THE MAN OF THE MOON 55 



" Not much use ! " cried the Moonbeams, quiver- 

 ing so with emotion that Anne feared for a mo- 

 ment that a heavy cloud was going to hide them. 

 u Not much use ! I did not believe that you could 

 be so ignorant. How could there be an Almanac 

 without me ? How did the Indian Brothers divide 

 their large pieces of time?" 



" I think they cut notches on a time stick, one 

 for every winter," ventured Anne, feeling rather 

 cornered. 



" Yes, they did ; but each of those notches 

 marked a year. How d'id they measure the next 

 smaller divisions?" 



" They called them why, of course, they 

 called them Moons. The Moon of Strawberries 

 was June, and the Planting Moon May, and July 

 the Midsummer Moon. So I suppose our word 

 'month' comes from your name too." 



" Yes, it does. Listen ; this is the way time from 

 days to years is measured. The twenty-four hours 

 it takes the Earth to turn round on its axle is a 

 day; half of that time or thereabouts, according 

 to season, Gheezis, the Sun, reigns, and the other 

 half belongs to me, Dibik Gheezis, the Night Sun, 

 the light borrower. Always one of us is shining 

 on some part of the earth. 



" The division of the months is my work. The 



