bundle of papers; and after a few 
 words of greeting, he read aloud as follows. 
 
 JOURNEY AMONG THE PLANETS. 
 
 PART I. 
 " ' AND you cannot take me any nearer, Stella ? ' 
 
 " ' No,' she said; ' I find even my own wings not 
 strong enough; and yours are less practised than 
 mine. The heat and glare would be too fearful. Even 
 in imagination one cannot face such a sight.' 
 
 " ' And must we go home now ? ' 
 
 ' ' Stella seemed lost in thought. She said at length: 
 ' I should like not to return immediately. Are your 
 wings weary yet ? ' 
 
 " ' O no ! ' he said, ' I am quite ready for a further 
 flight. Where shall we go next ? '
 
 224 Among the Stars. 
 
 " ' I should like much,' she replied, ' to give you a 
 rapid view of the Solar System as a whole.' 
 
 " ' May we visit all the planets ?' asked Eik6n with 
 delight. 
 
 " ' I cannot promise to take you actually upon those 
 other worlds. Wings of Imagination have their 
 limits in what they can do. But I should like to 
 take you nearer to give you a view of Mercury's 
 speed, and Jupiter's great size, and Saturn's wonder- 
 ful rings. It will be something of a bird's-eye view.' 
 
 " Then Stella paused again, and thought. 
 
 " ' You know, perhaps,' she said, ' that all the 
 planets travel in nearly the same plane ? ' 
 
 " Eikon shook his head. He did not understand. 
 
 " ' I mean this,' she said. ' Suppose there were 
 stretched out in space a great transparent sheet, 
 reaching through all the Solar System. Suppose 
 that the sun were exactly at the centre of this sheet, 
 half his body being above, and half below it. You 
 are supposing ? ' 
 
 " ' Yes,' said Eikon. 
 
 " ' You must also suppose the sheet to be so made 
 that the planets can pass with ease through it. Now, 
 the sun being in the middle of this sheet, the planets 
 will all have their pathways almost flat upon or level 
 with the sheet. Not quite for each, more or less,
 
 A Sequel to the Story. 225 
 
 will rise just a little above and sink a little below it, 
 at different parts of their orbits. But all will keep 
 nearly to that one level.' 
 
 '"I think I see your meaning, Stella.' 
 
 " ' That sheet pictures what men call the plane of the 
 ecliptic. You and I will now rise on our wings above 
 this plane or supposed flat surface in space, and will 
 take a bird's-eye view of the Solar System.' 
 
 " ' I am ready,' Eikon said. 
 
 " ' Only remember, Eikon, there is no real sheet. 
 There is nothing in space to mark the level which 
 the planets so nearly keep. And when I speak of 
 rising above it, I speak as men speak on our earth. 
 Seen from Earth, this would be a northerly part of 
 the heavens. But away from earth, so far as we 
 know, there is no up or down.' 
 
 " ' That seems very strange, 1 said Eikon. 
 
 " ' Well, we will call it " up," for convenience,' she 
 answered. ' Now come. We will not venture too 
 near the great sun. But that sun must be our centre, 
 from which to reckon all else.' 
 
 " Then it seemed to Eikon, as they went, that his 
 sight had a strange new power given to it. Hover- 
 ing above the Solar System, he was able to view 
 the wondrous sight more fully. Miles were miles 
 and distances were distances still; yet the vastness of
 
 226 Among the Stars. 
 
 space appeared to shrink and to come within the 
 grasp of his mind and thought. 
 
 " He could see the glowing central orb, apparently 
 at rest, only turning steadily upon its axis. A blaze 
 of splendour, past description, filled space around. 
 The unutterable radiance of the globe as a whole; 
 the surging ocean of stormy flame-billows in which it 
 was enwrapped; the grey and black spots where this 
 fiery envelope was rent open by fierce tempests; the 
 tremendous mountains of flame springing out of the 
 fiery ocean; all these were clearly seen by Eikon, 
 yet without any sense of terror on his part. 
 
 " He could perceive the gorgeous crown of col- 
 oured and silvery rays, reaching far away from the 
 sun. He noted, also, what seemed to be countless 
 millions of meteorites, speeding incessantly round 
 the sun, and glittering in his light. Millions of 
 these were each moment falling upon the sun, while 
 millions more each moment rushed in from the dis- 
 tance to supply their place. He began to wonder 
 whether, perhaps, those rays of light in the corona 
 might really be caused by the sunshine falling on 
 these countless multitudes of little whirling bodies, 
 never for an instant at rest. 
 
 " As Eikon looked, lost in admiration, he saw a 
 great comet drawing near. This comet was much
 
 A Sequel to the Story. 227 
 
 larger than the one he had seen before, with a 
 magnificent tail, or train of light, curving away and 
 branching into a forked ending, like two tails springing 
 from one. 
 
 " ' We will watch this,' Stella said quietly. 
 
 " The comet did not keep to the same plane or 
 level as the planets, but approached the sun from 
 that direction which Stella had called ' above.' As 
 it came, it rushed ever faster and faster, the bright 
 star-like head foremost, surrounded by a soft cap 
 of radiance. Nearer and yet nearer it drew, till so- 
 close to the sun that Eikon cried aloud, thinking 
 it must surely fall in upon the raging flames and 
 perish. But no; the tremendous speed with which, 
 it now journeyed carried it safely round. 
 
 " For a little while how long EikSn could not tell 
 -the comet was lost to sight, hidden by the radiant 
 body of the sun. Then it came out on the other 
 side, somewhat changed in shape by the tremendous 
 heat through which it had passed. 
 
 " A strange sight was now visible, which made 
 Eikon again call out in excitement. 
 
 "He had noted, as the comet rushed round the 
 sun, that the great tail, instead of simply trailing 
 after the comet's head, had swung outwards in an 
 enormous sweep, pointing always away from the
 
 228 Among the Stars. 
 
 sun. Now, more wonderfully yet, as the comet 
 journeyed on its pathway, leaving the sun behind, it 
 was the tail which went first, and the head which 
 followed after. 
 
 "'Stella, how is that?' asked the boy breath- 
 lessly. 
 
 '"I do not know,' she answered. 'No one 
 understands how it is. A comet's head always 
 points towards the sun, and a comet's tail always 
 points away from the sun. But I cannot tell you 
 the reason.' 
 
 '"But what can the tail be made of?' asked 
 Eikon. 
 
 " ' I do not know,' she said again. ' No one knows 
 Some have thought one thing and some another 
 It is a great perplexity. Now, Eikon, we will look 
 at the planets.' 
 
 " ' How long do you suppose it took that comet 
 to sweep round the sun, Stella ? ' 
 
 '"A few days, probably,' she replied. 
 
 " ' Have we been days watching ? ' 
 
 " ' Only on Wings of Imagination,' she answered, 
 smiling.
 
 A Sequel to the Story. 229 
 
 PART II. 
 
 " As Eikon looked about, it seemed to him that 
 he caught sight of a little planet-like globe, not 
 very distant. 
 
 41 ' What is that ! ' he exclaimed. 
 
 " ' I am not sure that it is anything,' replied Stella. 
 ' We cannot be certain. But if that really is a 
 planet its name is Vulcan.' 
 
 " Surrounded still by burning radiance of light and 
 heat, the children hovered near a world which with 
 great speed was hurrying round the sun a world 
 small indeed, compared with the enormous globe in 
 the centre. 
 
 " ' This is Mercury,' said Stella. ' Mercury is 
 only about three thousand miles in diameter not 
 much bigger than the Moon.' 
 
 " ' How intensely brilliant is the side of Mercury 
 towards the sun ! ' said Eikon. ' Yet Mercury is 
 not so bright, seen from Earth, as some other 
 planets.' 
 
 '"No; for Mercury is so near the sun, that we 
 never can see him in hours of darkness. Mercury is 
 only visible soon after sunset or just before sunrise. 
 But Mercury, too, has a dark side.'
 
 230 Among the Stars. 
 
 " ' Yes, so I see. Beautiful shining Mercury. But 
 at what a speed he travels ! ' 
 
 " ' That must be,' Stella observed. ' At this short 
 distance, the sun attracts Mercury with such great 
 force, that the planet going more slowly would fall 
 down upon the sun, and be destroyed.' 
 
 " ' Yet we do not seem so very near the sun,' said 
 Eikon. 
 
 " ' Mercury is about 35 millions of miles away, 
 scarcely more than one-third as far as our Earth.' 
 
 " ' And Mercury is very much smaller than Earth.' 
 
 " ' Nineteen Mercuries rolled into one would hardly 
 make a world as large as Earth,' said Stella. 
 
 " ' I see that Mercury turns upon his axis, and 
 that the axis slants like that of Earth.' 
 
 " ' Yes ; Mercury's day is much the same in length as 
 Earth's day. But Mercury's year is only about three 
 of our months. That is to say, Mercury journeys 
 once round the sun in three months, instead of twelve 
 months. So Mercury's seasons must be short and 
 quick indeed, spring, summer, autumn and winter, 
 lasting only about three weeks each." 
 
 " ' Hardly long enough for enjoyment,' said EikOn. 
 'Stella, the heat on Mercury must be very great. 
 The sun appears such a size seen from this distance. 
 
 "'About seven times the size of the sun as seen
 
 A Sequel to the >tory. 231 
 
 from Earth,' replied Stella. ' Mercury's pathway 
 is very much more oval than ours, and his distance 
 from the sun varies more. At his nearest, Mercury 
 has ten times as much light and heat as any part of 
 Earth enjoys, and at his farthest, not seven times 
 as much. But that must be more than enough for 
 any such beings as man.'/' 
 
 PART III. 
 
 " The children spread their wings, and passed on 
 for many millions of miles with the swift flight of 
 light. Presently they came upon another world, 
 larger than Mercury, not quite so rapid in move- 
 ment, and having a pathway outside that of 
 Mercury. 
 
 "'This is Venus!' Stella said. 'A far more 
 beautiful sight to us on Earth than Mercury; yet, as 
 you may now see, not really so brilliant. But Venus 
 is nearer to earth and farther from the sun, and may 
 therefore be seen in hours of darkness.' 
 
 " The soft lustre of this beautiful world made 
 Eikon think of the evening star he had so often 
 watched from Earth and no wonder, since Venus 
 is that evening star. 
 
 " He could see that Venus, like Mercury, was 
 placed in space with a sloping axis as regarded the
 
 232 Among the Stars. 
 
 sun; also that she turned steadily on her axis; also 
 that she passed ever round the sun in an unmarked 
 pathway. No moon travelled with Venus. 
 
 " ' Some call Venus the twin-world of Earth,' said 
 Stella; 'for the two are nearly the same in size. 
 Venus is only a little the smaller. She has a day 
 of about the same length as Earth's day; while her 
 year is about seven and a half of our months. See 
 how much her north pole is at this moment bent 
 over towards the sun. Venus' axis slopes far more 
 than Earth's axis. This must cause much more 
 severe changes of seasons than we have on earth 
 at least, so we should suppose.' 
 
 " Eikon noted that with Venus, as with Mercury 
 and Earth, the side towards the sun shone brightly, 
 and the side away from the sun was in shadow. 
 Here, too, as the globe kept spinning on her axis, 
 each part in turn passed through light or day, and 
 darkness or night. 
 
 " ' There is believed to be an atmosphere on 
 Venus, perhaps much thicker than our atmosphere 
 on Earth," said Stella. 4 That might help to ward 
 off some of the great sun-heat to which Venus is ex- 
 posed, not so great as the heat which Mercury 
 endures, certainly, but far beyond what we feel on 
 Earth.'
 
 A Sequel to the Story. 233 
 
 " ' Venus seems to draw sometimes very near to 
 Earth,' said EikOn. 
 
 " ' Yes, when both happen to be on the same 
 side of the sun together. The two worlds are then 
 about 23 millions of miles apart. When Earth is on 
 one side of the sun, and Venus on the other, they 
 are divided by more than 160 millions of miles.' 
 
 " ' No wonder Venus sometimes looks so bright/ 
 said Eikon. 
 
 " ' Ah; we do not see Venus at her best when she 
 is nearest. If we did, she would be a splendid sight 
 indeed. Venus' path in the heavens lies between 
 Earth's orbit and the sun. When Venus is nearest 
 to us, her bright side is turned away, and only her 
 dark side is towards us; so we cannot see her at 
 all, except with a very powerful telescope. When 
 she is at her farthest, her full face is visible, but the 
 great distance makes her look smaller and less 
 bright.' 
 
 "'What a pity,' said Eikon. 
 
