Part 13

The children were disappointed, but they trusted Uncle Henry. He wouldn't stop showing animals and people until he had to; they all knew that.

Peter said,

"We'll have a whole dozen to look forward to next Christmas. Sort of a present from Uncle Henry. Come on, Uncle Hen, let's find the eagle and the sea goat and water carrier!"

The others agreed with Peter.

"The eagle, or Aquila," said Uncle Henry, "is easy to find because of a very bright star, called Altair, which is right in his neck. You will find it near the arrow, or Sagitta, between the end of the serpent's tail and Delphinus. (17) Does anybody see Altair?"

"I do," said Betty, "it's right between two other stars that aren't so bright."

"Right," said Uncle Henry. "Put down pebbles to represent all three, Betty, and we'll find the rest of the eagle, or Aquila, as it would be in Latin."

When the three pebbles were in place they stood in this relation to Sagitta and Delphinus:

"Now," said Uncle Henry, "draw a line downward through the three stars and a little more than twice as far again and what do you see?"

"Another star," said Paul.

"Put it in," said Uncle Henry, "and then draw another line from the upper of the first three stars in the direction of the handle of the 'milk dipper' in Sagittarius, the archer. Continue this about four times the length of the line that joins the first three stars together and you will find two fairly bright stars close together. That's right, Paul; put in the star you find about halfway down the line, too. Now draw a line from the two fairly bright stars back in the direction of the tail of the sea-horse, or Delphinus, until it almost meets the first line you drew. There you will find another fairly bright star. Now it is easy to finish the eagle's skeleton."

When the eagle's skeleton was finished Peter thought it looked more like a big arrowhead than an eagle, but when Uncle Henry had drawn the outline of Aquila, the Society of Star-Gazers admitted the resemblance to the bird.

"Now where's that sea goat?" inquired Peter.

"Follow the line of the first three stars we found in Aquila downward, and just a little way beyond where it ends in the tip of the eagle's wing you will see two rather faint stars, close together. (18) They are at one corner of a 'cocked hat' such as you make out of newspaper when you play soldier--sort of a Napoleon's hat. It is upside down. When you find it and put down pebbles for stars I'll show you how the good imaginations the ancient people had turned the cocked hat into a sea goat."

This shows how Capricornus the sea goat looked when the children and Uncle Henry had finished him. I leave it to you to decide whether or not he looks more like a cocked hat.

"When we have found Capricornus the sea goat," said Uncle Henry, "it is easy to find Aquarius or the water carrier. Just prolong the line that connects the goat's right foot with his tail until it runs close to a little triangle of three stars with another in the centre. (19) It looks a little like the head of the Serpent we found squirming in Ophiuchus' hands, but it is the water-jar Aquarius is carrying."

"Oh, I see it," cried Paul.

The other stars in Aquarius were soon found and represented by pebbles. Then Uncle Henry drew the outline that finished the Water-Carrier, like this:

"Now we're all through?" inquired Betty.

"Until next Christmas," smiled back Uncle Henry.

"Can't we have just one more poem?" teased Paul.

"What shall it be about?" asked Uncle Henry, with the air of a man who could write a poem to order on any subject.

"One about the lovely swan," commanded Betty, "you haven't made one up about the swan."

Uncle Henry was in a quandary; he wanted to please everybody with the last poem. He lay down on his back and looked up at the sky for so long that the children thought he must have fallen asleep. Finally Uncle Henry began to recite,

"The eagle of Starland Got tired of his tree, And challenged the swan to a race.

'Come up from the water! Fly up and be free! To northward I'll beat you a chase.'

The swan thought of shivers And icebergs and frost-- He made up his mind to race South.

So they are still flying-- Their race can't be lost-- Till Gabriel blows with his mouth."