Part 5

"To-morrow night we'll find the dragon, and the man who drives the great bear around the pole, and his dogs, and maybe the lions and the swan," promised Uncle Henry, as he looked at his watch and stood up.

"Oooh, great!" cried the trio together.

"We'll have a reg'lar Noah's Ark on that sand, won't we?" said Betty.

"We'll call it 'Noah's Ark in the Sky,'" Uncle Henry agreed, as the children followed him up the walk to Seven Oaks Cottage.

SECOND EVENING

THE HERDSMAN'S DOGS CHASE URSA MAJOR--AND THE TERRIBLE DRAGON WRIGGLES AWAY IN FRIGHT

The next evening Peter, Paul, and Betty were all down on the beach as soon as supper was over.

Peter and Paul had that morning made a fence of laths around the sand drawings of the two bears--big, and little, so that "Rags," their Airedale puppy, could not spoil them.

Now that "Rags" was asleep under the cottage, Peter and Paul removed the fence and smoothed the sand carefully for several yards around the bears, while Betty collected a quite unnecessarily large number of pebbles to represent the stars that would be found, with Uncle Henry's help, when the twilight faded.

When all this was done the trio sat down beside the smoothed space and called to Uncle Henry, on the porch, that one star was already out and he had better hurry.

"I'll come when you can see Ursa Major's tail," called back Uncle Henry, and the children had to wait, although they shrilly announced each new star that glowed into sight in the darkening sky, and repeatedly urged Uncle Henry to "come on and begin!"

The seven stars of the big dipper were all plainly visible when Uncle Henry came down the board walk and sat cross-legged on the sand.

The first thing he did was to extend the line joining the last two pebbles in the great bear's tail until it was about five times as long as before, and curved slightly downward as it went. (2)

"Now, Betty," he said, "give me a pebble--a good big one. This is a bright star we'll begin with; see if you can find it," and Uncle Henry put down the pebble at the end of the line, like this.

The three exclaimed, "I see it!" almost together.

"All right, then, we'll find 'Boötes,' the herdsman who drives Ursa Major round the pole," said Uncle Henry. "He has two dogs to help him besides. We'll find them too."

The children gazed upward for some time, intently silent.

"I guess," observed Betty finally, "that you'll have to tell us whether that big star is the bear-driver's head--or one of his 'booties,' Uncle Henry."

A duet of groans from Peter and Paul followed this example of the lowest form of wit.

"I can't see anything that looks like a man the least bit," she went on, oblivious of the groans, "but I can see a kite, with that big star at the place where the tail would be fastened on."

"Fine," said Uncle Henry, "Make the kite then, Betty--and then we'll find the herdsman after we've flown the kite a while. That's the wonderful thing about Starland. If you get tired of one of the beasts or people in it--presto! You can change him into anything he looks like to you. Boötes is really much more like a kite than a man, so let's make the kite. Put the pebbles down, Betty."

Betty did, and they looked like this.

"That was easy!" exclaimed Peter.

"Never you mind, Mr. Peter!" Betty burst out warmly, "I found it first, anyhow!"

"We'll let Peter find the bear-driver's head," said Uncle Henry judicially.

Peter promptly picked the big star at the tail-end of the kite.

"You're wrong," said Uncle Henry, "but I don't blame you. Arcturus is much too bright and beautiful to be only a big, bright button on the lower edge of Boötes' shepherd's kilt--but that is all it is. The star at the top end of the kite is his head, and the two stars at the ends of the cross-stick of the kite are his shoulders. About halfway from them to Arcturus you can find the belt of his kilt, and----"

"Oh, I see his legs!" interrupted Paul. "He's running after the big bear."