 " ' Yes, it does seem a pity. Our best view of 
 Venus is between these two extremes, when, seen 
 from Earth, she is at the side of the sun, so to speak. 
 We can then see only half of her bright side a half 
 Venus, in fact, shaped like the half-moon, though 
 this is not clear without a telescope. If anybody 
 16
 
 234 Among the Stars. 
 
 lives on Venus, he has the view of Earth which we 
 can never have of Venus a fine full Earth, at the 
 time when the planets are nearest together.' 
 
 "' That must be very beautiful/ said Eikon. 
 
 " ' Note one thing more before we go,' said Stella. 
 'You see that Venus is a partly light and partly 
 dark body, like other worlds. If you examine the 
 line where light fades into darkness, you may see it 
 to be jagged and broken. It can be seen thus from 
 Earth through a good telescope.' 
 
 " ' What does it mean ? ' asked Eikon. 
 
 " ' The jaggedness is believed to be caused by very 
 high mountain ranges. Some suppose Venus to be 
 perhaps quite covered over with mountains, far lof- 
 tier than any on Earth. But this is hardly a settled 
 fact. We will now pass on to the next planet.' 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 " Again they sped through space in company, and 
 soon they were hovering over another globe, much 
 the same in size as the one they had just quitted. 
 
 " Like Venus, this globe turned incessantly upon 
 her axis. Like Venus, this globe had a slanting 
 axis, only less slanting. Like Venus, this globe 
 journeyed steadily round the sun. Like Venus, this 
 globe had its darkened side, and shone brilliantly on
 
 A Sequel to the Story. 235 
 
 the part which faced the sun. Unlike Venus, this 
 globe was accompanied by a second and much 
 smaller world. The smaller world turned very slowly 
 on its axis, and also journeyed round the great Sun. 
 But in addition to this it travelled perpetually round 
 and round the larger world not in loops, with that 
 world in the centre of each loop, but in gentle curves 
 backwards and forwards, so that it was now before, 
 now behind, now on either side of the larger world. 
 
 " ' Venus is distant from the sun about 66 millions 
 of miles, but these worlds are distant about 91 
 millions of miles,' said Stella. 'Venus travels at 
 a rate of 21 miles each second. This larger world 
 travels 18 miles each second. See, Eikon this 
 world has a day of 24 hours, and a year of 12 
 months.' 
 
 " ' Why, it must be our own Earth with the 
 Moon,' exclaimed Eikon joyously. 'I had no idea 
 we were so near home. What a beautiful planet! 
 I should not have known it again. Ah ! there is 
 the snowy cap at the North Pole. I see cloudy 
 markings also here and there.' 
 
 PART V. 
 
 "Moving further onward, the two came next upon 
 a smaller world, travelling in an orbit which lay
 
 236 Among the Stars. 
 
 quite outside that of Earth just as a large hoop 
 laid on the ground will surround a smaller hoop laid 
 within it. 
 
 "The planet, which they had now reached, turned, 
 like the others, upon its axis, and travelled always 
 round the sun. Also, it had its bright and its dark side. 
 The bright side shone with a red glow, and greenish 
 tints might here and there be seen amid the red- 
 ness. At the north and south poles, white patches, 
 as of snow, were visible. 
 
 '"This little world is Mars,' said Stella. 'Its 
 diameter is nearly five thousand miles above half 
 that of Earth. Mars has a day about as long as 
 Earth's day, and a year almost as long as two of our 
 years. It journeys at the pace of fourteen miles and 
 a half each second.' 
 
 " ' Scarcely half so fast as Mercury,' said Eikon. 
 
 " ' Well, no. But even 14^ miles a second means 
 870 miles a minute. That is not slow,' Stella said, 
 smiling. ' We count 60 miles an hour extremely 
 fast travelling on Earth.' 
 
 " ' The years seem to grow longer, and the speed 
 to become less, as we go farther and farther from the 
 sun,' said Eikon. 
 
 " ' Naturally,' replied Stella. ' A planet's " year " 
 means the time which it takes to journey once
 
 A Sequel to the Story. 237 
 
 round the sun: and the farther each planet is from 
 the sun, the longer must that planet's pathway be. 
 Besides, the more distant a planet is, the more 
 slowly it has to travel, since the sun's power of at- 
 traction becomes less, and therefore less speed is 
 needed to overcome that attraction.' 
 
 " ' It seems very wonderful how one thing fits 
 exactly in with another,' said Eikon. 
 
 " ' God has willed it all,' she said simply. ' The 
 wonder is great, certainly but perhaps it would be 
 greater if things did not so fit in. God's power is 
 enough for much more than this.' 
 
 " ' O surely I see a tiny moon near Mars ! ' Eikon 
 suddenly exclaimed. 
 
 " ' Look carefully, and you will see two moons, 
 said Stella. ' They are so very small as to have 
 been long undiscovered. We call them Deimos 
 and Phobos.' 
 
 '"And as I look closely, what curious markings 
 there are, all over the body of Mars ! ' continued 
 Eikon. ' Almost like the markings on a large map 
 of our own world, seen in hazy light or at a 
 distance only here the outlines are differently 
 arranged, and are greenish and reddish in tint 
 Can those be lands and seas ? ' 
 
 " ' That is what we suppose,' said Stella.
 
 238 Among the Stars. 
 
 PART VI. 
 
 " ' Now,' she continued, ' we have seen the four 
 inner and smaller worlds, of which our own Earth is 
 one. Follow me, and see what comes next. But 
 first ,' and she paused, ' I should tell you that the 
 distance of Mars from the sun is about 140 millions 
 of miles. The next planet of importance, Jupiter, 
 is about 475 millions of miles distant. Between the 
 two there is, as you see, an enormous gap. We will 
 examine what this gap contains.' 
 
 "A wide space had first to be passed, entirely 
 void of planets. Eikon looked to right and left in 
 vain. Of planets there were none to be seen. Noth- 
 ing broke the great solitude, save here and there 
 a little passing meteorite, shining in the rays of the 
 sun rays not so bright here as on earth, owing to 
 increased distance. 
 
 " All at once EikSn found himself hovering over a 
 belt or family of small planets, journeying round the 
 sun in company. 
 
 "This, however, by no means implies real nearness 
 on the part of the small planets. Two or three hun- 
 dred little worlds, scattered over a pathway about 
 one hundred million miles wide and of enormous
 
 A Segue t to the Story. 239 
 
 length, certainly does not mean that any two of 
 them were close together. 
 
 " Stella led Eikon in swift flight across the great 
 breadth of the zone, and around some portion of the 
 whole orbit. And as they went, they came upon 
 here one little lonely world, and there another, and 
 further on a third; the largest being small, and the 
 smallest very small. 
 
 " These tiny worlds, scattered in space, seemed 
 like a group of tiny islets in a great sea; while 
 the larger planets were perhaps rather more 
 like distant continents, separated by the broad 
 ocean. 
 
 " ' I have counted between one and two hundred,* 
 Eikon said presently, 'and each little world has, I 
 see, like other planets, its bright and its dark side, 
 and throws its shadow into space.' 
 
 " ' More than two hundred and thirty are known 
 to us now,' said Stella. ' But fresh Planetoids are 
 still often discovered. There may, for aught we 
 know, be many hundreds of them. See, this is 
 Vesta, the brightest of the whole group as seen 
 from Earth.' 
 
 " ' A very small world ! ' Eikon said musingly. 
 
 " ' Vesta is about three hundred miles in diameter. 
 You would need some eighteen thousand Vestas to
 
 240 Among the Stars. 
 
 make one ball as large as Earth. Yonder is Ceres. 
 I cannot tell you the exact size of Ceres, but most 
 likely it is about the same as Vesta. Ceres was the 
 first found of all the Planetoids. Now, Eikon, we 
 will leave these little planets, and pass onward.' 
 
 PART VII. 
 
 "Another wide and empty space had to be crossed, 
 Stella, as usual, leading the way. After leaving the 
 last Planetoid, some seventy-five millions of miles lay 
 before them, unbroken by a single world. But on 
 Wings of Imagination this great journey was quickly 
 over. 
 
 " Then the little voyagers found themselves draw- 
 ing near to a magnificent sight. 
 
 " A mighty planet became visible, spinning rap- 
 idly, and journeying in a wide sweep round the far 
 distant sun. And travelling both around and with 
 this great world were four small shining worlds. 
 And on the body of the chief globe were beautiful 
 tints, and bands or belts of many hues. 
 
 " 'What a perfectly marvellous group ! ' murmured 
 Eikon. 
 
 " ' This is the giant planet of our Sun's family,' 
 said Stella. ' Twelve hundred Earths would make 
 only one globe as large as Jupiter appears to us. Of
 
 A Sequel to the Story. 241 
 
 the four moons, one is smaller than our moon: the 
 other three are all larger. 1 
 
 " 'Marvellous ! ' repeated Eikon. ' And this great 
 Jupiter too, I see, turns upon his axis.' 
 
 "'Not only turns, but turns very rapidly,' said 
 Stella. ' Jupiter's whole day lasts ten hours, 
 instead of twenty-four. That means five hours of 
 light, and five of darkness. A brief working day, 
 according to our ideas.' 
 
 " ' People would not be so tired by the evening,' 
 said Eikon. ' Stella, I don't think Jupiter seems to 
 whirl along on his orbit so fast as even Mars.' 
 
 "'There is no need. Jupiter is not only much 
 larger and heavier than Mars, but also much farther 
 from the sun. At this distance eight miles a second 
 is speed enough to balance the sun's attraction. 
 However, eight miles a second still means nearly five 
 hundred miles a minute not so very slow, after all ! ' 
 
 " ' And Jupiter's year ? ' questioned Eikon. 
 
 " 'Jupiter's year is equal to twelve of our earthly 
 years. Think what the length of his journey round 
 the sun must be, Eikon ! A journey twelve years 
 long, with a speed of five hundred miles a minute.' 
 
 " Eikon shook his head. ' I cannot think it,' he 
 said. ' Even on these wings, Stella, I can see but a 
 little of that pathway. It is truly most wonderfuL
 
 242 Among the Stars. 
 
 "'You may notice something else,' Stella said; 
 ' and that is the position of Jupiter's axis. It does 
 not slant like Earth's axis, but is placed nearly 
 upright pointing, as we should say, almost exactly 
 "north" and "south." That means nearly equal days 
 and nights all over Jupiter and all through the year. 
 Nights five hours long, and days five hours long, 
 whether at the Poles or on the Equator.' 
 
 " ' Has Jupiter also an Equator ? ' asked Eikon. 
 
 " ' Certainly. That line round the globe, which 
 we call the Equator on Earth, may just as well be 
 called the Equator on Jupiter.' 
 
 " ' How very small and dim the sun looks from 
 here,' said Eikon, with a shiver. ' The inhabitants 
 of Jupiter must be strangely cold.' 
 
 " ' I am not so sure. If there were people on 
 Jupiter, they would perhaps be a great deal too hot,' 
 said Stella, smiling. 
 
 " ' Really? ' asked Eikon, in surprise. 
 
 " ' Come a little closer, and look more carefully,' 
 said Stella. 
 
 "As they approached, Eikon's attention was much 
 drawn to the dark and light belts lying across the 
 surface of Jupiter. Some were dull, some ruddy, 
 others grey or bluish, pearly or yellowish-white. 
 Gradually he saw that these bands of colour were
 
 A Sequel tc the Story. 243 
 
 not fixed, but that slow movements were taking place 
 in them. Shapes and tints changed; and bridges of 
 grey were formed across one band from those on 
 either side of it; and these bridges, once formed, 
 presently vanished again. 
 
 " ' Surely there must be a good deal of disturbance 
 on Jupiter,' said Eikon. 
 
 " ' It seems so, indeed,' replied Stella. ' If those 
 are, as we believe, vast cloud-belts, the storms which 
 sweep over the planet must be tremendous. I do 
 not suppose, Eikon, that we ever obtain a glimpse of 
 the actual planet. Jupiter appears to be a world quite 
 enwrapped in enormous masses of cloud or vapour/ 
 
 " ' As the sun is enwrapped in an envelope of fire ? 
 asked Eikon. 
 
 "'Even so,' she answered. 'Jupiter was no 
 doubt once upon a time folded in a sea of fiery 
 flames. But Jupiter now is long past the flaming 
 stage of star or planet life. Whether he has reached 
 the same stage as Earth and other small planets, is 
 another question.' 
 
 " ' If those are really cloud-masses which we see, 
 the actual size of the real planet maybe smaller than 
 one would suppose,' said Eikon. 
 
