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diff --git a/old/61854-0.txt b/old/61854-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a3aafd1..0000000 --- a/old/61854-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3392 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Runaway Equator, by Lilian Bell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: The Runaway Equator - And the Strange Adventures of a Little Boy in Pursuit of It - -Author: Lilian Bell - -Illustrator: Peter Newell - -Release Date: April 17, 2020 [EBook #61854] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RUNAWAY EQUATOR *** - - - - -Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, David E. Brown, and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by the Library of Congress) - - - - - - - - - -THE RUNAWAY EQUATOR - -[Illustration: “They saw the Equator making off, a mile or two away”] - - - - - THE RUNAWAY - EQUATOR - - And the Strange Adventures of a - Little Boy in Pursuit of It - - - BY - - LILIAN BELL - - AUTHOR OF “THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF AN OLD MAID,” - “THE EXPATRIATES,” “ABROAD WITH THE JIMMIES,” - “HOPE LORING,” “AT HOME WITH THE JARDINES,” ETC. - - - _Illustrated by_ - PETER NEWELL - - - [Illustration] - - - NEW YORK - FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - - - - - _Copyright, 1910, 1911, by_ - THE CURTIS PUBLISHING COMPANY - - _Copyright, 1911, by_ - FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY - -_All rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign -languages, including the Scandinavian_ - - - _September, 1911_ - - - - - TO - JIMMIE BELL, JUNIOR - SECOND INFANTRY, U.S.A. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I. IN WHICH BILLY MEETS NIMBUS 3 - - II. THE ENCHANTED TROLLEY CAR 13 - - III. THE EQUATOR IS LOOSE 23 - - IV. THE EQUINE OX AND THE EVENING STAR 37 - - V. IN PURSUIT 47 - - VI. ON THE PASSIVE VOLCANO 55 - - VII. JACK FROST 63 - - VIII. THE COMPASS 73 - - IX. THE TRAIL OF THE RUNAWAY 83 - - X. WHERE NIGHT IS SIX MONTHS LONG 93 - - XI. THE END OF THE CHASE 105 - - XII. ACROSS THE RAINBOW 115 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS - - - “THEY SAW THE EQUATOR MAKING OFF A MILE OR TWO AWAY” _Frontispiece_ - - Facing - Page - - “WE’LL TAKE THIS SUNBEAM WITH US” 6 - - “NIMBUS FOLDED THE TRANSFER INTO A TINY WAND AND SAID: - ‘THIS CAR FOR THE EQUATOR!’” 10 - - “BOTH THE PLUMBER’S APPRENTICES JUMPED HASTILY TO THE GROUND” 14 - - “STRAIGHT INTO A GREAT PILE OF SNOW WENT THE CAR” 28 - - “PRESENTLY THEY BEGAN TO CRY AS HARD AS EVER THEY COULD” 32 - - “NOW, SIR, WHERE IS THAT EQUATOR?” 40 - - “THERE SUDDENLY APPEARED SEVEN LITTLE CHAPS” 48 - - “WITH A GREAT CRACKLING NOISE THEY SHOT INTO THE VOID” 50 - - “BILLY TOOK A SHARP STICK AND POKED THE EQUATOR SMARTLY” 60 - - “SEATING HIMSELF ON THE EDGE OF THE CLIFF, HE SANG” 66 - - “CONFRONTING THE EQUINE OX WAS THE CONDUCTOR, WAVING - HIS HANDS AND SHOUTING” 76 - - “THEY TIED THE TROLLEY ROPE TO HIS HORN AND SECURED HIM - TO THE CAR” 78 - - “A METEOR DROPPED AMONG THEM” 80 - - “‘LISTEN,’ SAID THE EQUINE OX, AND THROWING BACK HIS - HEAD, HE SANG” 84 - - “THE EQUINE OX CROWDED INTO THE REAR DOOR” 90 - - - - -BILLY MEETS NIMBUS - - - - -THE RUNAWAY EQUATOR - - - - -CHAPTER I - -IN WHICH BILLY MEETS NIMBUS - - -Mother had been helping Billy with his geography lesson, sitting in -the garden on a lovely day early in spring, and showing Billy how the -earth revolves on its axis. To illustrate this difficult matter and to -make it interesting, she had taken a big yellow orange to represent the -Earth and had used a stick of lemon candy for the Pole. She made the -Equator out of a black rubber band such as you put around fat envelopes. - -Then, when Billy said that he understood, Mother dug a hole in the -orange and stuck the lemon stick in it and, handing it to Billy, said -with a droll twinkle in her blue eyes, which always seemed to be -laughing: - -“Would you like to eat up the Earth through the North Pole?” - -Now Billy had never before tasted the joys of an orange eaten through -a stick of lemon candy; so when Mother, who had a trick of remembering -nice things from her own childhood, showed Billy how it was done, he -settled down to a blissful half hour in which he meant to devour the -whole earth. - -It tasted so good that he rolled over on the short grass, under a -lilac-bush in full bloom, and only took his lips from the North Pole -long enough to tell his mother that it tasted “bully.” - -“Well,” said his mother, standing up and shaking out her blue dress, “I -must go now. Here is your geography. Don’t forget to bring it in when -you come, and don’t lose the Equator off the Earth, even if you are -eating it. I don’t know what would become of us if the Equator really -should get away!” - -Billy laughed aloud. It really was no trouble at all to understand -things when Mother made them appear so funny. - -He lay on his back looking up into the sky, which was just the color of -his mother’s blue dress. White clouds, like mountains of white feathers -which must be very soft to sleep on, were over his head. - -A bee was buzzing lazily over the lavender blossoms of the lilacs. A -soft wind was blowing. It was indeed very pleasant. - -What if the bee should turn into a fairy! - -“Why don’t you?” said Billy aloud. - -The bee, being