Around the northern pole the Swan
swings by its tail, as in our skies the Lesser Bear; Arided being a
Pole-Star which needs no Pointers to indicate its position. Vega is
the only other brilliant star in the immediate neighbourhood; and,
save for the presence of the Milky Way directly crossing it, the
arctic circle is distinctly less bright than our own. The south pole
lies in one of the dullest regions of the heavens, near the chief star
of the Peacock. Arcturus, the Great Bear, the Twins, the Lion, the
Scorpion, and Fomalhaut are among the ornaments of the Equatorial
zone: the Cross, the Centaur, and the Ship of our antarctic
constellations, are visible far into the northern hemisphere. On the
present occasion the two Moons were both visible in the west, the
horns of both crescents pointing in the same direction, though the one
was in her last, the other in her first phase.
As we were watching them, Eveena, wrapped in a cloak of fur not a
little resembling that of the silver fox, but far softer, stole her
hand into mine and whispered a request that I would lend her the
instrument I was using.
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