 "'No doubt,' replied Stella. 'That is all the 
 more likely, because we know the weight of Jupiter
 
 244 Among the Stars. 
 
 to be much less than we should expect from his 
 seeming size.' 
 
 " ' But what an extraordinary thing that such an 
 enormous thickness of clouds should always cover 
 the planet ! ' exclaimed Eikon. ' What can be the 
 cause ? ' 
 
 " ' It is most extraordinary- especially when we 
 think of the small power of the sun here. Some 
 source of great heat there must certainly be, to draw 
 or to drive up such tremendous masses of vapour, 
 and to keep them floating above the planet.' 
 
 " Eikon looked towards the small distant sun, and 
 said, ' It cannot surely be sun-heat only.' 
 
 " ' What if Jupiter is not yet cooled ? ' asked Stella 
 softly. ' What if we are now looking upon a red- 
 hot world not indeed a world of flames, yet still far 
 too heated for water to lie in seas and oceans on its 
 surface ? Then of course the waters must float above, 
 in the form of clouds." 
 
 " ' Certainly, in that case nobody could live upon 
 Jupiter,' said Eikon. 
 
 " ' Nobody, at all events, like ourselves, and no 
 animals like those on Earth. Perhaps, instead of 
 being on Jupiter, there may be living creatures on 
 Jupiter's little companion-worlds his "moons "as 
 we call them.'
 
 A Sequel to the Story. 245 
 
 " ' Can that be ? ' inquired Eikon. 
 
 " ' I do not say that it is so. We cannot 
 possibly know. The idea has, however, been put 
 forward, and it does not seem quite impossible. A 
 red-hot Jupiter, so large and near at hand, might 
 well supply abundance of light and heat to living 
 creatures on those "moons," in addition to what 
 they would receive from the sun. This is of course 
 only a guess; but it may be true.' 
 
 " 'Then Jupiter would be a half-sun, half-planet,' 
 said Eikon. 
 
 " 'A kind of secondary sun to his companion-worlds, 
 yet a planet in himself,' said Stella. ' We must 
 not remain here too long, Eikon. Come, I have 
 a yet more beautiful sight to show you.' 
 
 PART VIII. 
 
 " Already they were five times as far away from 
 the sun as when on Earth. But now a space almost 
 as broad as the whole which they had already trav- 
 ersed lay before them. 
 
 "Jupiter is more than 450 millions of miles away 
 from the sun. Another 400 millions of miles, un- 
 broken by a single planet, had to be traversed before 
 the nearest part of the orbit of Saturn could ba
 
 246 Among the Stars. 
 
 reached. And Saturn lay by no means at siat 
 nearest point. 
 
 " Travelling was now no longer, as at first, through 
 a flood of white and dazzling radiance. There was 
 indeed still ample light for human eyes, and the sun 
 still shone with an intense glow; but he had grown 
 small in seeming size. And the surrounding bright- 
 ness was but as twilight, when compared with the 
 overpowering glare which had surrounded them in 
 the neighbourhood of Mercury. 
 
 " More than 850 millions of miles away from the 
 sun, they came at last upon another great world. 
 This fair planet was only a little smaller than Jupiter; 
 and, like Jupiter, it had most beautiful tints and 
 bands. It, too, whirled rapidly on its axis, in a full 
 day of about ten hours. But unlike Jupiter it had a 
 very sloping axis. 
 
 "The sun now looked extremely small, not 
 more than one-hundredth part as large as the bright 
 sun seen from Earth. 
 
 "About this delicately-coloured orb, named Sat- 
 urn, clustered no less than eight moons or small plan- 
 ets, at different distances. These, travelling ever 
 round the great planet, went always with him in his 
 long journey round the sun, just as our moon goes 
 always with Earth in her journey. But the length
 
 A Sequel to the Story. 247 
 
 of Saturn's yearly tour is almost as much as thirty 
 earthly years. 
 
 " In addition to these moons was something else, 
 far more rare and lovely. 
 
 " Round the body of Saturn, and exactly over that 
 part which we should call Saturn's Equator, was a 
 wonderful ring of light. 
 
 " As Eikon looked, in silent amazement, he gradu- 
 ally saw that not one ring only, but two distinct 
 rings, divided by a gap, surrounded Saturn. One 
 of these was very bright. Outside that was another 
 of more greyish hue. Presently he perceived also an 
 inner and third ring, within the brightest, dusky in 
 colour, and so slight in texture as to be transparent. 
 
 "These rings, seen one way, were very slender; 
 not much more than a hundred miles in thickness. 
 A man standing upon Saturn's Equator, exactly 
 under the rings, and looking up, would be able to 
 see only a narrow edge or line above him in the sky, 
 if, indeed, he could see it at all. 
 
 " But while the thickness of the rings was so slight, 
 their breadth between that inner edge and the far 
 distant outer edge was something quite enormous. 
 For, while the inside rim of the inside transparent 
 ring was only about ten thousand miles above the 
 surface of Saturn, the outside rim of the outside
 
 248 Among the Stars. 
 
 greyish ring was nearly fifty thousand miles 
 away. 
 
 "'What can these marvellous rings be? 'Eikon 
 asked of Stella. 
 
 " ' I cannot tell you, with certainty,' she answered. 
 * They are very likely formed of countless millions 
 of meteorites, always whirling round the planet, and 
 shining in the sun's light. So, at least, some suppose. 
 Others think they may be immense numbers of very 
 small satellites "moons" we may call them.' 
 
 " ' Extraordinary ! ' murmured Eikon. 
 
 " ' Come with me to a position exactly over the 
 uppermost ring,' said Stella, spreading her wings. 
 ' Now look down and see what a mere edge is visible. 
 Yet if we pass towards the north or south of the 
 planet, what a breadth of surface we see in the rings, 
 reaching outwards from Saturn.' 
 
 " ' What a lovely world Saturn must be to live on ! ' 
 cried Eikon. 
 
 " ' I am not so sure,' replied Stella, with a half- 
 smile. ' Those rings are wonderful, certainly. But 
 note what a shadow they cast on the body of Saturn. 
 That shadow of the rings must entirely hide the sun 
 from large portions of Saturn during months, and 
 even years, at a stretch. Such prolonged eclipses 
 would be very uncomfortable, to say the least.'
 
 A Sequel to the Story. 249 
 
 " ' I did not think of that,' said Eikon. ' To be 
 sure, the rings do only seem to shine on that side 
 which is towards the sun. O yes and I see quite 
 plainly the ring-shadow thrown upon Saturn.' 
 
 "'That would be a disadvantage,' repeated Stella. 
 ' Besides, it seems probable that Saturn, like Jupiter, 
 is quite enwrapped in clouds. The actual Saturn 
 within those clouds may be a good deal smaller than 
 we suppose, and may also be in an extremely heated 
 condition still.' 
 
 " * Then, of course, no one could well live upon 
 Saturn,' said Eikon slowly. ' But the moons,' he 
 added; 'Stella, what of the eight moons ?' 
 
 " ' Ah, that may be,' she answered. ' Saturn, 
 with his beautiful rings, might form a very delightful 
 secondary sun to those eight small worlds. But we 
 do not know that this is the case, Eikon.' 
 
 " ' I should think it very likely,' said Eikon wistfully. 
 ' If only one could be quite sure of everything, Stella ! ' 
 
 " Stella shook her head and smiled again, at this 
 sign of childish impatience. 
 
 PART IX. 
 
 " ' Eikon, we have come a long way,' she said. 
 ' Are you weary ? ' 
 
 " ' My wings are getting tired/ confessed Eikon.
 
 25 Among the Stars. 
 
 ' But do not let us give up yet. I have not seen all 
 the Solar System.' 
 
 *' ' We have journeyed now nearly ten times as far 
 from the sun as our own earth,' said Stella. ' Are 
 you prepared to go as much as the whole of that 
 great distance over again before reaching the orbit 
 of Uranus ? ' 
 
 " ' So much ! ' said Eikon, astonished. 
 
 " ' Uranus is quite double the distance of Saturn 
 from the sun twenty times as far as Earth.' 
 
 " ' Well we will go,' said Eikon resolutely. ' I 
 do not wish to be beaten now.' 
 
 " Then, with labouring though still rapid flight, 
 they passed onward through these dreary extents of 
 space. All around was empty space empty, at 
 least, to human eyes and ears space, unbroken by 
 the presence of a single planet; space, unlightened 
 save by the glittering stars, and by one distant tiny 
 sun, shining intensely still, yet with ever-lessening 
 power; space, cold, forlorn, and desolate. Some 
 comets and many meteorites they might, no doubt, 
 have seen on their way; but the children's wings 
 were growing weary, and attention flagged. 
 
 " ' The year of Uranus is eighty-four of our earthly 
 years,' said Stella, as they went. ' A man who 
 should be eighty-four years old on earth, would, on
 
 A Sequel to the Story. 251 
 
 Uranus, have just completed his first year. I did not 
 tell you the speed of Saturn, which is only five miles 
 each second. Uranus journeys at the rate of four 
 miles, and Neptune at the rate of three miles each 
 second. A change, indeed, from Mercury's whirling 
 flight. But the pull of the sun's attraction is greatly 
 lessened here.' 
 
 " ' We seem passing into dusk,' remarked Eikon. 
 * The sun is strangely brilliant still; but his rays 
 have little power.' 
 
 " ' The sun is still the great centre, Eikon. Ura- 
 nus and Neptune are held captive by him, no less 
 than Mercury and Venus.' 
 
 " Presently they came upon another world, not 
 nearly so large as Saturn, yet very much larger than 
 Earth. This world travelled on his lonely pathway, 
 at a distance from the sun of some 1,700 millions of 
 miles. So Stella told Eikon. Four moons accom- 
 panied Uranus in his journey round the sun. 
 
 " ' I would not live here,' murmured Eikon. 
 
 PART X. 
 
 " ' I have only one more world to show you/ 
 Stella said. ' Eikdn, shall we rest satisfied and turn 
 homewards ? ' 
 
 " Eikon shook his head.
 
 252 Among the Stars. 
 
 "* Think,' she urged; 'the way is long, and our 
 wings are failing us. Jupiter was five times as far 
 from the sun as Earth. Saturn was nearly twice as 
 far as Jupiter. Uranus is twice as far as Saturn. 
 Neptune will be not very much less than twice as far 
 as Uranus.' 
 
 " But Eikon would not give up. With toiling wings 
 ind tired imaginations, they still pressed onward; 
 and this last great breadth of darkening space was 
 crossed. 
 
 " At length they were near enough to see another 
 lonely world, slightly larger than Uranus, rolling on 
 his dreary course through untracked space. Eikon 
 caught a glimpse of one faint moon, journeying side 
 by side with the large planet. The sun now showed 
 as scarcely more than a very brilliant and dazzling 
 star. 
 
 " ' About one hundred Earths would make a planet 
 as large as Neptune,' Stella's voice said. ' Neptune's 
 year is one hundred and sixty-five of our earthly 
 years. See how small the sun has grown, Eikon, 
 yet he controls still the movements of Neptune.' 
 
 " ' And what comes next ? ' asked the boy, in awe- 
 struck tones. ' After Neptune what next ? ' 
 
 " ' Next ! The stars,' she said. ' We know of 
 no planets beyond Neptune.'
 
 A Sequel to the Story. 253 
 
 " Eikon gazed about at the radiant points of light 
 which shone around above, below, and on every 
 side as he floated with Stella in silent space. 
 1 Which is the nearest star of all ? ' he asked. 
 ' Could we not visit one star, before we go home ? ' 
 
 " ' What ! when your wings are already weary ! 
 she said. ' Eikon, the whole distance which we 
 have already come is but a step on the way to the 
 nearest star. Are you prepared to repeat this great 
 journey more than seven thousand times ? ' 
 
 "Eikon made a sign of dissent. 
 
 " ' But between us and the nearest star ! " he said; 
 ' what lies between, dear Stella ? ' 
 
 " ' I do not know,' she replied. ' A passing comet 
 here or there, perhaps. Some comets do come, it is 
 said, from distant stars, to visit our sun. Nothing 
 else is there, so far as we are aware, except space 
 and darkness.' 
 
 " ' Darkness all the way ! No sun-light, Stella ? * 
 
 "'The stars are suns,' said Stella. 'But they 
 are very far away. The nearest is our own sun. 
 The next nearest is more than seven thousand times 
 more distant. There must be between a great gap 
 of darkness and emptiness to human eyes and ears. 
 It is not darkness to God, Eikon,' she added softly. 
 ' It is not emptiness to Him. I do not suppose it
 
 254 Among the Stars. 
 
 is darkness or emptiness to His angels. There may 
 be many a sight there which our eyes could not see, 
 and many a sound which our ears could not hear.' 
 