puzzled, scratched his head with his left hindfoot and -answered: - -“Why don’t I what?” - -“Why don’t you be one?” - -“I am one bee!” answered the bee, striking a match on Billy’s orange -and lighting a grapevine cigarette. - -“Could you be a fairy?” asked Billy. - -“I am always beeing things--flowers and honey--so of course I could bee -a fairy. How do you know that I am not one? Look at me!” - -Billy sat up and looked. - -“Well, I never!” exclaimed Billy. “A minute ago I thought you were a -bee!” - -“I can bee anything I choose,” said the Fairy. “That’s why you thought -I was a bee. Because I can bee!” - -“Who are you now?” asked Billy. - -“I am the Geography Fairy,” answered the stranger. - -He held out his hand and then looked at it. - -“It’s not raining yet,” he observed; “still----” - -Without finishing his sentence he unfolded a pink parasol and tossed it -into the air. It sailed away, slowly at first, then more rapidly as the -light wind caught it and carried it out of sight beyond the lilac-bush. - -“I won’t need it till it begins to rain,” he explained, “so they might -as well have it.” - -“Who?” gasped Billy. - -“The sunbeams. If a sunbeam gets wet he’s done for. Haven’t you ever -noticed that?” - -Billy thought he had noticed something of the kind. Anyway the -sunbeams all disappeared directly it began to rain. But being just an -ordinary little boy, he was much more interested in the conversation -of the wonderful stranger than he was in sunbeams, and that is why he -asked: - -“What is your name, if you please?” - -“My name is Nimbus and I live in the clouds with the other fairies. I -was named after one of the clouds.” - -“But,” objected Billy, “I don’t believe in fairies.” - -“Very well,” said Nimbus briskly, “keep right on don’t believing. It -doesn’t disturb me in the least.” - -“And besides,” said Billy, “there couldn’t be such a thing as a -Geography Fairy.” - -“How do you know?” demanded Nimbus. - -“Because,” said Billy, “I have never seen one.” - -“Nonsense!” returned Nimbus. “Did you ever see a noise?” - -“No,” Billy admitted, “I don’t think I ever did. At least I don’t -remember ever having seen one.” - -“Well, do you believe that there _aren’t_ any noises?” - -Billy had no reply that seemed suitable, and so he said nothing. - -Apparently not caring whether he got an answer or not, Nimbus leaped -lightly from the lilac blossom and, picking up an irregular sunbeam -that filtered through the bush, he set it carefully on edge against the -brim of Billy’s hat. - -[Illustration: “We’ll take this sunbeam with us”] - -“They get tired lying flat on their backs so much,” he said. “We’ll -take this one with us when we go. When we’re hungry we’ll eat it.” - -“But we’re not going anywhere,” said Billy. “At least _I_ am not. I’ve -got to go into the house and put the toys away in a few minutes.” - -“Tut! tut!” said Nimbus. “Doesn’t the proverb say ‘Never do anything -to-day you can just as well put off until to-morrow’? Let’s enchant -a trolley car and go look after the Equator. I ought to be there -now. That’s my job, looking after the Equator. I’ve left the Equine -Ox there, but he has such a habit of getting indigestion in one of -his four stomachs, and sometimes in all of them, that he is very -inattentive to business.” - -“Indigestion in four stomachs must be terribly distressing,” said -Billy. “But what is an Equine Ox?” - -“You surely see one twice a year,” said Nimbus. “But they are always -around. They have to be somewhere.” - -“I suppose they do,” said Billy, “but what are they?” - -“Their names are Vernal and Autumnal. Here’s a poem I wrote about them -once. My friends say I am conceited about my poetry, but I’m not. I -don’t think it is as good as it really is.” - - “I never had an Equine Ox - To glad me with its soft brown eye, - But when I stroked its brindled locks - It always rudely asked me why. - - “I never whispered fondly in - The creature’s smooth and velvet ear, - That it did not absurdly grin - And shed a cadent, mirthful tear. - - “I never clasped its crumpled horn, - Nor gazed on it with loving look, - That it did not give moos of scorn - And sometimes even try to hook. - - “So, though I love the Equine Ox, - I must admit that, on the whole, - His conduct very often shocks - My trusting and confiding soul.” - -“That,” said Nimbus, “will give you an excellent idea of the Equine Ox. -Now let us enchant that trolley car and be off about our business.” - -“Pooh!” said Billy, “you can’t enchant a trolley car.” - -“There you go again,” said Nimbus, “never believing in things. Bring me -a trolley car and I’ll show you whether or not I can enchant it.” - -“_I_ can’t bring you a trolley car,” said Billy. “You’ll have to hail -one on the street if you want one. Anyway they don’t go to the Equator; -they only go to town.” - -“We’ll see where they go,” returned Nimbus. “If I were going alone I’d -go on a cloud, but I don’t suppose you could sit on a cloud, could you?” - -He regarded Billy doubtfully. - -“I’m sure I couldn’t,” said Billy. “Besides, what’s the need of going -at all?” - -“Oh, I really must go! A foolish Spring Tide broke one of the tropics -the other day, and if the other gets broken there will be nothing to -hold the Equator down but the meridians, and you know they’re very -fragile.” - -Billy didn’t know that, but he nodded intelligently. It