EARTH IN SPACE.EARTH IN SPACE.
EARTH IN SPACE.
BY DELIA HART STONE.
Our little EstelleWas perplexed when she foundThat this wonderful worldThat we live on is round.How 'tis held in its placeIn its orbit so trueWas a puzzle to her,With no answer in view."It must be," said Estelle,"Like a ball in the airThat is hung by a string;But the string isn't there!"—St. Nicholas, March, 1896.
Our little EstelleWas perplexed when she foundThat this wonderful worldThat we live on is round.How 'tis held in its placeIn its orbit so trueWas a puzzle to her,With no answer in view."It must be," said Estelle,"Like a ball in the airThat is hung by a string;But the string isn't there!"—St. Nicholas, March, 1896.
Our little EstelleWas perplexed when she foundThat this wonderful worldThat we live on is round.
Our little Estelle
Was perplexed when she found
That this wonderful world
That we live on is round.
How 'tis held in its placeIn its orbit so trueWas a puzzle to her,With no answer in view.
How 'tis held in its place
In its orbit so true
Was a puzzle to her,
With no answer in view.
"It must be," said Estelle,"Like a ball in the airThat is hung by a string;But the string isn't there!"
"It must be," said Estelle,
"Like a ball in the air
That is hung by a string;
But the string isn't there!"
—St. Nicholas, March, 1896.
—St. Nicholas, March, 1896.
Fairest of stars, last in the train of night,If better thou belong not to the dawn,Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling mornWith thy bright circlet.—Milton.
Fairest of stars, last in the train of night,If better thou belong not to the dawn,Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling mornWith thy bright circlet.—Milton.
Fairest of stars, last in the train of night,If better thou belong not to the dawn,Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling mornWith thy bright circlet.
Fairest of stars, last in the train of night,
If better thou belong not to the dawn,
Sure pledge of day, that crown'st the smiling morn
With thy bright circlet.
—Milton.
—Milton.
Lo! in the painted oriel of the West,Whose panes the sunken sun incarnadines,Like a fair lady at her casement, shinesThe evening star, the star of love and rest!And then anon she doth herself divestOf all her radiant garments, and reclinesBehind the somber screen of yonder pines,With slumber and soft dreams of love oppressed.O my beloved, my sweet Hesperus!My morning and my evening star of love!My best and gentlest lady! even thus,As that fair planet in the sky above,Dost thou retire unto thy rest at night,And from thy darkened window fades the light.—Longfellow.
Lo! in the painted oriel of the West,Whose panes the sunken sun incarnadines,Like a fair lady at her casement, shinesThe evening star, the star of love and rest!And then anon she doth herself divestOf all her radiant garments, and reclinesBehind the somber screen of yonder pines,With slumber and soft dreams of love oppressed.O my beloved, my sweet Hesperus!My morning and my evening star of love!My best and gentlest lady! even thus,As that fair planet in the sky above,Dost thou retire unto thy rest at night,And from thy darkened window fades the light.—Longfellow.
Lo! in the painted oriel of the West,Whose panes the sunken sun incarnadines,Like a fair lady at her casement, shinesThe evening star, the star of love and rest!And then anon she doth herself divestOf all her radiant garments, and reclinesBehind the somber screen of yonder pines,With slumber and soft dreams of love oppressed.
Lo! in the painted oriel of the West,
Whose panes the sunken sun incarnadines,
Like a fair lady at her casement, shines
The evening star, the star of love and rest!
And then anon she doth herself divest
Of all her radiant garments, and reclines
Behind the somber screen of yonder pines,
With slumber and soft dreams of love oppressed.
O my beloved, my sweet Hesperus!My morning and my evening star of love!My best and gentlest lady! even thus,As that fair planet in the sky above,Dost thou retire unto thy rest at night,And from thy darkened window fades the light.
O my beloved, my sweet Hesperus!
My morning and my evening star of love!
My best and gentlest lady! even thus,
As that fair planet in the sky above,
Dost thou retire unto thy rest at night,
—Longfellow.
—Longfellow.
First, Mercury, amid full tides of light,Rolls next the sun, through his small circle bright;Our earth would blaze beneath so fierce a ray,And all its marble mountains melt away.Fair Venus next fulfills her larger round,With softer beams and milder glory crowned;Friend to mankind, she glitters from afar,Now the bright evening, now the morning star.—Baker.
First, Mercury, amid full tides of light,Rolls next the sun, through his small circle bright;Our earth would blaze beneath so fierce a ray,And all its marble mountains melt away.Fair Venus next fulfills her larger round,With softer beams and milder glory crowned;Friend to mankind, she glitters from afar,Now the bright evening, now the morning star.—Baker.
First, Mercury, amid full tides of light,Rolls next the sun, through his small circle bright;Our earth would blaze beneath so fierce a ray,And all its marble mountains melt away.Fair Venus next fulfills her larger round,With softer beams and milder glory crowned;Friend to mankind, she glitters from afar,Now the bright evening, now the morning star.
First, Mercury, amid full tides of light,
Rolls next the sun, through his small circle bright;
Our earth would blaze beneath so fierce a ray,
And all its marble mountains melt away.