 " ' But, oh Stella ! it is too forlorn, too dreary ! ' 
 cried the boy. ' I cannot stay in these desolate 
 wastes. Oh, let us go home ! Take me back to the 
 regions of warm sunshine ! ' 
 
 " And even as he spoke the lonely planet faded 
 from sight; the glittering stars vanished. He had 
 one glimpse of a parting smile from Stella. Then a 
 blaze of summer sunshine was about him once more; 
 and birds sang gleefully on every side. Eikon's 
 dream was ended."
 
 r 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN SEEN. 
 
 " OH, I wish I wish he hadn't ended in such a 
 dreadful hurry," cried Ikon. " I do like that dream. 
 And I did so want them to go from Neptune to a 
 real star. Why couldn't they ? " 
 
 "I do not think you quite understand how far 
 distant the real stars are," said Fritz. 
 
 " O yes, I do ! " replied Ikon, in a rather injured 
 tone. " Of course I do, because Herr Lehrer told 
 me. If our earth was only four inches off from the 
 sun, the nearest fixed star would be fourteen miles 
 off. There, Mr. Fritz ! " 
 
 " Not badly answered," said Fritz. 
 
 " But couldn't Eikon and Stella have gone ? " 
 
 " Hardly," said Fritz. " Their wings were tired. 
 And I am tired of reading." 
 
 " I'm sure you must be tired, because that was such 
 a great long dream. It has been so very very good
 
 256 Among the Stars. 
 
 of you, to write such a lot for me," said Ikon grate- 
 fully. " I can't thank you enough, not nearly. I 
 do wish you weren't going away ! " 
 
 " I shall not be gone many months," said Fritz. 
 "And you won't mind, because somebody else is 
 coming." 
 
 " Somebody else ! Who ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " Ah ! that is the question." 
 
 " Not my Professor ? " cried Ikon. 
 
 " No, not Herr Lehrer. You must not ask who 
 it is." 
 
 " Well I won't," said Ikon, sighing. " Though I 
 do want tremendously to know. I'll only try to 
 guess. But I don't think there's anybody else I 
 know, so it must be a stranger. O Mr. Fritz, do 
 please just tell me what Eikon and Stella would have 
 seen if they had gone on to the nearest star." 
 
 " They would first have gone a long long way 
 through darkness," said Fritz slowly. " Darkness 
 except for the light of all the stars." 
 
 " And the sun and moon," said Ikon. 
 
 " The sun would be merely one star among others; 
 and the moon would be quite invisible at that dis- 
 tance. You forget that we are talking of far-off 
 space, beyond Neptune." 
 
 " Would the stars look as bright there as here ?"
 
 What might have been seen. 257 
 
 " Much brighter, for there would be no air to dim 
 them." 
 
 " Oh, then they would shine and wouldn't twinkle; 
 like when Eikon saw them from on the moon," said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Exactly so. But out in space, where we suppose 
 the children to be, they would see stars all round, in 
 every direction above and below too." 
 
 " It seems so funny to think of standing on nothing, 
 and there being really no up and down," said Ikon 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 " I don't say there is really no up and down out in 
 space, Ikon. I only say we do not know that there 
 is beyond what we on our little world choose to 
 call ' north ' and ' south.' " 
 
 " Please go on and tell me what the children would 
 see," entreated Ikon. 
 
 " They would have an immensely long journey," 
 said Fritz. " On and on and on through space, with 
 distant stars always shining steadily on every side. 
 And by-and-by, as they came a little nearer the star 
 to which they were going, they would pass into just 
 a little more light. This light would grow and grow. 
 The star, too, would become bigger and brighter, first 
 like our sun seen from Neptune, then like our sun 
 seen from Uranus, then from Saturn, then from
 
 258 Among the Stars. 
 
 Jupiter, and so on. They would gradually pass into 
 another blaze of light and heat, such as the planets 
 near our sun enjoy." 
 
 "Wouldn't there be any more planets?" asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 "Very probably. We cannot from earth see planets 
 at such a distance. A planet only shines, as a rule, 
 by borrowed light; and that is too dim to reach our 
 eyes. So of course one cannot speak with certainty. 
 But it is most likely that many of the stars have 
 their own families of worlds, just like our sun." 
 
 " And comets too and little meteorites ? " asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Probably," repeated Fritz. 
 
 "Mr. Fritz," said Ikon, "somebody was talking 
 one day about a meteor. Is that the same as a 
 meteorite ? " 
 
 " A meteorite means a little meteor," said Fritz. 
 " Meteors shine brightly and pass quickly away, as 
 meteorites do." 
 
 " Then meteors are shooting-stars too," said Ikon. 
 
 " Meteors are generally too big to be called 
 stars,' said Fritz. "There was rather a fine one 
 seen here lately; and I dare say that was how you 
 heard them talked about. I was walking on the 
 Downs with a friend, and had a good view of it."
 
 What might have been seen. 259 
 
 " Do tell me what it was like," said Ikon. 
 
 " Well it was much larger than a common shoot- 
 ing-star," said Fritz. " And it did not go so fast, or 
 die out so rapidly. It seemed to leave quite a trail 
 of light in the sky. Sometimes meteors are seen to 
 explode with a noise. However, they are not nearly 
 so common as meteorites." 
 
 " They aren't like the real stars I mean, they are 
 not suns" said Ikon, half questioningly. 
 
 " Certainly not. We don't know much about 
 the real nature of meteors; but, at all events, they 
 are not suns. If a real star came so near our 
 earth as the meteors come, the earth would be 
 burnt up." 
 
 1 ' Would Eikon have seen meteors as well as meteor- 
 ites, if he had gone on ? " inquired Ikon. 
 
 " Not meteors aflame, Ikon. They probably catch 
 fire, like the meteorites, passing through our atmo- 
 sphere." 
 
 " I do wish Eikon had gone on and seen it all." 
 
 " I think you are a little boy who is never satisfied," 
 said Fritz. 
 
 " O yes, I'm quite satisfied," cried Ikon. " It has 
 been so delicious. O Mr. Fritz, do please tell me 
 something. There were such lots in the dream 
 about attraction, and I couldn't understand, and I
 
 260 Among the Stars. 
 
 was afraid to speak, because you don't like me to 
 interrupt." 
 
 " Well you may speak now," said Fritz. " Didn't 
 I explain to you one day about gravitation ? " 
 
 "O yes gravitation and attraction. I haven't 
 forgotten all that," said Ikon. " You told me how 
 the earth pulls and pulls and pulls everything down 
 to itself. And that is why things are heavy." 
 
 " In the same manner the sun attracts," said Fritz. 
 " He pulls and pulls all the planets towards himsel 
 And that is why the planets are heavy." 
 
 "Are they heavy? Is our earth heavy ?" asked Ikon. 
 
 "Certainly they are. We are able to calculate, 
 from the manner in which the sun pulls, and in 
 which they pull each other, how heavy each planet 
 is, compared with the rest." 
 
 " Stella said Jupiter and Saturn weren't so heavy 
 as she thought they would be, Mr. Fritz." 
 
 Fritz laughed to himself at the wording of the 
 sentence. "Jupiter and Saturn do not weigh so 
 much as we should expect from their seeming size," 
 he said. 
 
 "So perhaps they aren't really so big, except for 
 the clouds all round them," added Ikon. " I wonder 
 why the sun pulls so at all the planets." 
 
 " I cannot tell you why, Ikon except that God
 
 What might have been seen. 261 
 
 has made all substances with this curious power of 
 attracting or pulling every other substance. The 
 planets attract one another and attract the sun also. 
 But the enormous size and weight of the sun make 
 his pulling by far the most important." 
 
 " I wonder what would happen if the sun didn't 
 keep on pulling," said Ikon. 
 
 " Something very dreadful would happen, Ikon. 
 The earth and all the planets would rush away from 
 him, far off into space, and would be lost in cold and 
 darkness." 
 
 " But why ? " asked Ikon. " Why shouldn't all the 
 planet's just stay quiet where they are, near to the 
 sun?" 
 
 " Because none of the planets are quiet," replied 
 Fritz. " They are all rushing round the sun at a 
 great speed. When a heavy body is moving fast, it 
 is always naturally inclined to go forward in a 
 straight path. Now the sun's attraction prevents 
 this. The sun keeps pulling each planet out of a 
 straight course, and forcing it to travel in a bent 
 path round and round himself. But if once the sun 
 ceased pulling, all the planets would rush madly away 
 into space, leaving the sun behind them." 
 
 Ikon sat and thought. 
 
 " On the other hand," continued Fritz" if the
 
 262 Among the Stars. 
 
 planets did not rush, but were ' quiet,' as you sug- 
 gested just now, they would all fall down upon the 
 sun and perish." 
 
 " Would they ?" said Ikon. 
 
 " Certainly. The attraction of the sun is so great, 
 that only the rapid rush of the planets can keep 
 them from being dragged too near." 
 
 " And the nearest planets have to go the fastest," 
 said Ikon. 
 
 " Yes. The less distance, the greater attraction," 
 said Fritz. 
 
 " And the farthest planets have to go the slowest," 
 said Ikon. " But it isn't very slow. Jupiter goes 
 five hundred miles a minute." 
 
 " Quite correct," said Fritz. 
 
 " Mr. Fritz, suppose Jupiter took to going six 
 hundred miles a minute ? " 
 
 " Then he would gradually move to an orbit farther 
 away from the sun than now," said Fritz. 
 
 " And suppose he went slower ? " said Ikon. " Sup- 
 pose he didn't go more than four hundred miles a 
 minute ? O please let me guess wouldn't he go 
 nearer to the sun ? " 
 
 " Yes, certainly. But that ought not to be a mere 
 guess," said Fritz. " You ought to feel sure that it 
 would be so."
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 HOW THE MOON GOES ROUND. 
 
 *' MR. FRITZ, I'm afraid you are in a great hurry to 
 go," said Ikon wistfully. "But there's one thing 
 more that I want most dreadfully to know about, 
 and nobody has told me not Herr Lehrer, nor you 
 neither." 
 
 "You need not say 'nor' and 'neither' too," 
 said Fritz. "One negative is enough. What do 
 you want to know'?" 
 
 " About the moon's halves and quarters," said Ikon. 
 " What you called the moon's ' faces,' Mr. Fritz." 
 
 "Phases, not faces," said Fritz. "The changes 
 through which the moon seems to pass every month." 
 
 " Yes. I don't know why the moon doesn't always 
 look round, like the sun," said Ikon. " I've been 
 thinking and thinking, and I can't make it out one 
 bit." 
 
 " Quite right to try," said Fritz.
 
 264 Among the Stars. 
 
 Then he sat for some seconds, considering; while 
 Ikon stared hard at him, as if expecting to read an 
 explanation in his face. 
 
 " Have you a lamp and a small globe, Ikon ? " 
 
 " O yes, there's a lamp in the schoolroom, and 
 there's the school globe," said Ikon. " Herr Lehrer 
 gave me a lesson with them. But it's daylight now.' 1 
 
 " Never mind. We can make it dark. Come." 
 
 Ikon followed in high glee. Fritz seemed to know 
 the room well. 
 
 " We shall want the lamp lighted," he said. " Stay 
 you need not call anyone. I understand lamps. 
 Give me some matches." 
 
 Ikon procured a box from somewhere near. Fritz 
 lighted the lamp, put it on the centre table, let down 
 the blinds, and drew the curtains. 
 
 " Why, it is just like night," explained Ikon. 
 
 " Now for the globe," said Fritz. " That is rather 
 too large for convenience. Have you a big india- 
 rubber ball? Thanks that will do" as Ikon 
 eagerly drew one out of a low cupboard. 
 
 " Now, stand near the table. Not too near. Re- 
 member, Ikon, that lamp is the sun. Your head is 
 the earth. This ball is the moon." 
 
 "Am I to go spinning round the sun?" asked 
 Ikon.
 
 How the Moon goes round. 265 
 
 " Properly you ought, of course, to do so. But as 
 our business now is with the appearance of the moon 
 seen from earth, it will simplify matters to have you 
 stand still. You must suppose that all the time you 
 really are spinning on your axis and travelling round 
 the sun; and that the moon is doing the same. The 
 phases of the moon, however, can be quite as well 
 shown without those movements." 
 
