THE CHILDREN OF THE NEW FOREST. 179 



a hideous shriek, executed a pas de seul expressive of 

 astonishment, and employing, as is his custom when 

 excited, language more remarkable for energy than 

 for elegance, cried out c that it was a thundering big- 

 comet, as safe as the bank ! ' And so it proved to be. 

 No more forest for us that night ; but out came the 

 telescope, the sextants, and the note-book, and the whole 

 evening was passed in taking observations and running 

 into the house to record them. As the comet 

 stretched its mighty train over the zenith, great was 

 the excitement as its vast proportions expanded with 

 the darkness of night. ' I'll get its angles with the 

 stars,' cried my friend, ' and you measure its length.' 

 Off to the house at full run. 



' How many degrees ? ' 



' Eighty-two and a half.' 



' Humbug ! I don't believe it.' 



' Look for yourself then.' 



' Must have been wrongly handled ; I'll measure it 

 myself.' 



Off rushes the excited astronomer, sextant in hand, 

 and in five minutes is back again. 



' How many degrees is it now ? * 



4 Eighty-six I make it.' 



And in this manner we spent the greater part of 

 that night, the comet seeming to lengthen with every 

 hour. It was certainly a most startling occurrence. 

 No one expects to walk out of a house according to 

 usual custom, and to meet a full-blown comet in the 



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