182 Star anfr TKHeatbet Gossip 



roofs of the adjacent houses began to lose their defi- 

 nite outline. The Pleiades were twinkling with, I 

 thought, Alcyone unusually prominent among them 

 a few degrees up to the left, whilst below them the 

 V-formed stars of the Hyades came out as they might 

 at the oncoming of night. I cbuld easily separate 

 Theta Tauri without optical aid, despite its nearness 

 to the moon. 



As the first quarter after eleven chimed from the 

 distant churches I judged that the shadow had crept 

 just half-way across the disk. At the second quarter 

 it had reached the upper part of the " Lady's " fore- 

 head, her hair only remaining free. Her features were 

 distinctly discernible under the ruddy veil which 

 had been so ruthlessly drawn over them. The sky 

 had then become a deep blue, and many of the small 

 stars were out, dancing as though with joy at their 

 emancipation from Cynthia's overpowering radiance. 

 A dainty golden segment at the upper right-hand was 

 all that was left clear at twenty minutes to midnight. 

 But not only was the entire rim of the moon then 

 visible ; the features of the disk were easily traceable 

 also. Five minutes before midnight brought totality, 

 and a strange-looking satellite was hung high up 

 among the stars, dimly gazing down on an unearthly- 

 looking earth. It was a moon with daubs of yellow, 

 red, and purple on its bleared face ; something like a 

 moon in a melodrama badly painted. 



A CLOUDY OCCULTATION 



If only that great Easter anticyclone had delayed 

 its departure a little longer ! But what could it do in 