 Fritz held the ball outside Ikon, on the side away 
 from the lamp. He held it a little raised above 
 Ikon's head, so as to be out of Ikon's shadow. 
 
 " Now remember," he said again, " that people on 
 the real earth can only see so much of the real moon 
 as the sun lights up. The dark side of the moon is 
 invisible to us. The sun is a star, and shines equally 
 all round; but the moon is a planet, with a bright 
 side and a dark side." 
 
 "O yes like the lamp and the ball," assented 
 Ikon. 
 
 " How much of the bright side of the ball can you 
 see now, Ikon ? " 
 
 " I can see it all," said Ikon. " It is all bright 
 towards me; and I can't see any of the dark side." 
 
 " Then, if this were the moon, very bright and far 
 away, it would show a flat round surface like our 
 
 full-moon," said Fritz. "At full-moon, the moon 
 18
 
 266 Among the Stars. 
 
 is outside the earth, away from the sun; and we see 
 the full round bright side." 
 
 Fritz removed the ball slowly to one side of Ikon. 
 
 " You must turn gently, so as to look at the ball 
 still," he said. " The real earth spins incessantly, 
 and also has people all round to look. But you have 
 only one pair of eyes. Now, how much of the 
 bright part of the ball can you see ?" 
 
 " I can't see all the bright side, Mr. Fritz. I 
 can see half of the bright part, and half of the shady 
 part." 
 
 " That is the half-moon," said Fritz " the shady 
 part being invisible in the case of the real moon." 
 
 "But that doesn't look like the shape of the 
 half-moon," said Ikon. 
 
 " Merely because the ball is near, and you can see 
 its rounded surface and also its dark side. If it 
 were so far off as to look flat, if the dark part were 
 hidden and the bright part were very bright indeed, 
 then you would have exactly the half-moon shape." 
 
 Fritz moved the ball slowly on, till it was between 
 Ikon and the lamp a little lower down than Ikon's 
 eyes, so as not to hide the lamp from him. 
 
 "Now," he said, while so moving "you can see 
 less and less of the bright side, as it turns more and 
 more away from you. That is how the half-mooa
 
 How the Moon goes round. 267 
 
 grows into the crescent moon. How much can you 
 see of the bright side of the ball now, Ikon ? " 
 
 " I can't see a bit of it," said Ikon. " The bright 
 part is quite turned away, and I can only see the 
 dull half." 
 
 " Which means that you would not be able to see 
 the real moon at all. That is what we call new- 
 moon. The new moon at first is quite invisible, 
 because the bright side is turned entirely away, and 
 only the unlighted half of the moon is towards us." 
 
 Fritz moved slowly on again, till he was on the 
 other side of Ikon. 
 
 " Half-moon again," he said. " From a little cres- 
 cent of light it increases gradually to half-moon; 
 then on and on to full-moon once more." 
 
 " I think I do really understand now," said Ikon. 
 " Mr. Fritz, didn't you once say that Venus had 
 halves and quarters like the moon ? " 
 
 " Yes. The explanation is very much the same," 
 said Fritz. " Venus is a planet, with a bright and 
 dark side. Sometimes we see the whole of the 
 bright side, and sometimes only part of it. But I 
 do not think you had better confuse your mind with 
 going into that subject to-day. Try to be clear 
 about the moon first." 
 
 "I'll try and not forget," said Ikon.
 
 268 Among the Stars. 
 
 "I told you just now that we could never see the 
 dark side of the moon," said Fritz. " But sometimes 
 we do catch a glimpse of it, shining faintly not 
 shining with sunlight, but with light borrowed from 
 our bright earth." 
 
 " How funny! " said Ikon. 
 
 " Beautiful, rather than funny, I should say. Ikon, 
 when I held the ball between your head and the 
 lamp, I held it rather low. Why was that ?" 
 
 "So as not to hide the lamp from me ! " asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Yes. I did so because it is so in reality. The 
 real moon, passing between the real earth and sun, 
 does not generally pass exactly between, but is as a 
 rule a little higher or a little lower. Sometimes, 
 however, it really does come exactly between. What 
 is the result ? " 
 
 Fritz lifted the ball as he spoke, and held it 
 between the lamp and Ikon's eyes. 
 
 " Why I can't see the lamp," said Ikon. 
 
 " Which means that people on earth would be un 
 able to see the sun," said Fritz. 
 
 " Does the moon truly hide the sun sometimes, 
 Mr. Fritz?" 
 
 " Now and then it does so, at regular intervals- 
 just when its pathway lies precisely between the earth
 
 How the Moon goes round. 269 
 
 ind sun. That is what we call an eclipse of the sun, 
 or a hiding of the sun. People used to be very 
 much frightened in old days to see a black body 
 creeping over the bright sun. But now we know 
 what it means. Astronomers can tell us beforehand 
 exactly when such an event will happen." 
 
 " Is the sun hidden for a great while ?" asked Ikon. 
 
 " No only for a few minutes at the most. Some- 
 times the moon only comes enough between to pass 
 over a part of the sun's face. But now and then we 
 have what we call a total eclipse, when the moon 
 quite covers the sun. Those are the times when, 
 for a few seconds, the sea of fire round the sun 
 may be seen in a telescope, and the tall flame- 
 mountains, and the lovely corona. For the round 
 dark moon hides the dazzling body of the sun, and 
 then these appearances become visible." 
 
 "I remember about the flame-mountains and the 
 corona," said Ikon. " Mr. Fritz, when you held the 
 ball on the other side of my head, you put it up high 
 Was that for the same reason ? " 
 
 " Do you think my reason could have been just the 
 same, Ikon ? Think before you speak." 
 
 " The ball couldn't have hidden the lamp from me, 
 because it was on the other side of my head, and 
 not between," said Ikon, after a pause.
 
 270 Among the Stars. 
 
 "True. But something else would have been 
 hidden, if I had held the ball lower." 
 
 "Would it?" 
 
 Fritz stretched out his hand with the india-rubber 
 ball, to the " full-moon" position. This time, how- 
 ever, the ball was as low as Ikon's head. 
 
 " How much of the bright side of the ball can you 
 see now ? " he asked. 
 
 "Why, the ball isn't bright at all, Mr. Fritz not 
 any part of it. The lamplight can't get to the 
 ball." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "It is too low down. My head conies right 
 between." 
 
 "Between what?" 
 
 " The lamp and the ball," said Ikon. 
 
 " In other words, the earth comes between the sun 
 and moon, and cuts off all sunlight from the moon,' 
 said Fritz. " Then instead of a bright full-moon, the 
 shadow of earth hides the moon from our sight- 
 just as the shadow of your head now falls upon the 
 ball." 
 
 " But I can see the ball, Mr. Fritz." 
 
 " Yes, because it is so near. We cannot see the 
 moon when she is in shade. That hiding of the 
 moon by the earth's shadow we call an eclipse of the
 
 How the Moon goes round. 271 
 
 moon. It happens now and then at stated 
 times.'' 
 
 " Do astronomers know beforehand ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " Yes, always." 
 
 Then Fritz put down the ball. 
 
 "I must go now," he said. "Good-bye, Ikon. I 
 have quite enjoyed our story-readings. By-and-by, 
 when I come home again, I should like to show you 
 some stars through my telescope. You must grow 
 strong before then, so that Dormer will not be afraid 
 of the night air. Meanwhile I expect you and Stella 
 will become fast friends." 
 
 " Oh, is Stella coming ?" cried Ikon. "The real 
 live Stella ! Will she be a dear little girl in white ?" 
 
 " Dear me, I quite forgot," exclaimed Fritz. " I 
 was not to have said anything. Well never mind; 
 you must have known soon. Yes, she is coming 
 next week, to pay your father a visit." 
 
 " And me too ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " I suppose so." 
 
 "Will she stay long?" 
 
 " A few days, perhaps. You will soon be friends* 
 Good-bye, Ikon." 
 
 And Fritz vanished.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 STELLA. 
 
 NEARLY a week passed. Ikon sat one day alone in 
 his playroom, indulging in dreams of the coming 
 visitor. A vision floated before his mind's eye of a 
 gentle little maid, robed in white, with long fair hair 
 and gauzy wings. Of course he knew the wings to 
 be a mistake, but he never could banish them when 
 thinking of Stella. 
 
 Suddenly the door-handle turned, and somebody 
 entered. 
 
 Ikon looked up, and a great rush of disappointment 
 swept over him. Was this Stella ? No wings, of 
 course; that he knew he must expect. No floating 
 fair locks either, or snowy frock, or childish 
 form. The new-comer was many years older than 
 Ikon; quite a full-blown young lady, he thought 
 sorrowfully. She was dressed in brown from head
 
 Stella. 273 
 
 to foot; and her fair hair was rolled up into a neat 
 coil; and her blue eyes were sparkling and full of 
 fun, not at all dreamy or star-like. 
 
 Ikon said nothing. He did not even get up. He 
 was so dreadfully disappointed that he quite forgot 
 to be polite, and only sat still, staring with all his 
 might. 
 
 But the young lady did not seem at all distressed. 
 She came straight up to the boy, with a light decided 
 step, and said smilingly 
 
 " How do you do ? Are you Ikon ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Ikon dismally. 
 
 " And I am Stella. Now we know one another, 
 don't we ? " 
 
 Ikon could say nothing. His eyes filled with 
 tears. 
 
 " You don't mean to say you are sorry to see 
 me ? " asked Stella, bending over him with a kind 
 look. 
 
 Ikon could not help it. He burst into a sob, and 
 said 
 
 " Oh, I did think Stella was to be a dear little 
 girl. Mr. Fritz told me so." 
 
 " Mr. Fritz saw me years ago, and he can't imagine 
 that I have grown any older," said Stella. 
 
 Then she threw aside her brown hat, and pulled
 
 274 Among the Stars. 
 
 off her brown gloves, and sat down beside Ikon, and 
 kissed him. 
 
 " Come, you are not going to be miserable," she 
 said. " Think how uncomfortable I shall feel, if you 
 don't give me a welcome. You really need not mind 
 about my age. People say I am a child still in many 
 ways. And seventeen is not so very old." 
 
 " It's most dreadfully grown up," said Ikon in a 
 doleful voice. 
 
 " O but I am not grown up at all yet. I don't 
 know how to grow up, and I never did. You and I 
 are going to have all sorts of fun together. And my 
 father says you are just as fond of the stars as I 
 always have been." , 
 
 "Are you fond of the stars ?" asked Ikon, a little 
 comforted. 
 
 " I love them dearly. Don't you ? " 
 
 " O yes. Only I want to know more about them,' 
 said Ikon. 
 
 " Well, perhaps I can tell you a few little things," 
 said Stella. Then, with a merry look in her eyes, 
 she added, " I believe you and I have already taken a 
 long journey together not to the stars, but to the 
 planets. Naughty Mr. Fritz ! " 
 
 " But that was quite a little girl," said Ikon. 
 
 " A little girl with wings and a white frock. I used
 
 Stella. 275 
 
 to wear white frocks a great deal "when I was small. 
 Well, I have not wings, Ikon, certainly except 
 invisible ones." 
 
 " Herr Lehrer said /had wings," remarked Ikon. 
 
 " So he told me." 
 
 "Do you know that dear nice Herr Lehrer?" 
 cried Ikon. 
 
 " Know him ! He is my father." 
 
 " O then I shall love you," said Ikon, with great 
 eagerness. 
 
 " Did you not know that I was his child ? " asked 
 Stella. " No wonder I have learnt to love the stars, 
 Ikon, with such a father to teach me." 
 
 " Does Dormer know you are here ? " Ikon presently 
 inquired. 
 
 " Yes; and everything is all right. My box has 
 gone to my room; and I have had a cup of tea; and 
 I told Dormer she need not trouble herself about me 
 any more till I have to dress for dinner. I thought 
 it would be pleasant to come and make your acquain- 
 tance the first thing. For it seemed as if we ought 
 to know one another, after taking that long journey 
 together among the planets." 
 
 " But it wasn't me. It was Eikon," said Ikon. 
 
 " I don't think that makes much difference," said 
 Stella.
 
 276 Among the Stars. 
 
 Ikon crept a little nearer to his new friend, and 
 very soon her hand was passed softly over his hair. 
 
 " I hope you will stay a long while here," he 
 said wistfully. 
 
 " Only a week, just now, I am afraid. But we 
 shall soon meet again, I hope." 
 
 " Will you talk to me about the stars this week ? " 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 " I'll talk to you about anything you like, Ikon." 
 
