WEATHER AND THE SKY 203 



is made with a smile, as I listened to the farmer who 

 made it I have more than once been reminded of a little 

 cousin of mine who stoutly affirmed there were no 

 fairies, but when she went to "Peter Pan" she applauded 

 as loudly as any Miss Adams's appeal for all who 

 believed in fairies to clap their hands. 



"But I thought you didn't believe in fairies," said 

 her mother. 



"I don't," she answered. "But I don't want Tinker 

 Bell to die." 



The skipper of the Hesperus was wise to another 

 belief about moon signs. 



Last night the moon had a silver ring, 

 To-night no moon we see. 



Therefore, he argued, they were in for a storm, and 

 events certainly proved him right. It has always been 

 a common belief that a ring around the moon portends 

 bad weather, and it used to be further added that the 

 number of stars visible inside the moon ring indicate 

 the number of days before the storm will come. There 

 is a good deal of sense to this belief, of course, for the 

 ring means thick atmosphere, and the thicker it is the 

 fewer stars will be visible inside the ring (or, for that 

 matter, anywhere else !) . The moon ring is still used by 

 country weather prophets as a basis of prediction, and in 

 this past winter I have several times seen it prove a reli- 

 able prognosticator of snow. 