Fair Venus next fulfills her larger round,
With softer beams and milder glory crowned;
Friend to mankind, she glitters from afar,
Now the bright evening, now the morning star.
—Baker.
—Baker.
The moon was shining brightly and flooding Harry's room with its rays. He was suffering so very much, and had tried in vain to sleep. Presently he asked his nurse if she would not let Mary come and talk to him. "It will not tire me," he begged earnestly; "and it does tire me to lie here hour after hour with no one to talk to."
His nurse understood him so well, and her heart ached for the lonely child who had so little to amuse him in life. She never refused a request if it were at all possible to grant it. So she called his sister Mary, who hastened at once to his room, and brother and sister were soon far away on a ramble in starland.
"We shall go to the moon this evening," she began, "and find out what a queer old world it is."
"Old?" asked Harry; "why do you call itold, when it looks so bright and new? See, sister, how it seems to be looking right into the window and watching us. I wonder if it knows what we are saying about it. Now what would it think if it heard you calling it old?"
THE MOON.THE MOON.
THE MOON.
"But it is," said Mary, laughing; "and very old indeed. Its face is wrinkled and scarred, and is just like that of the old dried-up apple we found in the orchard the other day."
"What makes it so bright, then, if it is so old?" asked Harry, as he looked curiously at the moon.
"It borrows its light from the sun," replied his sister; "if the sun were to stop shining you would not be able to see the moon at all. It would be as dark as night and twice as gloomy."
"Do you think there are people on the moon?" asked Harry excitedly.
"No, dear, not even the 'Man in the Moon,' though I am going to tell you some stories about him presently. Besides, no one could live on the moon, as there is not any air to breathe, and you cannot live without air. There is not any water to drink; in fact, there is not a drop of water on the moon."
"Then it must be very old," said Harry thoughtfully, "because you know you told me, sister, some time ago, that if a planet grows very old all the oceans and bays disappear."
"Yes, the moon is very old; it is a dead world. If you could go there, you would find it a very gloomy spot. There are no trees or flowers; andthere is not even a blade of grass. The sky is always black and the stars shine night and day. The shadows are so black on the moon that it would be a fine place to play hide-and-seek. The moment you stepped into a shadow you would become invisible."
SCENERY ON THE MOON.SCENERY ON THE MOON.
SCENERY ON THE MOON.
"Just like the prince in the fairy tale who put on a little cap and no one could see him," said Harry.
"Yes; that prince would not need the cap on the moon. If he did not want anyone to knowhe was there, all he would have to do would be to keep in the shadow. No one would hear his footsteps, as not a sound can be heard on the moon. It would be useless to speak, as there is no air to carry the sound of a voice."
"I should not like to go to the moon, then," said Harry seriously, "because you could not tell me any stories, sister, could you? What would I do then?"
"I really cannot imagine," said Mary, laughing; "but perhaps you might come across the Man in the Moon and talk to him in sign-language."
"Like the deaf-and-dumb people?" asked Harry.
"If he could understand it," said Mary; "but then, we know there is really not any Man in the Moon."
"But there is a story about him," said Harry coaxingly, "and I do wish you would tell it to me, just now while the moon is looking at us from the sky."
"Well, once upon a time," began Mary, in true fairy-story fashion, "there was a man who went out into the woods and picked up sticks on a Sunday. That was very wicked of him, you know, because Sunday is a day of rest, and picking up sticks is work. He tied the sticks together into a bundle, and, putting them on his shoulder, started to walk home with them. On the way he met a handsome stranger, who said to him:
"'What are you picking up sticks for on Sunday?'
"'It does not matter to me whether it is Sunday or Monday,' replied the man roughly. 'I pick up sticks when I want to.'
"'Very well, then,' replied the handsome stranger sternly, 'since you will not observe Sunday as a day of rest on earth, you shall have an everlasting moon-day in heaven.' Next moment he went whirling away to the sky, and landed on the moon, where you can still see him with his load of sticks on his back at full moon."
"Can I see him now, sister?" asked Harry.
"Not to-night," she replied, "because there is only a quarter moon. But perhaps you can see the face of the woman in the moon, if you look very carefully. See her sharp chin and pointed nose and shaggy eyebrows."
"Why, is there a woman in the moon, too?" asked Harry, as he looked intently at the moon, trying to see all his sister had pointed out, but having to rely largely upon his imagination.
"I have heard a story of an old woman who was sent to the moon."
"Why, what had she done?" asked Harry.
"She was very unhappy while on earth, because she could not tell when the world would come to an end; that is, when it would get old and dead like the moon, so that no one could live on it any longer. For this she was sent to the moon. She has been weaving a forehead strap ever since. Once a month she stirs a kettle of boiling hominy,and her cat sits beside her unraveling her net. So she keeps on weaving and weaving, and the cat unravels her work as soon as it is done. This must continue to the end of time, for never till then will her work be finished."
"Poor old woman!" said Harry; "I wonder she does not hide her work from the cat, or send the cat away. But then, that is only a story. Can you tell me another?"
"Do you never tire of stories?" asked Mary, smiling.
"Never, when you tell them to me, sister. And you seem to know such a lot of them."
"But these stories are only fairy-tales," said Mary, laughing; "these moon-stories, I mean."