 " I want to, know about the real stars," said Ikon. 
 " I have heard lots about the planets. But it's always 
 the planets, and not the stars." 
 
 " The planets are not so far off, so of course they 
 come first," said Stella. 
 
 " Yes, I liked to know about them first. It wasn't 
 so difficult, I suppose, as farther-off things would be," 
 said Ikon seriously. " But I should like to learn 
 now about the real far-off stars." 
 
 " Do you happen to know which is the nearest star 
 of all! "asked Stella. 
 
 " No," said Ikon, " I never heard its name." 
 
 " Are you quite sure ? " 
 
 " O yes; quite" said Ikon. 
 
 " Curious," said Stella quietly. " Did neither my 
 father nor Fritz ever speak of the sun ? " 
 
 " Oh, the sun ! " Ikon exclaimed.
 
 Stella. 277 
 
 " That is the nearest star," said Stella. " Don't 
 you know that the sun is a star ? " 
 
 " I forgot," said Ikon. Then a smile broke over his 
 face, and he said, "I think you are the nearest star 
 of all just now."
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. . 
 
 STAR JOURNEYINGS. 
 
 " How much do you know about the stars, Ikon ? " 
 asked Stella. 
 
 " I don't know more than a very very little," said 
 Ikon. 
 
 They were out in the garden together, sitting 
 under a tree, and enjoying a lovely spring day. 
 
 Ikon could not help thinking about the dream-story 
 of the journey to the sun, and of the children with 
 wings. But he no longer wished to exchange the 
 real Stella for the fancy Stella. He loved her 
 already, though she had not been twenty-four hours 
 in the house. 
 
 " Tell me something of what you do know," said 
 Stella. 
 
 " I know the stars are always in the sky always 
 bright," said Ikon, after some thought. " Only we 
 can't see them in the day because of the sun-light."
 
 Star Journeyings. 279 
 
 " Because of the sunlight and air together," said 
 Stella. "Sunlight alone would not hide the stars. 
 The air weaves a veil of sunbeams, and the stars 
 cannot shine through this veil." 
 
 41 O yes I remember it was air too," said Ikon. 
 " And the stars rise and set, like the sun. There are 
 always stars rising and stars setting, all day and 
 night. And they don't really move, because they are 
 fixed stars; but the earth spins round and round, 
 and that makes the stars seem to rise and set and 
 the sun and moon too." 
 
 44 Do you happen to know whether we always see 
 the same stars at the same hour of the night, all the 
 year round, Ikon?" 
 
 44 No," Ikon said slowly. " I don't think so. I'm 
 almost quite sure we don't. Because my star went 
 away. And Herr Lehrer said they did change a 
 little every day." 
 
 44 Did seem to change," said Stella. 
 
 44 Is that only seeming too ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 4< Nothing more. It is caused by the earth's own 
 movement not her daily spinning, but her yearly 
 journey round the sun. Day after day as she moves 
 on in her orbit, slight changes seem to take 
 place." 
 
 41 What sort of changes ? " asked Ikon.
 
 280 Among the Stars. 
 
 " If you watch any particular star set to-night, 
 that star will set to-morrow night four minutes 
 earlier. It is the same with all the stars. Four 
 minutes every day mounts up to half-an-hour in a 
 week, or six hours in three months. So a star 
 which is above the horizon at nine o'clock this 
 evening, may be below the horizon at nine o'clock 
 a few weeks hence. By-and-by most of the stars 
 which are now hidden from us by daylight, will be 
 visible at night. There is a constant steady change 
 going on through all the year." 
 
 "But some stars don't set at all," said Ikon. 
 
 " Some stars never set to us who live in the 
 northern hemisphere, and those stars never rise to 
 people who live in the southern hemisphere. Some 
 stars which are always seen in the south are never 
 seen in the north. But there are constellations 
 which we see at night in winter, and can't see in 
 summer and others which we see in summer and 
 can't see in winter." 
 
 " I wish I could understand it all properly," said 
 Ikon, with knitted brows. 
 
 "You must have patience," said Stella, patting his 
 cheek. " These things take a long while to learn 
 properly. I am only giving you a few ideas now, to 
 make you wish to know more. Tell me if you quite
 
 Star Journey ings. 281 
 
 understand something else. What is our sun 
 really?" 
 
 "It's a great big hot blazing" Ikon hesitated, 
 and then said "star." 
 
 " You are sure it is a star ? " 
 
 " Yes," Ikon said; and then he paused again. " Is 
 it a fixed star ? " 
 
 " Yes and no," said Stella. " Fixed and not fixed." 
 
 " The sun seems to move every day," said Ikon. 
 
 " Yes, but you know that to be merely in seem- 
 ing. When we talk of fixed stars, do you know 
 what we mean ? " 
 
 " Why that the stars don't really move at all, ' 
 said Ikon. 
 
 " No; we only mean that they do not seem to 
 move." 
 
 " But they do," Ikon began, and paused. 
 
 " They seem all to sweep over the sky or round the 
 north pole in company, every night. They do not 
 seem to move about among themselves. We never 
 see one star going faster than another. We never 
 see a constellation breaking up, or taking a new 
 shape. The stars do not seem to travel in space 
 like the planets, each on its own separate pathway." 
 
 " O no, I understand," Ikon said brightly. 
 
 "And yet the stars really do move," said' Stella. 
 19
 
 282 Among the Stars. 
 
 " The sun journeys, and the stars journey. Every 
 single star, so far as we know, is rushing through 
 space, with his own particular speed, and on his own 
 particular pathway. Some go faster, and some go 
 more slowly. Some go this way and some go that 
 way. The sun is only one among multitudes of 
 rushing stars." 
 
 Ikon's eyes were wide open. " Mr. Fritz didn't 
 say so," he observed. " When Eikon saw the sun 
 in his dream, it was quite still; only turning round 
 and round." 
 
 " And yet the sun does move," said Stella. 
 
 " Very very slowly, I suppose," suggested Ikon. 
 
 " Why, no I don't call it so very slowly. The 
 sun travels at the rate of about four miles each 
 second or two hundred and forty miles a minute." 
 
 " I do wonder he doesn't leave some of the planets 
 behind him," said Ikon. " Not most of them, though, 
 of course he wouldn't, because they go so much 
 faster than that." 
 
 " They go faster round the sun. But that is quite 
 another matter. You are confusing two things 
 together." 
 
 " Am I ? " said Ikon. 
 
 " Yes. When you think of the planets' journeys 
 round the sun, you must think of the sun as nearly
 
 Star Journeyings. 283 
 
 in the centre, quite still and fixed. But when you 
 think of the sun's journey in space, you must picture 
 all the planets as journeying with him, just at the 
 same speed as himself. They travel in their orbits 
 round the sun; and also they travel with the sun 
 in his great orbit among the stars. Just, as the moon 
 travels round the earth, and also travels with the 
 earth round the sun." 
 
 " There seem such lots of ways of going," said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Yes; but you must not jumble up all the separate 
 motions together. Try to have them clear in your 
 mind. There is no real confusion." 
 
 " Only it's a little puzzling," said Ikon, in a tone 
 of apology. 
 
 "Think of the moon for a minute," said Stella. 
 
 . " First, she spins on her own axis. Secondly, she 
 
 travels round the earth. Thirdly, she goes with the 
 
 earth round the sun. Fourthly, she and the earth 
 
 journey with the sun through space." 
 
 " Four," murmured Ikon. 
 
 " But there is no confusion. Everything fits in 
 with everything else. The moon's journey round 
 the earth does not interfere with her turning on her 
 axis. The moon's journey round the sun does not 
 interfere with her journey round the earth. The
 
 284 Among the Stars. 
 
 moon's journey through space 'does not interfere 
 with her journey round the sun." 
 
 " Does the sun make all the planets go with him ? " 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 " Yes very much as the earth makes you and me 
 go with her. The planets are all held in and drawn 
 on by the sun's mighty attraction. When the chil- 
 dren in the dream saw the sun at rest, it must 
 have been because they were in the Solar System, 
 and so were journeying with the sun and planets as 
 part of the Solar System. You and I are always 
 travelling with the earth, but we don't feel ourselves 
 to be moving; and the earth seems to us to be at 
 rest." 
 
 " Was that what Mr. Fritz meant in his story ?" 
 
 " I don't know what else he could have meant," 
 said Stella, smiling.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 FAST, YET SLOW. 
 
 " BUT the stars don't go as fast as the sun goes," 
 said Ikon. 
 
 " Some of them very much faster. Our sun is 
 rather a slow star," replied Stella. 
 
 Ikon evidently thought he had caught Stella in a 
 mistake. He drew his brows together, and burst 
 out with a " But" 
 
 "Well?" she said, looking amused; "don't be 
 afraid to speak out, Ikon." 
 
 " If the stars were really all rushing and rushing 
 about all sorts of different ways, they couldn't all 
 stay always looking just exactly the very same,' 
 said Ikon, with extreme eagerness. 
 
 " No, they couldn't," said Stella, shaking her head 
 "Changes must show in time." 
 
 " But they don't," said Ikon. 
 
 Stella smiled again, and was silent.
 
 286 Among the Stars. 
 
 " I know they don't, because Herr Lehrer said so," 
 pursued Ikon. "Or else it was Mr. Fritz; but I 
 think it was Herr Lehrer. He said that if Abraham 
 was to see the stars now, he wouldn't see any 
 change." 
 
 " You mean that if Abraham were to look at the 
 stars from earth, he would not find them different 
 from what they appeared four thousand years ago, 
 seen then from earth," said Stella. 
 
 " Was Abraham four thousand years ago ? " asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Somewhere about that," said Stella. 
 
 Then she drew a little Bible out of her pocket, and 
 opened it. 
 
 " I suppose you and my father were thinking of 
 this passage," she remarked 
 
 "'And He brought him forth abroad, and said, 
 Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou 
 be able to number them.' " 
 
 " Abraham did see the stars then, didn't he ? " said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Yes and very often besides, no doubt." 
 
 Stella turned over the leaves of her Bible, till she 
 came to the ninth chapter of Job, when she read 
 again 
 
 " ' How should a man be just with God . . .
 
 Fast, yet Slow. 287 
 
 Which alone spreadeth out the heavens . . . Which 
 maketh Arcturus, Orion and Pleiades ? ' " 
 
 " Is Arcturus in the Bible ? " said Ikon, greatly 
 interested. " O let me see, please. What are the 
 other two ? " 
 
 " Orion is a splendid group of stars, supposed to 
 be a man with a sword and belt. Pleiades is a small 
 cluster of many stars very close together. Five or 
 six can be commonly seen in England; sometimes 
 seven, with good sight. There is a curious soft shine 
 about the Pleiades. We see Orion and Pleiades in 
 the winter and spring months, in England." 
 
 Stella turned over some more leaves. 
 
 " Listen, Ikon. This is in the thirty-eighth chapter 
 of Job: 
 
 " ' Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, 
 or loose the bands of Orion ? ' ' 
 
 "What does 'sweet influences' mean?" asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 " I don't know unless it means the' attraction 
 which those distant suns exercise over other stars 
 and worlds," said Stella. 
 
 " I wonder if it is that ! " said Ikon. " Then the 
 Plei " 
 
 " Pleiades," said Stella. 
 
 " The Pleiades are they real suns too ? "
 
 288 Among the Stars. 
 
 "We believe so. There is no doubt of it," said 
 Stella. 
 
 Closing her Bible, she added: 
 
 " You see, Ikon, these constellations seem to 
 have been known long ago in the days of Job 
 and Abraham. Many of the chief constellations and 
 leading stars had their names given to them in very 
 early times farther back than we should imagine." 
 
 Ikon said " Yes," and waited, for Stella plainly had 
 more to say. 
 
 " I should not wonder," she went on slowly, " if 
 a man had studied the stars from earth, in Abraham's 
 days, and were to study them again now, in the same 
 manner I should not wonder if he were to see no 
 changes." 
 
 "No," said Ikon; "that was what Herr Lehrer 
 meant." 
 
 " But that does not at all settle the question about 
 the stars moving," said Stella. " There were no 
 telescopes in Abraham's days, Ikon, no means of 
 making such close and delicate measurements as are 
 made now." 
 
 " No," said Ikon. 
 
 " And without such measurements, and without 
 powerful telescopes, the real movements of stars 
 could not possibly be discovered. The stars are so
 
 Fast, yet Slow. 289 
 
 very very far away, that changes among them, seen 
 from earth, take place with extreme slowness. How 
 slowly you would never guess." 
 
 "Tell me about them, please," said Ikon. 
 
