"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 streaks all across it only not like the face on the big moon. And, oh! there are three little tiny stars quite near it!"

"Make the best use of your sight, Ikon. Are you quite sure there are only three little stars?"

"One-two-three. Only three," said Ikon. "Don't you see something on the edge of your moon - something that looks like a little bright hump?" "Oh, yes! Why, of course I do. What can it be?” cried Ikon. "And it's moving,- moving; I'm sure it is. There! It isn't sticking to the moon any longer. It's a little star like the others. Now there are four little stars."

"But they are not stars," said the professor; "they are moons."

"Are those moons?" cried Ikon in astonishment. "Then there are five moons."

a

"No; only four. The larger body is a planet world like our own. The name of the planet is Jupiter.

It is a very large planet, indeed much larger than our earth."

"Is it as big as the sun?" asked Ikon.

"Oh, no. 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."

"Well, I wish we had four moons," said Ikon. "I should like to be on Jupiter. Are there any people living there?"

"Ah! that I cannot tell you, but I think it is extremely doubtful. Now, my boy, I must not keep you here any longer, or you may take cold. You have had a splendid view of Jupiter. Run indoors now, and to-morrow night we will try to see something else."

EXPRESSION: Observe that much of this story is in the form of a dialogue between the professor and the little boy. Imagine that you see these two persons before you. Try to picture to yourself the professor's manner of talking; the boy's manner his eagerness, his delight at each new discovery. Now imagine the telescope before you, and read each part of the conversation just as though you were the actors. Select from Ikon's little speeches (1) an expression of eagerness; (2) one of surprise; (3) one of inquiry; (4) one of disappointment; (5) one of delight. Observe carefully the inflection and emphasis natural to each of these expressions.

WORD STUDY: Ikon, Sirius, Jupiter; professor, telescope, enormous, planet.

THE STAR AND THE LILY1

An old chieftain sat in his wigwam, quietly smoking his favorite pipe, when a crowd of Indian boys and girls suddenly entered, and begged him to tell them a story. He did so, and this is the story:

There was once a time when the world was filled with happy people; when all the nations were as one, and the crimson tide of war had not begun to roll. Plenty of game was in the forest and on the plains. None were in want, for a full supply was at hand. Sickness was unknown. The beasts of the field were tame; they came and went at the bidding of man.

One unending spring gave no place for winter. Every tree and bush yielded fruit. Flowers carpeted the earth. The air was laden with their fragrance, and redolent with the songs of warblers that flew from branch to branch, fearing no one, for there was no one to harm them. There were birds then of more beautiful song and plumage than now.

It was at such a time, when earth was a paradise and man worthily its possessor, that the Indians were lone inhabitants of the American wilderness. They numbered thousands; and living as nature designed them to live, they enjoyed its many blessings. Instead of amusements in close rooms, the sport of the fields was theirs. At night they met in the green 1 An Indian legend.

meadows beneath the stars. They watched those heavenly bodies; they loved to gaze at them, for they believed them to be the homes of the good, who had been taken thither by the Great Spirit.

One night they discovered a star that shone brighter than all the others. Its location was far away in the south, near a mountain peak. For many nights it was seen, till at length it was doubted by many that the star was as far distant in the southern skies as it seemed to be. This doubt led to an examination, which proved the star to be only a short distance away, and near the tops of some trees.

A number of warriors were deputed to go and see what it was. They went, and on their return said it appeared strange, and somewhat like a bird. The wise men were called to inquire into the meaning of the strange phenomenon. Some thought it a precursor of good, others of evil; and some supposed it to be the star spoken of by their forefathers as the forerunner of a dreadful war.

One moon had nearly gone by, and yet the mystery remained unsolved. One night a young warrior had a dream, in which a beautiful maiden came and stood at his side, and thus addressed him: "Young brave! listen to me. I have been so charmed with your pleasant land, its flowers, its birds, its rivers, its beautiful lakes, and its mountains, that I have left my sisters in yonder world to dwell with you. Young brave! ask