is always best -to pretend to know more about geography than you really do. - -“We’ll be back in time for dinner,” continued Nimbus; “that is, if I -don’t have to fasten up the tides again.” - -“Why,” said Billy, “you don’t mean to say you have to fasten the tides?” - -“Certainly!” replied Nimbus. “You know the tides are always trying to -put out the Moon, and they go chasing around the Earth after her night -and day. Of course the shore stops them after a while and drives them -back, and that’s what makes them high and low. They’re high when they -run up and try to wash over the shore, and low when the shore drives -them back again. But to keep them from going too far we tie them down -with meridians. That’s why they call them tides. Each one is tied, -don’t you see?” - -“Gracious!” exclaimed Billy. “I hope they can’t get untied and put the -Moon out.” - -“Oh, they won’t,” Nimbus assured him, “while I’m watching them! -Sometimes they sneak up on her out of the ocean in little drops that -we call mist, but the Sun always catches them at it, and sends them -scurrying down in rain again.” - -“I almost believe I’ll go,” said Billy, “if you’re sure we can be back -in time.” - -“Not a doubt of it,” said Nimbus; “I’ll send you back on a meteor if I -have to stay.” - -Billy excused himself for a minute and ran into the house to tell his -mother, but she was nowhere to be found. So he wrote a note in which he -explained that he had gone away for a little while with the Geography -Fairy. Returning to the garden, he found that Nimbus had now grown to -be as large as a middle-sized baby. He was strolling across the lawn on -his way to the front gate. - -Billy trudged along by his side, and soon they were at the street -corner awaiting the coming of a big red trolley car, which Billy hailed -at Nimbus’s suggestion. - -When the two got in the conductor looked at the queer little stranger -in amazement. - -But Nimbus only nodded at him coldly, leaped up on the seat and began -digging into his pocket, from which he presently pulled a huge blue -transfer. - -This he held out when the conductor came for the fare. - -“That ain’t no good,” said the conductor. - -For reply Nimbus folded the transfer up into a tiny wand, touched the -conductor on the cap with it and said: - -“This car for the Equator. Passengers desiring transfers for the Arctic -Circle or the North Pole will kindly mention it before we get to Cuba.” - -[Illustration: “Nimbus folded the transfer into a tiny wand and said: -‘This car for the Equator!’”] - - - - -THE ENCHANTED TROLLEY CAR - - - - -CHAPTER II - -THE ENCHANTED TROLLEY CAR - - -Of course such an announcement as that made a great commotion in -the trolley car. The other passengers, a thin deacon, two plumber’s -apprentices and a burglar, wanted to get off immediately. - -“I was going back to the shop to get the tools,” said one of the -plumber’s apprentices. - -“I was on my way to a horse trade,” explained the deacon. - -“And I,” said the burglar, “was just looking about for a nice easy -house to rob. They don’t have any houses at the Equator, so I would -have absolutely nothing to do.” - -“Tut! tut!” said the conductor peevishly. “Keep your seats, gents. -There ain’t no such a place as the Equator on this line. You’re on the -wrong car, young chaps,” he added, turning to Billy and Nimbus. - -Billy was troubled at this. Could it be that Nimbus really couldn’t -enchant the trolley car after all? - -But the Fairy only smiled as the car, which had started away suddenly, -came to a stop, as if it had run into something. - -“I thought we wouldn’t get past it,” he said. - -“Get past what?” inquired Billy and the plumber’s apprentices in a -breath. - -“That imaginary line,” said Nimbus. “I drew it across the track.” - -“But,” said Billy, “no imaginary line really goes anywhere except the -Equator.” - -“Neither will the trolley car until I let it,” replied Nimbus. “So they -are in the same fix.” - -The motorman now came into the car. - -“Not enough juice,” he growled. “She turns all right, but she don’t get -nowhere.” - -“Try her again,” advised the conductor anxiously. He was looking at -Nimbus and Billy with suspicion. “You kids ain’t been soapin’ the -track, have you?” he inquired suddenly. - -“Oh, no, sir!” said Billy. “I’m not allowed to do that.” - -The motorman again turned on the power, but although the wheels hummed -and whirred on the track, not an inch forward did the car go. - -“There’s something wrong,” he said, “but I don’t know what it is. She -turns all right, and she acts all right, but she don’t go ahead none.” - -“She won’t,” said Nimbus, “till these people get off. It would be a -shame to take them to the Equator.” - -“Certainly it would,” said the deacon. “I for one am going to get off.” - -“Me, too,” said the burglar. - -[Illustration: “Both the plumber’s apprentices jumped hastily to the -ground”] - -And both of them did. - -“It’s all right with us,” said the plumber’s apprentices, settling back -in their seats. “Our time will go on just the same.” - -“Well, it ain’t with me,” said the motorman. “I’m going to see what’s -stopping her.” - -He went to the rear door and was about to swing off the steps when he -uttered a cry of alarm. - -“Great rabbits!” he shouted. “She’s risin’ off’m the track!” - -At this both the plumber’s apprentices ran to the platform and