THE MAN OF THE MOON 61 



small of size ; he has twin moons. Then the 

 bunch of planets called Asteroids crowd along 

 close together. Again, beyond, comes Jupiter, the 

 giant, proud, haughty, followed by four fine 

 moons, all as large, and one much larger than I. 



" Now I speak of almost the outside boundary 

 of our Sun's domain, and news from those points 

 is vague and uncertain; still I have been told that 

 Saturn, the next plaiiet, is the strangest of all the 

 Sun's children. Eight moons has he, and besides, 

 he is girt about with shifting rings and belts of 

 light that whirl and vary, casting shadows on his 

 face so that none may surely say how they are 

 formed, and making him look every inch a 

 juggler. 



" The last two planets in the ra.ce lurk so far 

 away that they seem smaller than the stars of 

 other Sky families. Uranus has four small 

 moons, and Neptune, the outsider, the farthest off 

 of all, has one solitary companion. Though Nep- 

 tune seems small as a pin's point, a shooting star 

 once told me that it was more than fifty times 

 as large as my own Earth. News travels slowly 

 from the outside to the Sun's family ; sight slower 

 yet, so much so that what I have heard is only 

 hearsay knowledge." 



" What makes those spots all over you, dear 