"I don't mind," said Harry roguishly; "we must have a little make-up story now and then, or I would get tired. Do you make them all up yourself, sister?"
"No, indeed," said Mary. "I find them here and there and everywhere; sometimes right in the middle of a big book on astronomy, or in the corner of an old newspaper, or hidden away ina book covered with dust on the top shelf in the library."
"Where did you find that story about the old woman and the cat?"
"In a book of Indian legends, and the story is told by the Iroquois Indians. Here is another one I found. Would you like to hear it?"
"You know I would, dear," said Harry, nestling closer to his sister, as she clasped his hand in hers.
"Once upon a time a little wolf fell very much in love with a toad, and went a-wooing one night. Just like the frog, 'he would a-wooing go.' You remember, Harry, don't you?"
"'Whether his mother would let him or no,'" continued Harry; "of course I remember all about him. So the wolf went after the toad and——"
"He prayed that the moon would light him on his way," continued Mary; "and his prayer washeard. By the clear light of the full moon he ran after the toad, and he nearly caught her, when, what do you think happened?"
"Oh, go on, sister; tell me quickly!" said Harry excitedly.
"Why, the toad jumped right onto the face of the moon, and, turning round to the wolf, said: 'How's that, Mr. Wolf?' And she is laughing at the wolf to this day."
"That was a clever little toad," said Harry, laughing; "and how vexed Mr. Wolf must have been! Are there any more people on the moon—I mean story people?"
"Yes, there is one we read about in the legend of Hiawatha. Don't you remember how Nokomis tells about a warrior
"'... Who very angrySeized his grandmother, and threw herUp into the sky at midnight,Right against the moon he threw her:'Tis her body that you see there.'"
"'... Who very angrySeized his grandmother, and threw herUp into the sky at midnight,Right against the moon he threw her:'Tis her body that you see there.'"
"'... Who very angrySeized his grandmother, and threw herUp into the sky at midnight,Right against the moon he threw her:'Tis her body that you see there.'"
"'... Who very angry
Seized his grandmother, and threw her
Up into the sky at midnight,
Right against the moon he threw her:
'Tis her body that you see there.'"
"Do you think he meant the black marks you can see all over the moon, sister?"
EARTH AS SEEN FROM THE MOON.EARTH AS SEEN FROM THE MOON.
EARTH AS SEEN FROM THE MOON.
"Very likely," replied Mary; "and perhaps you would like me to tell you what those black marks are. They are enormous plains and gloomy caverns on the moon. A long time ago, perhaps, these plains were bays and seas. At least, a great astronomer named Galileo thought they were, and he gave them such pretty names—the Sea of Serenity, the Bay of Dreams, the Ocean of Storms. But he lived in the days before it was known that there is not any water on the surface of the moon. Then the caverns on the moon may once have been volcanoes pouring forth hot lava and ashes, just as the active volcanoes on the earth. But the volcanoes in the moon have gone out. They are now like huge dark caverns, some of them more than fifty miles across. One is three miles deep, and it is named Tycho, after a great astronomer of olden times.
"Then there are mountains on the moon just like the mountains on earth, and quite as high. In walking over the moon you would find it veryrough and uneven, but you would not mind this very much, as you would weigh so much less. Just think, Harry, you would weigh only one-sixth as much as you do here."
"And what would Uncle Robert weigh?" asked Harry, with a gleam of mischief in his eye.
PLANET EARTH AND THE MOON.PLANET EARTH AND THE MOON.
PLANET EARTH AND THE MOON.
"He would only weigh forty pounds," said Mary, laughing; "and if he played football on the moon, a good kick would send the ball six times as far away as here. Supposing we were on the moon now, you could throw a stone at Uncle Robert's house on the other side of the grounds, six hundred yards away, and hit one of the windows."
"I expect Uncle Robert may be glad then we are not on the moon," said Harry, laughing; "because I am afraid I should be throwing stonesat the windows all the time. I can see the windows plainly from here. There is a light in the library."
"Then it must be very late," said Mary, looking over at the house; "because uncle said he would not be home till nine o'clock. So I can only tell you one more little story about the moon, and then I must let you go to sleep. This story is told by the Hindoo people, and gives the reason why the moon shines with such a soft, silvery light."
"The Sun, the Moon, and the Wind had been invited to dinner one day by their uncle and aunt, Thunder and Lightning. Their mother (one of the most distant stars you see far up in the sky) waited patiently at home for the return of her children. Sad to relate, the Sun and Wind were both greedy and selfish, and, while enjoying the good feast, forgot all about their poor hungry mother at home.
"But the gentle Moon did not forget, and whenevera dainty dish was placed before her she would put part of it aside for the Star who waited so patiently at home. When the Sun, Moon, and Wind returned home, the Star, who had kept her bright little eye open all night long, said:
"'Dear children, have you brought anything home for me?'
"Then the Sun, who was the oldest, said: 'I have brought nothing home for you. I went out to enjoy myself with my friends, not to get a dinner for my mother.'
"And the Wind said: 'Neither have I brought home anything for you, mother. You could scarcely expect me to think of you when I merely went out for my own pleasure.'