jumped -hastily to the ground. - -The motorman and conductor hurried to the front platform, but when they -reached it the car had risen thirty feet in the air and was sailing -merrily through space. - -The conductor reeled back into the car and sank breathless on a seat. -The motorman followed him. - -“What kind of a way to do is this?” demanded the conductor of Nimbus. -“And me with a wife and five children.” - -“There is no danger at all,” said Nimbus soothingly. “We’ll have to -come down again, you know. Everything does, that goes up.” - -The conductor had got a little over his fright, and was looking out of -the window. - -“I don’t know where we’re going, Tommy,” he said to the motorman, “but -it does look as if we was on our way, don’t it?” - -“It’s an outrage!” said the motorman, “and I’ve a good mind to chuck -this little feller overboard. It’s all his doings.” - -But Nimbus paid no attention to him at all. - -“You see,” he said to Billy, “that a trolley car can be enchanted if -you go at it right. I could enchant the conductor and motorman if I -wanted to. I think I’d turn the motorman into a bull.” - -The motorman grew pale at this. - -“Now, don’t do nothing like that,” he said. “I like this flying -business, honest I do.” - -“Very well,” said Nimbus, “but I think you had better go out on the -platform and look for stars. We may be running into one any time.” - -The motorman was glad to return to his post, and the conductor arose -and walked unsteadily to the rear platform, where he held fast to the -dashboard rail and gazed with open-mouthed wonder at the scene below. - -“We’ll soon be coming to the Dog Star,” Nimbus told Billy. “His name is -Sirius, but he isn’t. He’s almost eight million years old, but he still -behaves like a Puppy Star at the snow-making season. He worries the -Snow Fairies half to death.” - -“What are Snow Fairies?” asked Billy. - -“They are the people that make the snow. Didn’t you ever hear the -proverb, ‘Make snow while the moon shines’?” - -Billy wasn’t quite sure. He had heard one very much like that, though, -about hay, and he wondered if they made snow in fields and left it out -to dry in the moonshine. - -“Yes,” said Nimbus, although Billy had not spoken, “it is very much -the same. The snowflakes grow on the little stalks that shoot up from -the clouds, and the Snow Fairies harvest them and dry them in the -moonlight. Then they sift it down on the land and sea, whenever Jack -Frost says the little boys and girls are tired of nutting and making -autumn-leaf bonfires, and want to coast and throw snowballs.” - -“Do they make hail that way, too?” asked Billy. - -“Oh! gracious, no. They break the hail off the rain clouds with their -hammers, and it freezes on the way down. They soon tire of that, -though, so they never keep it up long. That is why you hear people say -‘Hail and Farewell.’ You have to say good-by to a hailstorm almost -before you’ve had time to say hello to it.” - -“I think it is very ill-mannered of the Dog Star to worry them,” said -Billy. - -“Oh, Dog Stars have no manners. That is very well shown in the poem I -wrote about the Dog Star. Did you ever happen to hear it?” - -“No,” said Billy. “I never did.” - -“Well,” said Nimbus, “as nearly as I can remember it runs something -like this: - - “Dog Star, Dog Star, burning bright, - You can neither read nor write, - Yet you frolic just the same, - And have not a thought of shame. - - “When I say: ‘Add one and one,’ - You reply: ‘It can’t be done. - Sums are flat and grammar stale, - I prefer to chase my tail.’ - - “When I ask: ‘Who built the ark?’ - You turn somersaults and bark: - Or you growl, with drooping tail, - ‘Was it Jonah or the Whale?’ - - “Dog Star, Dog Star, you don’t know, - Euclid, Vergil, Scipio, - Algebra or Calculus, - My! But you are frivolous.” - -“You see,” continued Nimbus, “the Dog Star cares absolutely nothing for -manners. He even barks at O’Taurus.” - -“And who,” inquired Billy, “is O’Taurus?” - -“He’s the Irish Bull,” said Nimbus. “I’ll tell you more about him -later. I’ve got to go to meet this Meteor now.” - -Billy had noticed that for some time it had been getting brighter and -brighter, although the Sun had hidden himself behind a great wall of -blue-black clouds. Now he looked through the front windows and saw a -great star sweeping rapidly down on them, swishing a long tail behind -him. - -“Is--is it a comet?” he asked in affright, observing that the motorman -rushed into the car, slamming the door after him. - -“Comet nothing!” said Nimbus. “It’s only a fourth- class Meteor with -a message for me. They’re the A.D.T. boys up here, and he’s probably -brought some word from the Equine Ox.” - -The Meteor came alongside and Billy read in gold letters across his -glowing cap the words: - - PLANETARY MESSENGER SERVICE - - No. 7,622,451 - -“My!” he exclaimed, “there are a lot of them, aren’t there?” - -“Seven million nine hundred thousand six hundred and three,” said -Nimbus. “What have you got, boy?” - -“Message, sir,” said the Meteor briskly, taking off his cap and -extracting a blue envelope. - -Nimbus took it and ran his eye over it hastily. - -“Here’s a pretty kettle of fish,” he said, handing the paper to Billy. - -This is what Billy read as he held the paper in his trembling fingers: - - “Accidentally went to sleep and the Spring Tide broke the other - tropic. Equator trying to get away, and think I can’t hold him long. - Please come or send help as soon as possible. - - “Regretfully, VERNAL E. OX.” - -So! The Equator was trying to do the very thing Mother told Billy not -to let him do! He was trying to slip off the earth by way of the South -Pole! - - - - -THE EQUATOR IS LOOSE - - - - -CHAPTER III - -THE EQUATOR IS LOOSE - - -“Bother that Equine Ox,” said Nimbus. “I might have known he’d do -something like that, and just before procession week, too.” - -“Procession week?” said Billy wonderingly. - -“Yes, the week of the procession of the Equine Oxes. The Sun and the -Moon and their oldest daughter, the Evening Star, were coming down to -see it, and Jack Frost and Aurora Borealis ought to be there now. And -that miserable Equine Ox has gone and spoiled it all. He isn’t fit for -anything but a barbecue.” - -“What are you going to do?” asked Billy, while the conductor and the -motorman gaped in a dazed silence. - -“Do? Why, fix it, of course. I only hope we can get there before he -breaks away altogether. It would be a beautiful state of affairs to -have an Equator charging up and down the world, wouldn’t it?” - -“I think it would be fun,” ventured Billy. - -“Oh, certainly!” said Nimbus. “When you played under the trees in your -front yard, do you think it would be fun to have cocoanuts drop on you -instead of acorns? Instead of rabbits and chipmunks in the woods, do -you think it would be fun to see lions and tigers and boa-constrictors -and laughing hyenas, to say nothing of hippopotamuses with teeth like -banisters? Yes, it would be real jolly now, wouldn’t it?” - -Billy saw that Nimbus was seriously disturbed and he kept silent. - -The Meteor, who had entered the car unasked and taken a seat on the -floor, now got up and began to shoot violently from one door to -another, sometimes zigzagging so that he bumped the windows. His -blazing tail trailed after him, and once or twice Billy had to draw -back quickly to keep his face from a severe switching. - -The conductor and the motorman were very much annoyed by these antics, -and at last the conductor said: - -“What’s the matter with him, anyway? Why don’t he sit still?” - -“He can’t sit still,” said Nimbus. “A meteor is a shooting star and -ever so often he has to shoot.” - -“Shootin’ is against the rules,” growled the motorman. “No shootin’ -allowed in any cars of this company.” - -“He isn’t shooting aloud. He’s shooting to himself,” said Nimbus. “I’ll -send him back to the Equator as soon as I compose a message that is -strong enough to tell the Equine Ox what I think of him.” - -Billy had been looking out of the window. A long way off he noticed -a row of enormous signs, each with curious characters on it, all -outlined in bright green and blue stars. - -“Signs of the Zodiac,” said the Meteor, coming to a sudden stop and -looking over Billy’s shoulder. “‘Keep off the sky,’ and ‘No loose dogs -allowed,’ and such like. The Aerolites have just turned ’em on. They -come right after the twilight.” - -“I--I don’t think I understand,” said Billy. - -“Neither do I,” said the Meteor, “but I’ll explain it in a minute. I’ve -got a few shots in me now that have got to go off.” - -He leaped to his feet and began to dart backward and forward in the car -till Nimbus, who was writing on a pad of paper, became irritated and -slammed the car-door on the Meteor’s tail. - -“Isn’t he peevish!” said the Meteor, sinking down at Billy’s side. “But -as I was saying about the Aerolites, every night the Sun goes down, as -you know, and it would be pitch dark until the Moon and the Stars came -up if it wasn’t for them. - -“One of them keeps watch until he sees the Sun starting to slide behind -a mountain or into the sea, and then he tells the others, and they all -hurry around and light the twilights. When they have them all lit there -is enough light to see by till the Moon and the Stars get out of bed -for the night. After that they can light the Signs of the Zodiac. They -get paid for that. Lighting the twilights they have to do for their -board and lodging and motive power.” - -Nimbus left off writing. “I think that will do,” he said, handing the -pad to Billy. - -Billy read: - - “V. E. Ox, Equator. - - “Of all the good-for-nothing, idle, dull-witted, stupid, - feather-brained idiots I have met in twelve million years you are - easily the worst. Send that Spring Tide to bed for a week. Get the - other Equine Ox and a regiment of elephants and sit on the Equator - till I get there. If he tries to get away duck him in the ocean. My - only regret is that you have but four stomachs instead of ninety-four - to get indigestion in. - - “Yours disgustedly, NIMBUS.” - -The Meteor took the paper from Billy’s hand, Nimbus released the tail -from the door and he shot forth into the night. - -Billy began to be very much distressed about the darkness, remembering -his promise to his mother to be home for dinner. Nimbus, noticing his -troubled face and feeling better now that he had unburdened himself of -his opinion of the Equine Ox, sat beside him and said cheerfully: - -“Never mind, Billy, it’s always half dark up here. We’re out of the -air, you know, and we have to have air to see the light through, just -as your mother has to have opera-glasses to see the play through. We’ll -be home in time for dinner. Never