#34 THE STORY-BOOK OF SCIENCE 



with the hand, even with the help of the tallest lad- 

 der." 



"If I remember aright, Emile has not always been 

 of that opinion," said his uncle. 



1 1 That is true, Uncle. Like the little boy you have 

 been telling about, I believed that the sky was a 

 large blue cover resting on the earth. By good 

 walking one ought to reach the edge of the cover and 

 the end of the world. I thought, too, that the sun 

 rose behind these mountains, and set behind those 

 on the opposite side, where there was a deep well 

 that the sun plunged into and remained hidden dur- 

 ing the night. One day you took me to the moun- 

 tains where the edges of the blue cover seem to rest. 

 It was a long way off, I remember ; you lent me your 

 cane, which helped me in walking. I did not see 

 any well for the sun to plunge into; everything 

 looked just as it does here. The edge of the sky 

 still seemed to rest on the earth, only much farther 

 away. And you told me that by going to the end 

 of what we saw, then farther and farther still, we 

 should find the same appearance everywhere, with- 

 out ever seeing the end of a vault that does not 

 really exist." 



"Nowhere, as all three of you know, does the sky 

 rest on the earth; nowhere is there any danger of 

 striking one's head against the firmament; every- 

 where the blue vault has the same appearance as 

 here. You know, too, that in always going ahead 

 you meet with plains, mountains, valleys, water- 

 courses, seas; but nowhere are there any barriers 

 marking the limits of the world. 