"But the gentle Moon said: 'Mother, see all the good things I saved for you,' and she placed a choice dinner before her mother.
"Then the Star turned to the Sun, and said: 'Because you went out to amuse yourself with your friends, without any thought of your poor, lonely mother at home, you shall be cursed. Henceforth your rays shall be ever hot andscorching. They shall burn all they touch, and men shall hate you and cover their heads when you appear.' That is why the sun is so hot to this day.
"Then she turned to the Wind and said: 'You also, who forgot your mother while you were enjoying yourself, shall be punished. You shall always blow during the hot, dry weather, and shall parch and shrivel all living things. Men shall detest and avoid you from this time till the end of the world.' That is why the wind is so disagreeable during the hot weather.
"But to the gentle Moon she said: 'Daughter, because you remembered your hungry mother at home, you shall be cool, calm, and bright. No dazzling glare will accompany your pure rays, and men will call you "blessed."' That is why the moon's light is so soothing and beautiful."
"Is that all?" asked Harry, as his sister finished the story.
"That is all," said Mary; "but here is a little good-night lullaby by Eugene Field, and then you must go to sleep:
"'In through the window a moonbeam comes,Little gold moonbeam with misty wings,All silently creeping, he asks, "Are you sleeping,Sleeping and dreaming, while the pretty stars sing?"'"
"'In through the window a moonbeam comes,Little gold moonbeam with misty wings,All silently creeping, he asks, "Are you sleeping,Sleeping and dreaming, while the pretty stars sing?"'"
"'In through the window a moonbeam comes,Little gold moonbeam with misty wings,All silently creeping, he asks, "Are you sleeping,Sleeping and dreaming, while the pretty stars sing?"'"
"'In through the window a moonbeam comes,
Little gold moonbeam with misty wings,
All silently creeping, he asks, "Are you sleeping,
Sleeping and dreaming, while the pretty stars sing?"'"
BY MRS. FOLLEN.
Dear mother, how prettyThe moon looks to-night!She was never so cunning before;Her two little hornsAre so sharp and bright,I hope she'll not grow any more.If I were up there,With you and my friends,I'd rock in it nicely, you'd see;I'd sit in the middleAnd hold by both ends;Oh, what a bright cradle 'twould be!I would call to the starsTo keep out of the wayLest we should rock over their toes;And then I would rockTill the dawn of the day,And see where the pretty moon goes.And there we would stayIn the beautiful skies,And through the bright clouds we would roam;We would see the sun set,And see the sun rise,And on the next rainbow come home.—Taken from Child-Life, edited by Whittier.
Dear mother, how prettyThe moon looks to-night!She was never so cunning before;Her two little hornsAre so sharp and bright,I hope she'll not grow any more.If I were up there,With you and my friends,I'd rock in it nicely, you'd see;I'd sit in the middleAnd hold by both ends;Oh, what a bright cradle 'twould be!I would call to the starsTo keep out of the wayLest we should rock over their toes;And then I would rockTill the dawn of the day,And see where the pretty moon goes.And there we would stayIn the beautiful skies,And through the bright clouds we would roam;We would see the sun set,And see the sun rise,And on the next rainbow come home.—Taken from Child-Life, edited by Whittier.
Dear mother, how prettyThe moon looks to-night!She was never so cunning before;Her two little hornsAre so sharp and bright,I hope she'll not grow any more.
Dear mother, how pretty
The moon looks to-night!
She was never so cunning before;
Her two little horns
Are so sharp and bright,
I hope she'll not grow any more.
If I were up there,With you and my friends,I'd rock in it nicely, you'd see;I'd sit in the middleAnd hold by both ends;Oh, what a bright cradle 'twould be!
If I were up there,
With you and my friends,
I'd rock in it nicely, you'd see;
I'd sit in the middle
And hold by both ends;
Oh, what a bright cradle 'twould be!
I would call to the starsTo keep out of the wayLest we should rock over their toes;And then I would rockTill the dawn of the day,And see where the pretty moon goes.
I would call to the stars
To keep out of the way
Lest we should rock over their toes;
And then I would rock
Till the dawn of the day,
And see where the pretty moon goes.
And there we would stayIn the beautiful skies,And through the bright clouds we would roam;We would see the sun set,And see the sun rise,And on the next rainbow come home.
And there we would stay
In the beautiful skies,
And through the bright clouds we would roam;
We would see the sun set,
And see the sun rise,
And on the next rainbow come home.
—Taken from Child-Life, edited by Whittier.
—Taken from Child-Life, edited by Whittier.
THE NEW MOON.
BY LORD HOUGHTON.
Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving?Over the sea.Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving?All that love me.Are you not tired with rolling, and neverResting to sleep?Why look so pale and so sad, as foreverWishing to weep?Ask me not this, little child, if you love me;You are too bold;I must obey my dear Father above me,And do as I'm told.Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving?Over the sea.Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving?All that love me.—Taken from Child-Life, edited by Whittier.
Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving?Over the sea.Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving?All that love me.Are you not tired with rolling, and neverResting to sleep?Why look so pale and so sad, as foreverWishing to weep?Ask me not this, little child, if you love me;You are too bold;I must obey my dear Father above me,And do as I'm told.Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving?Over the sea.Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving?All that love me.—Taken from Child-Life, edited by Whittier.
Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving?Over the sea.Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving?All that love me.
Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving?
Over the sea.
Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving?
All that love me.
Are you not tired with rolling, and neverResting to sleep?Why look so pale and so sad, as foreverWishing to weep?
Are you not tired with rolling, and never
Resting to sleep?
Why look so pale and so sad, as forever
Wishing to weep?
Ask me not this, little child, if you love me;You are too bold;I must obey my dear Father above me,And do as I'm told.
Ask me not this, little child, if you love me;
You are too bold;
I must obey my dear Father above me,
And do as I'm told.
Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving?Over the sea.Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving?All that love me.
Lady Moon, Lady Moon, where are you roving?
Over the sea.
Lady Moon, Lady Moon, whom are you loving?
All that love me.
—Taken from Child-Life, edited by Whittier.
—Taken from Child-Life, edited by Whittier.
A moonbeam once fell on the bell of a flower,Way down by a silvery rill;'Twas cradled to sleep in a rapturous hour,When all the green forest was still.That flower, when golden and glad was the morning,Was shriveled and wilted and thin;But on the next night, all its chalice adorning,The moonbeam still lingered within.Since then has the flower been tender and creamy,Wherever its petals have blown,All fragile and pearly and dainty and dreamyIs the night-blooming cereus known.—Taken from the New York Tribune.
A moonbeam once fell on the bell of a flower,Way down by a silvery rill;'Twas cradled to sleep in a rapturous hour,When all the green forest was still.That flower, when golden and glad was the morning,Was shriveled and wilted and thin;But on the next night, all its chalice adorning,The moonbeam still lingered within.Since then has the flower been tender and creamy,Wherever its petals have blown,All fragile and pearly and dainty and dreamyIs the night-blooming cereus known.—Taken from the New York Tribune.
A moonbeam once fell on the bell of a flower,Way down by a silvery rill;'Twas cradled to sleep in a rapturous hour,When all the green forest was still.
A moonbeam once fell on the bell of a flower,
Way down by a silvery rill;
'Twas cradled to sleep in a rapturous hour,
When all the green forest was still.
That flower, when golden and glad was the morning,Was shriveled and wilted and thin;But on the next night, all its chalice adorning,The moonbeam still lingered within.
That flower, when golden and glad was the morning,
Was shriveled and wilted and thin;
But on the next night, all its chalice adorning,
The moonbeam still lingered within.
Since then has the flower been tender and creamy,Wherever its petals have blown,All fragile and pearly and dainty and dreamyIs the night-blooming cereus known.
Since then has the flower been tender and creamy,
Wherever its petals have blown,
All fragile and pearly and dainty and dreamy
Is the night-blooming cereus known.
—Taken from the New York Tribune.
—Taken from the New York Tribune.
Next morning Harry and his little cousin Nellie, with her doll, awaited Mary. Harry had told Nellie about his delightful ramble on the moon the evening before, and she was delighted with the stories of the man, the woman, and the toad in the moon.
"I wonder what cousin Mary will tell us about this morning," she said.
"I am going to tell you about a pretty little planet named Mars," said Mary, as she came into the room and overheard Nellie's remark. Picking up Nellie, and placing her on her knee, she began the story of Mars as follows:
"Next door to our own planet earth is a beautiful little world tinted with red. It has snow-white caps at the north and south poles just likeour earth, and trees and flowers perhaps far prettier, for all we know. But there is not much water on Mars, because Mars is an old planet."
"How do you know it is old?" asked Harry.
THE PLANET MARS.THE PLANET MARS.
THE PLANET MARS.
"I know it is old," replied his sister, "because the older a planet is, the smaller are the seas and lakes and the amount of water on its surface. As the planet gets older and older, the water disappears, until not a drop is left. But there are wonderful canals all over Mars, and if there were boats up there, you could go all over Mars by means of these canals. When Mr. Lowelllooked at Mars through his fine telescope, he not only saw the canals, but round spots where the canals meet."
"Perhaps the spots are landing-places where the captains take new passengers aboard," said Harry earnestly.
"Perhaps, Harry," said his sister, laughing; "that is, if there are any people on Mars, and captains and boats. How you would enjoy going in a yacht up and down these canals, seeing the lovely flowers and scenery on Mars, for I am sure it must be a very beautiful little world.
"It is not quite as bright on Mars as it is here, since it is farther away from the sun and only gets one-half as much light and heat. The year is also nearly twice as long and lasts six hundred and eighty-seven days, instead of only three hundred and sixty-five. Therefore, the summer season is nearly twice as long, but not nearly as warm as here."
"Then the winter must be twice as long and much colder than here," Harry said. "I do not think I should like that. But perhaps the canalsfreeze over in the winter time, and there may be fine skating up there?"
CANALS OF MARS (LOWELL).CANALS OF MARS (LOWELL).
CANALS OF MARS (LOWELL).
"No, the canals disappear altogether during the winter time," replied Mary; "or, rather, we cannot see them until they reappear again as faint dark lines in the spring-time. They get wider and wider until the summer season, then they get narrow again and disappear. Some of them are double, but the double lines we see may mean only grass and ferns on each side of a large canal fifty miles wide. When the canals double, the little round spots at the junctions of the canals darken. Perhaps these spots are like little islandsin a desert, and they are covered with grass during the summer time."