fear.” - -At this assurance Billy felt much better, and became very eager to see -the great fight that he knew would take place when they got down to the -Equator and took part in the effort to keep him from escaping. - -But the motorman and the conductor were in no such cheerful mood. They -sat apart in a corner and talked in whispers; and Billy, listening -although he did not mean to, soon learned that they were talking about -the Snow Fairies. - -“It’s them,” said the conductor, “that spills snow all over the tracks -and ties up the lines in winter.” - -“Sure it is!” said the motorman. “Let’s get off and fix ’em.” - -Billy glanced out of the window. There, right before his eyes, he saw -a great number of little people, clad in white uniforms, raking huge -masses of what seemed to be white flowers on the upper side of a cloud. -Through the dim half-light he watched them working away, with rakes and -pitchforks, some of them piling the white flakes into great stacks, -while others pulled long rows of them to the edge of the cloud and -pushed them over the side. - -Billy remembered that it was summer when he left home and he wondered -how it happened that snow-making was going on; but following with his -eyes the flakes that whirled downward he saw a long chain of mountains -far below. He knew, of course, that snow fell on mountains, even in -summer time, so he understood. - -“I tell you what I’ll do,” the motorman was saying; “I’ll go out and -back her sideways and we’ll run through ’em. That’ll knock ’em all off -the cloud, and we won’t have no more snow.” - -“Great idea,” said the conductor. “We’ll get ’em all at one lick.” - -Billy looked anxiously at Nimbus, who overheard, but only chuckled. -“Let ’em try it,” he said, “and see what happens.” - -Nimbus joined Billy at the window, and the motorman and the conductor, -seeing that the Fairy’s back was turned, got up very quietly and went -out on the front platform. - -The motorman put his lever on the controller and, looking around -carefully to make sure that he was not observed, reversed the power. - -The car trembled, stopped, then began to go backward with a sidelong -motion that took it right into the snow cloud. - -Instantly the air grew cold, and the wind howled around the trolley -pole and rattled the windows. - -Straight into a great pile of snow went the car, and the Snow Fairies, -looking up, saw it coming and skipped away in every direction. - -There was a shock, snow flew in showers, then the car buried itself in -a great white pile up to the window tops and stopped stock still. - -Stamping and pawing the snow out of their eyes and mouths, the -motorman and conductor came back into the car. - -“Pleasant weather, gentlemen,” said Nimbus. “Looks a little like snow, -however. Suppose you go out now and clear the track. You’re used to it.” - -Angry, but too much ashamed of themselves to show their feelings, the -motorman and the conductor got shovels from under the seats and went -out to clear away a path for the car. - -“It always pays best to let Nature take care of herself, as the boy -said who sat on the volcano,” Nimbus observed. - -“It will be a dreadful delay, though, and we are in such a hurry to get -to the Equator,” said Billy. - -“Oh, no, there will be no delay at all! The Cloud is going right in our -direction just as fast as we were. We’ll warm up, however, for it’s a -trifle cold,” said Nimbus. And taking out the sunbeam he had brought -with him from the lilac bush, he hit a piece out of it and handed it to -Billy. - -“Eat it,” he said. “Nothing so stimulating in cold weather as a -sunbeam. We’ll just sit here and wait for an answer to my telegram. And -you can act acquainted with the sky people.” - -Billy looked out of the window into the sky. Was it true, he wondered, -that the Sun and Moon were really sky people? - -“What’s the matter?” asked Nimbus. - -“I was just wondering if the Stars are all really people,” said Billy. - -“Really people!” said Nimbus. “Well I should say they are. And all -the Clouds are, too. You see that bunch over there? Well, that is -Mrs. Pink-Cloud and Mrs. White-Cloud and Mrs. Pearl-Cloud and Mrs. -Mackerel-Cloud and Mrs. Yellow-Cloud sitting together and sewing on -party dresses for their children to go to the Star children’s birthday -party. It’s warm over there where they are.” - -“Oh!” said Billy. “Are they all named?” - -“Named! Of course they are! And every Star, too. But nobody can -remember them but their own mother, Mrs. Moon. Even their father, Mr. -Sun, gets confused sometimes and mixes the boys’ names with the girls’.” - -“Are the Clouds people, too?” asked Billy wonderingly. - -“Just as much people as you are,” answered Nimbus seriously. “Old -General Gray-Cloud and old General Thunder-Cloud are great fighters and -have awful battles. You can hear them down on the Earth sometimes. It -sounds like thunder and looks like lightning from where you live, but -from where we live--Oh, my!” - -“Dear me,” said Billy, “how very interesting! And do the mothers teach -their children to behave the way our mothers do on the Earth, or are -they allowed to do as they please in the sky?” - -“Well, you do show your ignorance!” said Nimbus, with such severity -that Billy quite blushed for himself. “Why let me tell you what I saw -only yesterday when I was under the lilac bush