 " Arcturus, for instance," began Stella. 
 
 " My star ! " whispered Ikon. 
 
 " Arcturus is one of the fastest stars known to us. 
 Arcturus is known to be constantly rushing through 
 space at the rate of fifty-four miles each second." 
 
 " Oh h ! " exclaimed Ikon. " Why that's ever so 
 much faster than even little Mercury." 
 
 "Not much less than twice the speed of Mercury. 
 And yet, Ikon, though Arcturus is really journeying 
 at this tremendous rate, we cannot see his speed. 
 He seems to creep across the sky, in the slowest 
 fashion. If you watched Arcturus steadily for a 
 hundred years, with the most exact means of measur- 
 ing his position, you would only find him crawl over 
 a little bit of the sky, one-eighth as broad as the full 
 moon." 
 
 " But why doesn't he go faster ? " 
 
 " Arcturus does go faster really. He only does 
 not seem to go fast." 
 
 " Well, but why doesn't he seem ? " inquired Ikon. 
 
 " Did you ever take a journey by rail ? " asked 
 Stella.
 
 290 Among the Stars. 
 
 Ikon nodded, and said, " Twice." 
 
 " Do you remember looking out of the carriage- 
 window, and seeing everything seem to move the 
 hedges and fields near at hand, and the houses and 
 hills far off?" 
 
 " O yes they did hurry by," said Ikon. 
 
 " Which seemed to go faster those near at hand, 
 or those more distant ? " 
 
 " Oh, the things near at hand," said Ikon. " The 
 telegraph posts just seemed to fly, and the bank 
 went so fast I could hardly look at it. The hills a 
 long way off crept quite slowly." 
 
 " Those were only seeming movements, not real," 
 said Stella. " It was the train which moved, not the 
 fields and trees. But you may understand from this, 
 why the stars seem to go so very slowly." 
 
 " I suppose it is because they are such a great way 
 off," said Ikon. 
 
 " Exactly that. As we look out from our earth, 
 we see the heavenly bodies moving really moving, 
 not only seeming to do so. Just as if in the train, 
 you had been at rest, and all the houses and fields 
 and hills had been whirling round you." 
 
 " How funny that would be," said Ikon. 
 
 " The appearance is the same in either case," said 
 Stella. " The planets are near, and they seem to go
 
 Fast, yet Slow. 291 
 
 fast. The stars are far away, and they seem to go 
 very slowly. But this does not show that the stars 
 may not be moving quite as quickly as any of the 
 planets." 
 
 " No," said Ikon. 
 
 "We see almost no change in the groups of stars, 
 since the days of Abraham," continued Stella. " But 
 that is nothing. Four thousand years is only a very 
 little while in the history of a star." 
 
 " Four thousand years seems such an enormous 
 time," said Ikon wonderingly. 
 
 " Yes to you and me. It is a long while in the 
 history of man. But it is not long at all in the 
 history of the stars. Some of the stars are so 
 distant that twenty or thirty miles a second for four 
 thousand years of travelling, only means such a tiny 
 movement in our sky, that we cannot even perceive 
 it." 
 
 "The stars must be very very old," said Ikon 
 seriously. 
 
 " I don't know how old, Ikon. I don't know how 
 long ago God made them. Their age is very great 
 beside man's little life. But it is nothing beside the 
 ages of Him who is ' King of Eternity ! ' "
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 HOW MANY STARS THERE ARE! 
 
 " Do you think Abraham knew how many stars there 
 were, Miss Stella ?" asked Ikon next day. They had 
 been so busy in the garden and fields together, as to 
 have no time for talking about the stars. But now 
 it was evening, and after dark. 
 
 "No, I think not," Stella answered. 
 
 " God asked him to tell," remarked Ikon. 
 
 " Yes if he were able. But I am quite sure he 
 was not able. Of course God could have told Abra- 
 ham, and then he would have known. I do not believe 
 that God did tell him, though. That sort of thing 
 men are generally left to find out for themselves." 
 
 " Do people know now ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " We know more now than men knew in those 
 days. We certainly do not know how many stars 
 there are." 
 
 "I wonder how many Abraham could see."
 
 How many Stars there are! 293 
 
 " Oh, that's an easier question," said Stella. " It 
 is said that we hardly ever see more than about three 
 thousand stars at once." 
 
 " I should think it was millions sometimes," said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " No: not more than about three thousand. Not 
 nearly so many, except with a el-ear sky, and on a good 
 night. A man with particularly strong eyes can of 
 course see more than most people. And in the coun- 
 try where Abraham lived, the clear sky and air would 
 make a larger number visible than in England." 
 
 " Three thousand isn't so very many," said Ikon. 
 
 " No; but I am only telling of those which can be 
 seen with our own eyes, and no binocular or tele- 
 scope to help Great numbers lie beyond, quite out 
 of sight to man's naked eye." 
 
 " I should like to know how many stars there really 
 are," said Ikon. 
 
 " People generally want to know more than they 
 can," said Stella. " Ikon, it is a very warm evening. 
 Shall we go out into the garden, and have a look at 
 the stars ? " 
 
 " O do, please," Ikon said, in delight. 
 
 Dormer made no objections, only she insisted on 
 much wrapping up. And presently they left the 
 house together.
 
 294 Among the Stars. 
 
 Ikon's father had an engagement that evening, 
 and Stella had chosen to take tea with Ikon, instead 
 of dining alone. So now she was free, not needing 
 to dress for late dinner; and Ikon was charmed to 
 have her quite to himself. 
 
 It was a beautiful night, perfectly cloudless. The 
 stars shone brilliantly, and no moon dimmed them. 
 Stella went with Ikon to a little rising ground near, 
 where they had a fine view of the heavens. 
 
 " You are well placed for watching the stars," she 
 said. " I wish our garden at home were as good." 
 
 " Don't they all shine and shine ? " said Ikon, in a 
 hushed voice. " Miss Stella, do tell me some of the 
 names." 
 
 " Can you find me first the Great Bear and the 
 Little Bear ? Not that direction, Ikon. Don't you 
 know that the Pole-star is in the north ? " 
 
 " I always forget where north is," said Ikon. 
 
 He found the Great Bear first, and then the Little 
 Bear, not so easily. " That is the Pole-star, Miss 
 Stella the tip of the Little Bear's tail. O do 
 please tell me are those stars all really and truly 
 moving all going along quite fast ? " 
 
 Stella simply said, " Yes." 
 
 "As fast as our sun and Arcturus?" continued 
 Ikon.
 
 How many Stars there are! 295 
 
 " Our sun and Arcturus don't go at the same 
 pace," said Stella. " Arcturus travels fifty-four miles 
 each second, and our sun only travels four miles a 
 second. Look, Ikon there is Arcturus to the east 
 That bright star." 
 
 "My star!" cried Ikon. " The dear star that I 
 lost ! I'm so glad." 
 
 " Does it look like the same again ? " asked Stella, 
 smiling. 
 
 " I don't know. The stars are all so much alike 
 only some are brighter. I think I should feel quite 
 sure if I could see it over the poplars again. But 
 my star was bright like that." 
 
 " If you can remember the day and hour when 
 you saw it this year, you may look again next year 
 at the same day and hour, and you will see your star 
 in the same spot," said Stella. 
 
 " Arcturus does look so very very quiet," said Ikon, 
 in a hesitating voice. 
 
 " So quiet, that you find it hard to believe he can 
 really be whirling along at such a rate, don't you ? 
 Yes there is that difficulty with the stars. We are 
 not able to understand their great distance." 
 
 " Miss Stella, does the Pole-star go along very 
 fast ? " 
 
 " Not very. About a mile and a half each moment.*
 
 296 Among the Stars. 
 
 " I think that's quite slow," said Ikon. 
 
 " More than five thousand miles an hour. Not so 
 very slow, after all," said Stella, smiling. " Now I 
 want to show you Orion. Look over there, low 
 down in the west a large bright constellation, 
 something like a man in shape. At least we fancy 
 it so, and a picture of the constellation would give 
 the outline of a man. There is a star for the head, 
 and one for each arm, and one for each foot. There 
 are three bright stars for the belt, and three fainter 
 ones for the sword hanging at Orion's side. It is a 
 wonderful group of bright stars." 
 
 Ikon was very eager to understand the whole. 
 Stella patiently explained, till he seemed satisfied. 
 
 " Now see not far from Orion, but more to the 
 south, and very low down, there, Ikon a very 
 brilliant star. That is Sirius." 
 
 " I've seen Sirius before. I know that star," said 
 Ikon, in a tone of satisfaction. " Herr Lehrer told 
 me it was a beautiful sun, most likely ever so much 
 bigger than our sun." 
 
 " Sirius travels about fourteen miles a second not 
 so slowly as our sun, and not so fast as Arcturus," 
 said Stella. 
 
 " Sirius is so splendidly bright," said Ikon. " At 
 least it was last time I saw it."
 
 ORION. 
 
 p. 296.
 
 How many Stars there are ! 297 
 
 " Sirius is too low just now, to look his best. We 
 will go back to the Pole-star, Ikon." 
 
 " I'm looking," said Ikon. 
 
 " You must take that for a starting-point in learn- 
 ing the constellations. The Pole-star scarcely seems 
 to move at all. All constellations near the Pole- 
 star seem to sweep round it once in every twenty- 
 four hours." 
 
 "Yes that's only 'seeming,'" said Ikon. "It's 
 because the earth spins. Miss Stella, does the 
 Great Bear sweep round the Pole Star ? " 
 
 " Certainly. Can you see the Great Bear ? " 
 
 " O yes. Quite well. There he is ! " 
 
 " Now, look at the other side of the Pole-star, 
 opposite the Great Bear. There are five bright 
 stars, shaped very much like a W some say like an 
 easy-chair. That constellation is called Cassiopeia." 
 
 " What a funny name ! " Ikon said. 
 
 " The Great Bear and Cassiopeia are opposite 
 each other, with the Pole-star between. On the 
 other two sides of the Pole-star we shall find two 
 bright stars, which you ought to know. There, on 
 one side is Capella on the other side, opposite 
 Capella, is Vega. So now you have four starting- 
 points. The Great Bear and Cassiopeia opposite 
 
 each other; Capella and Vega between those two, 
 20
 
 29$ Among tlit Stars. 
 
 and opposite each other; with the Pole-star in the 
 centre." 
 
 " Won't you tell me more names ? " asked Ikon. 
 
 " Not too many at once. But I will tell you how 
 to find your favourite, Arcturus. You see, he cannot 
 always be known by nearness to the poplar trees." 
 
 Ikon laughed, and said " No." 
 
 "Look at the Great Bear, Ikon. His tail points 
 to a triangle of bright stars that is, three stars 
 arranged in the shape of a triangle. I hope you 
 know what a triangle is. Have you found them ? " 
 
 " N o," Ikon said doubtfully at first; and then 
 " O yes; I do see quite well." 
 
 " The brightest of these three is Arcturus," said 
 Stella. " So, while two stars of the Great Bear point 
 to the Pole-star, three others point towards Areturus." 
 
 " But they aren't called pointers too ? " said Ikon. 
 
 " Ne. It is much more important to us to know 
 where the Pole-star is, than to know where Arcturus 
 is. So we think more of that pointing than of the 
 other." 
 
 " But I do like to know where Arcturus is. I'll be 
 sure not to forget," Ikon said joyously. 
 
 " One thing more I must show you," said Stella. 
 "See there, Ikon rather low, and very far away 
 from Orion a little group of stars close together,
 
 How many Stars there are! 299 
 
 shining softly. You will see them better if you 
 look at the sky close to them, instead of at the 
 stars themselves. That little cluster of soft stars 
 is called the Pleiades." 
 
 "That was what Job wrote about?" said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Yes. They are faint and dim, seen from earth; 
 but we believe them to be, in reality, great and 
 powerful suns, probably far more glorious than 
 our own sun." 
 
 " I should like to go and see the stars," said 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Ah, we don't know what a journey that would 
 be," said Stella. " Look at all those stars, and think 
 how tremendously far away they are from us ! And 
 that is nothing. If you had only a little telescope, 
 hundreds of new stars beyond would appear. And 
 with stronger telescopes, the hundreds would grow 
 into thousands, and the thousands into millions; 
 and still there would be no sign of any end to the 
 stars. Suns beyond suns, and suns beyond suns, as 
 far as man can see as far as man can imagine. It 
 is wonderful ! " 
 
 After a pause she said, "Do you see that hazy 
 band over part of the sky ? Look, Ikon like a broad 
 river of dim light. Follow it carefully."
 