"I should like to live on one of those little islands," said Harry. "Wouldn't you, Nellie?"
"If I could take my dollie with me," she replied, as she gazed at it tenderly. "And we might go for little boat-rides all around the islands. Do you think there are any little girls on Mars who have beautiful dollies like mine?"
"I really do not know," replied Mary; "but if there are any people living on Mars, I do know they are not like us. We could not live there, as there is not enough air for us to breathe. We would gasp just as that poor fish did the other day, when Uncle Robert hauled it up out of the lake and threw it into the boat. We must have air, and plenty of it, if we want to live."
"So we could not live on Mars, could we, sister?" said Harry.
"It would not be comfortable," replied Mary; "besides, it is not nearly as warm as here. Poor Uncle Robert would nearly freeze during the long winter. He would also find another surpriseawaiting him if he went to Mars. Mars is a smaller world than the earth, so everything weighs less."
"Ah! I see," said Harry, clapping his hands with glee. "Uncle would not be so heavy on Mars. How glad he would be to go there! Poor Uncle Robert! He is so heavy he just shakes the house when he walks across the floor. Next time I see him I shall say: 'Go to Mars, Uncle Robert, and see what will happen to you there.' How much would he weigh on Mars?"
"He weighs two hundred and forty pounds here, and would weigh only ninety pounds there, and you would weigh only thirty pounds. So I could pick you up, couch and all, and carry you as easily as Nellie carries her doll in its doll-carriage."
"Then dollie would weigh nothing at all," said Nellie, looking at her doll curiously.
Harry looked puzzled, and after thinking a moment, he said to his sister:
"I cannot see why I would weigh less if I went to Mars."
MARS AND THE EARTH.MARS AND THE EARTH.
MARS AND THE EARTH.
"Because the planet being smaller than the earth, it has less power to attract you and to hold you down to its surface. The earth is like a great magnet, and if there were not something drawing us to it and keeping us there, we would be greatly puzzled. Tables and chairs would not stand firm, and we would stagger about for want of weight, just as when a diver tries to walk in deep water. He has to have heavy weights fastened to him so as to keep him in place. A stone that would be quite heavy on earth would weigh only a few ounces on Mars. Nellie could carry this large rocking-chair I am sitting in and eight or ten dollies as well. Do you remember seeing the men at the circus jumping over bars five feet high? Well, on Mars they could jump fifteen feet, whilethe clumsy old elephant we saw there would probably be as graceful and nimble as a deer."
"How would football be on Mars?" asked Harry.
"Very unlike football here, dear. A good kick would send the ball much farther than here."
"Is Mars very far away?" asked Nellie. "If we could go there in a train, would it take us ever so long going?"
"About sixty years," said Mary, laughing, "if the train went a mile a minute. If you tried to walk it, going four miles an hour and ten hours a day, it would take you more than two thousand years to get there. So, I don't think we can take that trip, little girl, can we? But let us call on the next-door neighbor or neighbors to Mars, for there are about four hundred and fifty of them."
"Four hundred and fifty little worlds?" asked Harry.
"Where can there be room for them all, anddon't they knock against each other in the sky?"
"No, there is plenty of room for them up there. Besides, they are so small, some of them being only ten miles wide."
"Why, Uncle Robert walked ten miles the other day," said Harry; "he could walk all around those little worlds. And if they are so little, I suppose he would weigh scarcely anything at all if he lived on one of them. I should think he would be almost like the giant with the seven-league boots. Don't you remember, Nellie, you were reading about him the other day. Poor little Jack the Giant Killer would not have much chance there, but perhaps he could fly if he weighed so little. And how would football be on these little worlds?"
"You might give the ball such a kick that it would leave the planet altogether and circle around the sun as a planet on its own account."
How Harry and Nellie laughed at the idea of a football circling around the sun as a planet!
"And is this really true?" inquired Harry."Why, this is better than any fairy story I ever heard. Now, tell me some more. Don't you think we might be able to fly on these tiny worlds?"
"If you could get someone to make you a pair of wings up there, it would be quite easy to fly. Our bodies would only weigh a few pounds, so we ought to be able to flap a pair of wings strong enough to keep us flying. That is, if the air around these little worlds is as dense as ours."
"Don't I wish I lived there, then," said Harry regretfully, "because it would not matter about my being lame. And I could put on my wings whenever I wanted to see you, Nellie, and fly across the park, and way, way up into the sky, and——"
"Oh, don't! Harry," said Nellie, throwing her doll on the ground and catching hold of her cousin in dismay; "if you go you must take me with you too. And poor little dollie," she continued, suddenly remembering her precious charge, "and Cousin Mary and Uncle Robert and Aunt Agnesand everybody in the world. What would we do if you flew away from us?"
"But I can't," said Harry, laughing at her dismay; "and it's just like a little girl to think I would go and leave her all alone. No, we'll all go some day, won't we?" he continued, turning to his sister Mary; "and we'll be with the angels—and have wings. You and Nellie and I—why, we will all fly, and I shall forget I ever was lame on planet earth then."