waiting for you.” - -“Did you know about me before I saw you?” asked Billy, much flattered. - -“Why, certainly I did. I saw you having such a stupid time with a -geography lesson which I knew I could make so easy for you that I said -to myself: ‘I’ll just wait until I have him all to myself and then I’ll -show him!’” - -“That was very kind of you,” said Billy, “and I am sure that I shall -never forget anything I have seen.” - -“That’s just the way with me,” said Nimbus; “so what I saw of the Cloud -children I will tell to you, and then it will be just the same as if -you had seen it.” - -“So it will,” said Billy, who by this time had got to have great faith -in the Geography Fairy. - -“What do you suppose makes it rain?” asked Nimbus suddenly. - -Billy thought intently for a moment. He knew he had heard something -about clouds and mist and heat and cold, but for the life of him -he couldn’t remember when anybody asked him. That is what makes -examinations so hard. You know, but you can’t remember. - -“Ah, ha!” said Nimbus. “You can’t think, can you? Well, I’ll tell you, -and you’ll never forget this reason. The other day, when their mothers -were all sitting and sewing, the Cloud children----” - -“What are their names?” asked Billy. - -“Well, there happened to be Pinkie Pink-Cloud and Goldie Gold-Cloud and -Pearlie Pearl-Cloud. They asked their mothers if they could float over -Central Park and watch the Earth children at play. Their mothers said -yes, so away they went. At first it was great fun to watch, for it was -Mayday and all the children were marching about in their pretty white -dresses while nursemaids and fräuleins and mademoiselles by the dozen, -and a few mothers, were looking on. - -“Then Pinkie and Goldie and Pearlie began to play tag among themselves, -nor was it very long before Pinkie said that Goldie did not tag her -when she said she did, and Pearlie took sides; so in one moment those -little sunny faces grew black with anger and presently they began to -cry as hard as ever they could.” - -“Well?” said Billy, as Nimbus paused. - -“Well,” repeated the Fairy, “don’t you see? Their tears were rain!” - -“Oh!” said Billy. - -“The next thing that happened was that their mothers looked up from -their sewing and saw the dark spot over the park, where, a few minutes -ago, it had all been bright and sunny. They knew what had happened, for -in April and May the Cloud children are easily upset and cry if you -poke your finger at them. So they floated over to the park and, instead -of asking the children what the matter was, as most mothers would have -done, Mrs. Gold-Cloud told the children to look down at the park.” - -“And what did they see?” asked Billy, who never before had thought of -looking at the Earth children through the eyes of the clouds. - -“Why, the rain spoiling all the pretty white dresses and the children -all stopping their play and rushing about for shelter.” - -“I know,” said Billy. “I was there myself.” - -“Were you?” said Nimbus. “Then you know what happened.” - -“I only know it stopped raining,” said Billy. - -“But don’t you know why?” asked Nimbus. - -Billy shook his head. - -“Because Mrs. Gold-Cloud told the children how tears and black looks -on their faces always spoiled the pleasure of somebody else, and how -smiles and sweet looks and lots of love in the heart brings happiness. -When she said this, the Cloud children dried their tears on their -mothers’ cloud handkerchiefs and began to smile, and when Pinkie and -Goldie kissed each other, the whole sky brightened up. So everything -got sunshiny again, and of course the rain stopped as soon as the tears -were dried, so in five minutes the little Earth children were running -about again as happy as lambs. And the sight of their happiness made -the Cloud children glad they had not been so selfish as to quarrel -long.” - -“They must be nice children,” said Billy thoughtfully. “That story -sounds the way my mother tells things.” - -“When you go back, you can tell the story to her,” said Nimbus. - -“Thank you for telling me,” said Billy politely. “It is a very nice -story and I sha’n’t forget it. I’ll have lots of things to tell when I -get back. What are you going to do about the Equator?” - -“Hello!” The last exclamation was directed at the Meteor, who suddenly -appeared through the snow bank and, panting for breath, handed Nimbus a -message which Billy read over his shoulder. - -The message read: - - “Glad to know you are coming, and thanks for your kind words. Equator - is loose. - - “Respectfully, EQUINE OX.” - - - - -THE EQUINE OX AND EVENING STAR - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -THE EQUINE OX AND THE EVENING STAR - - -“I expected it,” said Nimbus with a sigh. “I might have known the -Equine Ox couldn’t hold him.” - -“I don’t suppose it is any use to go to the Equator now, is it?” asked -Billy. “I don’t see how we can go there if we don’t know where it is.” - -“Well, we know where it was, and there’s where we’ll go,” snapped -Nimbus. “I have a little speech to make to the Equine Ox that he ought -to hear.” - -The motorman and the conductor had now got a nice, clean path shoveled -through the snow, so they boarded the car and it soon slid off the snow -cloud and sped on again. - -Presently Billy, looking downward, saw that they were coming closer to -the Earth all the time. And