 300 Among the Stars. 
 
 " I've often seen that," said Ikon. " It goes right 
 across the sky. I wonder what it is." 
 
 " It is called the Milky Way," said Stella. " The 
 Milky Way is made of stars hundreds, thousands, 
 millions of stars ! Some may be very large, and 
 some very small; some more near and some more 
 distant. But that stream of soft light across the 
 sky is just the shining of countless suns far far 
 away ! " 
 
 " Miss Stella, does God know all about those suns ? ** 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 "Why, Ikon, He made them! The Bible says, 
 ' He calleth them all by their names.' " 
 
 " And would God be sorry if one of them died ? " 
 asked Ikon wistfully. 
 
 " I don't know," Stella said, gravely smiling. ' ' The 
 stars are His lamps, Ikon. If a lamp is not needed 
 any longer, we put it out. There is no need to be 
 sorry for that when the lamp has done its work. 
 Some few stars have seemed to die out at different 
 times so, perhaps, their work as lamps was done." 
 
 " Miss Stella," said Ikon softly-" Miss Stella, the 
 stars seem to be such a great great way off. Do you 
 think Heaven is among the stars or right away 
 beyond them ? " 
 
 "I don't know," Stella again answered gently.
 
 How many Stars there are! 301 
 
 " Perhaps among them, Ikon. Christ did not tell us 
 where the ' place ' was that He went to ' prepare.' 
 But where He is, there Heaven is ! " 
 
 Then they were both silent. 
 
 "Miss Stella," Ikon began once more, "are all 
 those stars every one of the stars in the Milky 
 Way moving like our sun ? " 
 
 "There is no doubt that they are," said Stella. 
 " So far as we are able to see, no sun or world in all 
 the universe is at rest." 
 
 " But where are they all going to ?" asked Ikon. 
 
 " Ah that I cannot tell you," Stella said. " It may 
 be that they all travel round some far-off centre, like 
 the planets travelling round the sun. But we know 
 so little." 
 
 Then the two went slowly indoors together, out of 
 the solemn presence of those shining heavenly 
 lamps.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 ? 
 
 A FEW MORE QUESTIONS. 
 
 " Miss STELLA, are the brightest stars always the 
 biggest and the nearest ? " 
 
 It was a day or two later, and Stella had come 
 into the playroom with Ikon for a chat on his 
 favourite subject. She was obliged to shorten her 
 stay, and could only remain till the following morning. 
 
 Ikon did not, however, seem at all heart-broken. 
 On the contrary, he had been in very high spirits all 
 day, and had quite tired himself out with racing 
 about. 
 
 For Stella had invited him to go a few weeks 
 later, to pay a long visit to herself and Herr 
 Lehrer. Ikon was so delighted with the prospect, 
 that he hardly knew how to contain himself. 
 
 So to quiet him down, Stella took him to the play- 
 room, for one more little talk about the stars. And
 
 A few more Questions. 303 
 
 no sooner were they seated than Ikon brought out 
 the above question. 
 
 "No, not always," replied Stella. "Some of the 
 nearer stars are small and look dim to us; and some 
 of the farther ones are large and brilliant. Sirius is 
 the brightest star we see, but he is by no means the 
 nearest. Still, of course, a great many stars are 
 only faint through their great distance." 
 
 " I wonder why some of the stars are alone, and 
 some are in Constellations," said Ikon. 
 
 "All the stars are in Constellations," replied 
 Stella. 
 
 "Not Arcturus!" 
 
 " Arcturus is in the Constellation Bootes." 
 
 " And Vega ! " 
 
 " Vega is in the Constellation Lyra; Capella is in 
 the Constellation Auriga; Sirius in in the Constella- 
 tion Canis Major." 
 
 " Oh I didn't know," responded Ikon. 
 
 " I want you to understand about these constella- 
 tions, Ikon. They are not a real grouping of stars, 
 not a grouping of stars really nearest together, I 
 mean but only a fancy arrangement of stars, as 
 they appear to us." 
 
 Ikon's assent had a puzzled sound. 
 
 "The stars which look near together may not really
 
 304 Among the Stars. 
 
 be near together," continued Stella. " Just as we 
 might see the moon and Jupiter quite close to one 
 another; yet they would really be far distant 
 millions and millions of miles separating them." 
 
 " O yes I see," Ikon said, brightening. 
 
 " The whole sky is parcelled out into different 
 groups of constellations. Every star that we can 
 see, with or without a telescope, must be in one or 
 another constellation. It is convenient to have the 
 heavens so mapped out for man's use. But the reat 
 arrangement of the stars is a very different matter. 
 The very nearest and the very farthest stars are 
 classed together by us in one constellation and that 
 of course is not their real arrangement." 
 
 " How are they really arranged ?" Ikon inquired. 
 
 "We don't know much about that yet. We 
 see stars in twos and threes and fours sometimes in 
 clusters, and rings, and spirals, and streams. And 
 often they really do belong together they are parts 
 of one system or family of suns, going round and 
 round one centre in company." 
 
 " Couldn't you show me them some day ? " asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Perhaps my father will through his telescope. 
 There are many stars which appear like only one to 
 our eyes; but if we look through a telescope the one
 
 A few more Questions. 305 
 
 divides into two. Sometimes the two will even 
 divide into four. Fancy worlds with four suns to 
 light them, Ikon ! " 
 
 " Wouldn't that be splendid ? " said Ikon. 
 
 "Still more splendid, perhaps, if the suns were of 
 different colours," said Stella. " What do you think 
 of a red sun and a green sun ? " 
 
 " But are there really suns like that ? " Ikon asked. 
 
 "There really are many double-stars of different 
 colours two suns, with perhaps a family of planets 
 belonging to them. We cannot see the planets at 
 this distance, so that is doubtful; but we do see the 
 colours of the stars." 
 
 " I should like to have a beautiful red sun and a 
 green sun shining in the sky at once," said Ikon. 
 
 " Perhaps the effect would not be so surprising as 
 you think. Red and green together make white, 
 and it may be that a red and a green sun together 
 would give white light, such as we have from our 
 sun. Still, the idea is very wonderful." 
 
 "Are any of the big stars pretty colours ?" asked 
 Ikon. 
 
 " Any of the brighter stars, do you mean ? Sirius is 
 a white sun now, but we believe that he was once a 
 red sun. Arcturus is a red sun. Capella and the 
 Pole-star are yellow and our own sun is one of the
 
 306 Among the Stars. 
 
 yellow stars. Vega is bluish. In the southern sky 
 there is one group of beautiful blue suns. One can 
 hardly fancy how that would appear to a world 
 moving among them." 
 
 " Miss Stella, do the stars in the tail of the Great 
 Bear all travel together ? " asked Ikon suddenly. 
 
 " They are not near together," said Stella. ' ' The 
 space between those separate stars is enormous. It 
 has been thought possible that they maybe moving in 
 something of the same direction. But when we talk 
 of a double or quadruple star, we mean stars so near 
 together that they really belong to one another. 
 They may even then be much farther apart than the 
 sun and Neptune, but they travel round one centre, 
 and to our eyes without a telescope they generally 
 look like one star.' 
 
 " Everything seems such a great way off from 
 everything, in the sky," said Ikon. 
 
 " No crowding, is there ? " said Stella. 
 
 " O no ! But the stars do seem dreadfully far," 
 said Ikon. 
 
 " Did you ever hear of a Nebula ? " asked Stella. 
 
 Ikon shook his head. 
 
 " We must get my father to show you one in his 
 telescope. A nebula is a faint glimmer of light 
 only light, at first. But seen through a very power-
 
 A few more Questions. 307 
 
 ful telescope, this glimmer of light will sometimes 
 open partly out into a. close cluster of stars, thousands 
 of stars together, with more dim light behind." 
 
 " I should like to see a nebula oh, very much ! " 
 said Ikon. 
 
 " We will not forget. I must tell you more about 
 this some day." 
 
 " There must be such lots more stars with a telescope 
 than without it," said Ikon. 
 
 Stella laughed. " Yes," she said. " You have a 
 funny way of expressing yourself, Ikon; but I know 
 what you mean. It is very wonderful to count the 
 number of stars visible to the naked eye, on one 
 little patch of sky, and then to see what hundreds 
 more become visible through a telescope, in that 
 very same patch." 
 
 " I do wonder how many really bright stars there 
 are in the sky," said Ikon. 
 
 " Stars of the First Magnitude. About twenty 
 altogether. Of the Second Magnitude, about sixty- 
 five, and of the Third Magnitude about two hundred. 
 But these are scattered all round the world. Only 
 about half the number can be seen anywhere at 
 once." 
 
 " And we don't want a telescope to see those ? " 
 
 "No. Our eyes can see stars up to about the
 
 308 Among the Stars. 
 
 Sixth Magnitude without help. After this a bino- 
 cular is needed; then a small telescope, then a larger 
 and larger one. And the number of stars visible 
 soon mount up to hundreds of thousands, and to 
 millions. How many hundreds of millions more 
 may lie beyond, out of reach of the most powerful 
 telescope ever made, we cannot even guess." 
 
 " I wonder how far off Sirius is," said Ikon. 
 
 "About four times the distance of the nearest star 
 known to us," said Stella. " Ikon, do you know how 
 fast light travels ? " 
 
 " I didn't know it travelled at all," said Ikon. 
 
 " O yes, it does. Light is not everywhere at once. 
 It journeys very fast in little waves much faster 
 than the fastest star. Every second light flashes 
 through thousands of miles not much less than two 
 hwidred thousand miles." 
 
 * That's tremendously fast," said Ikon. 
 
 " Here is a ray of sunlight falling in through the 
 window," said Stella. " It has come straight from 
 the sun. See how steady the shining is. Wave 
 after wave of brightness comes more quickly than 
 you and I can even fancy. The journey from sun to 
 earth is very long. How much time shall we allow 
 the little ray of light for that journey, Ikon ? " 
 
 " I don't know," Ikon said doubtfully.
 
 A few more Questions. 309 
 
 " Only eight minutes and a half. Look the ray 
 is falling on my hand now. Only eight minutes and 
 a half ago that same ray left the burning glowing 
 sun." 
 
 " It's quicker than Eikon went in his dream," 
 murmured Ikon. 
 
 " I don't know how fast Wings of Imagination may 
 carry one in a dream; but we do know how fast light 
 can travel. It comes from the sun to us in eight 
 minutes and a half. But from the nearest fixed star, 
 light cannot arrive in less than three years and a 
 half." 
 
 "What's the name of the nearest fixed star?" 
 asked Ikon. 
 
 " Alpha Centauri. Don't forget, Ikon three years 
 and a half, travelling at the rate of more than 
 one hundred and ninety thousand miles each 
 second." 
 
 "I'll try to remember," Ikon said soberly. 
 
 "From Sirius, light comes to us in twenty 
 years." 
 
 "Oh!" Ikon said. 
 
 " From the Pole-star in about fifty years." 
 
 " I wonder the light doesn't get almost tired of 
 going on." 
 
 " No fear of that," said Stella. " Think, Ikon
 
 310 Among the Stars. 
 
 when you looked at the Pole-star, two nights ago, 
 the little ray of light which shone into your eyes 
 had left the star itself fifty years ago long before 
 you were born. For the Pole-star is two hundred 
 millions of millions of miles away." 
 
 " And other stars ? " said Ikon. 
 
 " Other stars are more distant still; so the light- 
 journeys from them are longer. But you need not 
 try to take in everything at once," Stella said. 
 
 Then Dormer entered the room, with a letter, 
 \rhich Stella opened and read. 
 
 "As I expected," she observed; "I must go home 
 by the earliest train to-morrow. So you and I have 
 had our last chat, Ikon, just for a little while. But 
 very soon, I hope, you will come to us." 
 
 "I should be so sorry if it wasn't for that," said 
 Ikon. Then he looked up in Stella's face suddenly, 
 "Miss Stella, there's one thing I do want to 
 ask." 
 
 " Ask," said Stella, smiling. 
 
 " I'm so puzzled, because Herr Lehrer is a Ger- 
 man, and he is your father; so you must be German 
 too, and yet you don't seem German." 
 
 " No; I am not at all German," said Stella. " My 
 mother is English, and I have almost always lived 
 in England."
 
 A few more Questions. 311 
 
 " And you aren't like Herr Lehrer, are you ? " 
 said Ikon. 
 
 "Not much," replied Stella. "They say I take 
 after my mother. I am only like him, Ikon and 
 like you too in my love for the beautiful stars." 
 
 THE END.
 
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