"And will father have wings, too?" asked Nellie curiously. "He will want a very big pair, something like the big eagle's down at the aquarium."
"Will he, you little rogue?" exclaimed the loud, good-natured voice of her father, as he appeared on the scene. "So this is where you are, and I have been looking for you all over the house and grounds."
"I told nurse I would be back in a minute," she replied.
"A minute!" said her father, laughing heartily; "why, you have been here nearly an hour. So you want your father to have wings, do you, youlittle rogue! Wait till I show you how you would fly if you had wings." The next moment he put her up on his shoulder, dollie and all, and ran with her across the meadow at full speed, while she laughed merrily and clapped her hands with delight.
"So the party is broken up," said Harry's nurse, who came to look after her charge.
"Yes; one of the audience has flown," said Harry, laughing.
"And I must fly, too," said Mary, as she kissed Harry lovingly. "And I shall tell you about the rest of Giant Sun's family to-morrow. Good-by."
It was several days before Mary could see Harry again and tell him "sky-stories," as he called them, for he had been suffering much pain. Even her gentle voice irritated him, and perfect quiet was ordered by the doctor until the little sufferer was better. At last he was able to enjoy the sunlight and the flowers and the song of the birds again, and one bright morning he was all ready, as he told his sister, to take another trip to Starland. As Mary arranged the pillows on the couch for him, and a large sunshade, so that the glare of sunlight would not hurt his eyes, he caught hold of her hand and, pressing it lovingly, he said:
"Darling, what should I do without you? You are so good to me."
"How can I help it, little sweetheart!" said Mary, as she turned her head aside to keep him from seeing the tears that would come to her eyes;"how can I help it, when I love you so dearly. Besides, you are my own dear little brother, and you don't know how I missed you all last week."
"Did you really, sister? And I was dreaming away all day long about the wonderful stories you have been telling me. I played football on Mars, and had beautiful wings when I lived on the baby planets, and flew from one to another, and now I want to know something about the giant planets. You said they lived next door to the little tiny planets."
"Yes, next door to the baby planets we come to the largest of all, the giant planet Jupiter. If a tunnel were made through the center of Jupiter, eleven globes as large as the earth, placed side by side, would reach from one side to the other. You could make thirteen hundred globes out of planet Jupiter as large as the earth. If the earth were a large snowball, and a giant could roll thirteen hundred such snowballs into one, he would have a ball to play with as large as planet Jupiter.If it were made of the same material as the earth, it would be more than three hundred times as heavy."
"It would take a very big giant to play with that snowball, wouldn't it?" said Harry, smiling at the thought. "There would not be much room in the sky for him to play in, would there?"
GIANT JUPITER AND THE EARTH.GIANT JUPITER AND THE EARTH.
GIANT JUPITER AND THE EARTH.
"Plenty of room," replied his sister, laughing; "room for millions and millions of balls as large as Jupiter, and much, much larger."
"What a wonderful place the sky must be!" said Harry, in awe. "Now, tell me some moreabout Jupiter. Didn't you tell me last week that he is hidden away among blankets, and very, very hot?"
"That is right, Harry, but some day he will cool down, and the blankets will change into beautiful oceans and seas and lakes. Then it will be a world like ours, with trees and flowers, and perhaps people will live there."
"The sun is so much further away from Jupiter than from the earth that it gives it only one twenty-seventh as much light and heat. If you can imagine the sun as a bright lamp in the sky, and someone turning down the wick of the lamp till its light is only one twenty-seventh as bright as it is now, you can imagine how dim the light and small the amount of heat must be on Jupiter."
"How long does Jupiter take in going round the sun?" asked Harry.
"About twelve years," replied Mary; "and the day is only about ten hours long, instead of twenty-four as here."
"What a short day!" said Harry, in surprise. "Then you could work only five hours and sleepfive hours. I believe I would sleep all day, and all night, too. I must tell Nellie about that next time I see her."
"Why did not she come this morning, I wonder?" said Mary. "Perhaps she has gone for a walk with her nurse."
"I'll tell her about my trip," said Harry generously, "when she comes over here again. And now what else is there about Jupiter?"
"If you look at it through a large telescope you will see that it is beautifully colored, as if Uncle Robert had taken his paint-box, and dipped his brush into browns and reds, and tinted the cloud-belts around Jupiter here and there with touches of yellow and orange, olive-green and purple. Only an artist could get such beautiful effects. If we could journey to one of the little moons of Jupiter——"
"Has Jupiter moons also?" asked Harry, delighted at the thought.
"Five of them," said Mary; "and I shall tell you about them later. Supposing we could journey to one of these little moons, what a glorious sight Jupiter would be! From the nearest moon it would look thousands of times larger than our moon. The colors we see only faintly through our telescopes would present a magnificent sight when seen at close range, while constant changes would be taking place, as varied as the changes in the clouds flitting across a summer sky. Great cloud-masses drift hither and thither with enormous speed, driven by winds of hurricane force. By watching the changes that take place in the clouds, we know there must be winds blowing at the rate of nearly two hundred miles per hour. Do you remember the cyclone Uncle Robert told us about, when several houses were blown down and trees uprooted?"
