"Now that we are here for the summer, you must resume your study of the stars. You dropped that, you know, when schoolwork took so much of your time."
"Most of us know all the stars by heart, Verny," said Betty.
"The names of them, yes, but how many of you can find them as they are placed in the sky?" returned Mrs. Vernon.
"I can show you where the Pole Star is. Look there!" replied Joan, running out on the grass to find the bright point of light.
"And I can find Great Bear and The Pointers," added Ruth, joining her friend on the grass.
The other scouts now jumped up from the verandah and ran to join the first two, so the Captain followed, also.
"I know Alcor, Mizor, and the Square of Pegasus," said Amy.
"That panlike group of stars is known as Andromeda," added Julie, not to be outdone by her chums. "And those three little stars are called The Kids. Off to the left of Perseus oh, I forgot to say that Perseus is a group of stars at the end of the pan-handle, well, to the left of them are the bright stars known as Capella."
"Bravo! you scouts are going to be marvelous astronomers some day," came the approving voice of Mr. Gilroy, as he joined them.
"I was just telling the girls they would have to take up the study of the heavens again," mentioned Mrs. Vernon.
"And we were showing off to let the Captain hear how much we know," laughed Julie.
"Who can find The Lady in the Chair or The Guards?" asked Mr. Gilroy of the scouts.
The girls eagerly sought for and described these groups, then their host asked for the Seven Sisters and Demon's Eye. When they had answered these, Ruth said:
"If the trees were not so thick I could show you Orion, Taurus, and lots more, like the Lion, the Sickle, Canis Major, etc."
"Hoh! Some of those and the Clown, the Ox-Driver, the Southern Cross, and the Northern Cross can't be seen at this time of year, Ruth," said Julie.
Ruth frowned at the correction, but Mr. Gilroy quickly calmed the troubled waters with praise for the girls.
"You scouts certainly know the stars better than the boys of Grey Fox Troop. I should like to have the two Troops have a match game about the stars, some time."
"Who are the Grey Fox boys, Mr. Gilroy?" asked Julie.
"Do you remember I told you, last summer, of some Boy Scouts who camped in my woods every year? Well, four of those boys are here now. The rest of the Troop are coming up in August, but these four have all summer to camp in. I'm going to introduce you, soon."
"Verny, why can't we see all the stars all the year?" now asked Ruth.
"Because the earth turns on its axis, you know, so that certain planets are out of sight for us, and are seen on the other side of the globe. Then when the earth turns fully around we see them again."
"And the Pole Star is reckoned to be the center of the star-sky for all the others to move about it. The Pole Star is always in the same fixed place, so we can always locate it. But not so with the other stars," added Mr. Gilroy.
"I wish some one would tell us a story about the stars," Hester now said.
"Who will tell one?" asked Mrs. Vernon.
"I know that Mizor and Alcor were used by the Turks in past days as a test for eyesight. Soldiers who could not sight those two stars were disqualified for fighting. But in these times I don't believe a little thing like bad eyes will hold up a Turk from fighting!" said Julie, comically.
Then Joan added: "The Pole Star and Ursa Major, or The Great Bear as it is also called, form a shape like a wagon; so in olden times it was called King Charles' Wain. Each star in this constellation is known by a Greek letter. The two stars 'a' and 'b' are called the 'Pointers' because they point to the Pole Star."
"Oh, I didn't mean lesson stuff, like this," complained Hester. "I meant a real live legend!"
"You tell one, Verny," begged Betty, sweetly.
"Mr. Gilroy is better able to do it. Besides he is the host and is supposed to entertain us," returned Mrs. Vernon, glancing at Mr. Gilroy, who was stretched out comfortably upon the short grass.
"Your host claims to be completely disabled for the time being, Captain. Pray proceed with the legend yourself," laughed Mr. Gilroy.
Then Mrs. Vernon said: "I never could see why Cassiopeia, or The Lady in the Chair, should be named that. To me, the stars look more like a tipped-over letter 'W' than a lady in a chair."
"Don't you know the story, Verny?" asked Julie, eagerly.
"You do, so why not tell us?" retorted the Captain.
"Oh, well, then, all right!" said Julie. So she began:
"Once there was an Ethiopian Queen, the wife of Cepheus, who was very proud of their only child, a daughter named Andromeda. They were always praising her and speaking of her beauty to every one, so that after a time folks who also had lovely daughters felt jealous of the princess.
"In the depths of the Inner Sea, which is now the Mediterranean, lived Old Nereus and a number of charming daughters. They heard of the Queen's bragging about Andromeda, and they made up their minds to stop it. So they got their father to help them.