"Yes, indeed, I do," replied Harry, "and his poor little dog Fido was nearly killed by a falling chimney."
"Poor little Fido would not have much chance on Jupiter. The storms there are ever so muchworse than here. The strongest buildings would be blown down in a few moments; sturdy oaks would be uprooted and blown about by the wind like straws."
"Do the storms last very long?" asked Harry.
"They last six and seven weeks at a time," replied Mary, "so that Jupiter would scarcely be a comfortable world to live on yet. Besides, it is still in the fiery stage."
"Won't you tell me some more about the little moons of Jupiter?" asked Harry.
"They are not so little, after all, brother, except the first one, which is only one hundred miles wide. It is such a shy little moon that it keeps hiding behind Jupiter, or gets so close to him that it is lost in the glare of light from the giant planet. We had no idea it was there at all until an American astronomer, Professor Barnard, caught sight of it one evening. It was playing hide-and-seek as usual, but Professor Barnard, with his keeneyes, spied the little speck of light. It is now known as the fifth moon of Jupiter. It was only discovered in 1892, and just think, that for the hundreds and hundreds of years it has been there, yet no one had seen it. The French people were so delighted because Professor Barnard caught sight of the little truant that they gave him a beautiful gold medal."
JUPITER AND HIS MOONS.JUPITER AND HIS MOONS.
JUPITER AND HIS MOONS.
"Won't you show the little moon to me sometime?" said Harry. "I should like to see it so much."
"You can only see it through a very large telescope; but I can show you the other four moons if Uncle Robert will lend us his telescope."
"Here he comes," said Harry, in great glee, as he saw Uncle Robert crossing the meadow."Won't you bring over your telescope this evening?" said Harry pleadingly, as he told him what Mary had just said.
"Certainly, my little man," his uncle replied; "but we can only see three of the moons this evening as one of them is eclipsed."
"What's that?" said Harry, in surprise at the strange word.
"Eclipsed means hidden," said Mary, laughing. "If Uncle Robert stands right in front of you, as he is doing just now, he hides me from you, so I am eclipsed."
"Very true," said Uncle Robert, laughing heartily at the hint. "Planet Mary is eclipsed by Uncle Robert, and poor little Planet Harry cannot see her till Uncle Robert gets out of the way." This he immediately proceeded to do, and next moment he was pursuing Fido, who was having a not over-friendly encounter with a strange cat in a neighbor's garden.
"Oh, dear," said Harry, in distress, "where were we? We were up in the sky among the planets, and now Uncle Robert has brought usback again to earth. Do listen to poor Fido." He certainly seemed to be getting the worse of the encounter with Pussy; but when Uncle Robert came to the rescue the enemy vanished, and Fido, nothing daunted, went in search of other prey. When peace and quiet were once more restored, Mary resumed her story.
"Do you know, the appearance and disappearance of the little moons of Jupiter once gave a great deal of trouble to astronomers. They had a way of appearing a little too soon or a little too late. They were very seldom on time. This was very provoking, as astronomers were rather proud of being able to tell exactly when these little moons could be seen. At last they found out what was the matter, and that they were to blame and not the moons. We see the little moons on account of their light, and light takes time to travel. Don't you remember, I told you sound travels a mile in five seconds. Light travels evenmore quickly, for it only takes a little over a second in coming to us from the moon. It takes about eight minutes in coming to us from the sun; but Jupiter is about five times as far away from us as the sun, so that light takes about half an hour in coming to us from Jupiter. We do not see it as it is, but as it was more than half an hour ago, when its rays of light started out to Planet Earth.
"Now, Jupiter, in going around the sun, is sometimes on the same side of the sun as we are. Then the light from the moons reaches us in about thirty-two minutes. But when Jupiter is on the opposite side of the sun, and as far away from us as it can be, then light takes as much as forty-eight minutes in coming here—over a quarter of an hour longer. So a clever astronomer decided that when Jupiter and his moons are nearest to us, it does not take as long for their light to reach us as when they are farther away, and this is because light, like sound, must have time to travel.
"Even though light can go round the earth seven times in a second, traveling at the rate of about186,000 miles a second, yet, as Jupiter is millions of miles away, it takes light about half an hour, and some times forty-eight minutes, for it to cross that great distance. It is just the same as if Uncle Robert were in India. It would take him a much longer time to come and see you than if he were at his home just a few hundred yards away. It takes time for him to travel here, just as it takes time for light to travel from the little moons of Jupiter."
"I wish we had five moons shining on our earth," said Harry; "how pretty it would be! Does it take the moons as long as our moon to get around Jupiter?"
"They are much livelier than our moon," replied Mary; "and the second moon flies right around Jupiter in a little more than a day and a half, and even the outside moon only takes about two weeks; so there must always be a moon shining in the sky for Jupiter. These moons, except the moon discovered by Professor Barnard, are all larger than our moon, and the fourth one is nearly as large as Mars. But I hear the bell forlunch, Harry, and I must run away now. I will tell you about the other planets later."
"How many are there?" said Harry, as his sister kissed him good-by.
"Only three," replied Mary; "and I shall tell you about them to-morrow, if you are not too tired."
"Too tired!" said Harry. "I am never too tired to listen to you."