what a different Earth it was from any he -had ever seen outside of a geography! A curving coast-line laced with -filmy surf lay below him, and on the hills that rose from it he could -see countless palm trees, each with a little tuft at the top like the -long blades of blue grass about the edge of the garden at home, well -beyond the reach of the lawn mower. - -“Gracious! We must be near where the Equator was,” he exclaimed. “It -looks like a conservatory outdoors down there.” - -“It’s not,” said Nimbus. “It’s the grandstand. That’s where the -procession of the Equine Oxen was to be held.” - -“Of course it won’t be held now?” timidly suggested Billy. - -“It will, if I have anything to do with it. Just because we never did -have a procession without an Equator is no reason we shouldn’t have -one. Besides, now that there’s no Equator to watch, unless they parade, -those good-for-nothing creatures won’t earn their cuds.” - -The car by this time was grating on a hillside, and soon brought up -between a couple of slender palm trees. - -“I’ve been expecting you,” said a voice--a sad voice that seemed to -come from directly above the car. - -Looking out of the car window, Billy saw a bright light among the -branches of the tree--a light that surrounded like a halo the figure of -a very pretty girl. - -“Why,” said Nimbus briskly, lifting his hat, “it’s the Evening Star.” - -“Yes,” said the Evening Star, “it is I. I came to complain about the -Equine Ox. He’s very disconsolate, and he’s singing continually. I wish -you’d stop him.” - -Billy was very much surprised to find the Evening Star all alone. He -was about to ask Nimbus why it was when she said: - -“You see, Papa--he’s the Sun--never comes out at night; and Mrs. Moon, -who’s my mamma, isn’t up yet, so I had to come alone. Is there anything -else you’d like to know, little boy?” - -Billy was very much abashed at thus having a question answered before -he had asked it, and especially by a young lady whom he had never -met. But there was one thing he wanted to know very much, so he said -politely: - -“Yes, thank you. I should like to know why the Equine Ox sings when he -is unhappy.” - -“Oh, that’s so people can tell he’s the Equine OX,” said the Evening -Star. “He always does things backward. When he’s very angry he rolls on -the ground and roars with laughter. When he’s pleased about anything he -weeps bitterly, and when he’s unhappy he sings.” - -“There he is now,” said Nimbus, who had been listening intently. “Don’t -you hear him?” - -Billy heard something that first sounded like a long-drawn-out moo, but -which he soon recognized as a very familiar air. - -“Come on,” said Nimbus. - -“Us, too?” inquired the motorman and conductor. “We don’t want to be -left alone in these here foreign parts.” - -“Yes,” said Nimbus, “come ahead!” and he led the way down a winding -pathway that opened through the trees. - -The singing grew louder and louder as they proceeded, and shortly -they came out into a little open space overgrown with flowers and -surrounded by a very dense tropical growth. In the center of it stood -a creature that looked a little like an ox, a little like a horse, and -very much like a map of the solar system. Billy and the street-car men -stopped at a signal from Nimbus. The Equine OX was singing. - - How dear to my heart was my home in the tropics, - The pythons that wreathed in fantastic festoons; - The parrots discoursing on trivial topics, - The smug armadillos and sweet-faced baboons; - The ostrich, the emu, the suave alligator, - Flamingoes with necks that were cleverly curled; - But dearest of all was the charming Equator, - The dear old Equator that ran round the world! - - CHORUS - - The queer old Equator, - The dear old Equator, - The quaint old Equator - That ran round the world. - - From sunset to moonset I look for it vainly, - I seek it at noontide, I hunt it at dawn; - And when I don’t find it I see very plainly, - Too plainly, alas, that it’s probably gone! - I bade it good-night with the fondest affection, - And lay down beside it to take a brief nap, - But leaving no clew that could lead to detection - The queer old Equator slid right off the map. - - CHORUS - - The queer old Equator, - The dear old Equator, - The quaint old Equator, - Slid right off the map. - -[Illustration: “Now, Sir, where is that Equator?”] - -Directly the song was finished Nimbus strode up to the Equine Ox and, -shaking his fist angrily at him, demanded: - -“Now, sir, where is that Equator?” - -“That’s the question,” said the Equine Ox; “where is he? Who knows the -answer?” Then seeing Billy, he added: “Maybe you do!” - -“Why, no, sir,” replied Billy in confusion. “I don’t. Not at all.” - -“Pay no attention to him,” said Nimbus. “He’s merely trying to avert -suspicion from himself.” Then turning to the Equine Ox, he proceeded: -“Tell us how he got away. Be quick, there is no time to lose.” - -“Oh, yes, there is,” said the Equine Ox; “any quantity of it! I lose a -great deal every day and hope to lose a great deal more. As for finding -time, now that is another----” - -“How did the Equator get away?” said Nimbus sternly. - -“Well, you see, it was this way. Night fell on the tropics and the -tropics broke.” - -“Ho, ho!” exclaimed the conductor. “That’s a joke. Ho, ho!” - -“What is the gentleman angry about?” uneasily asked the Equine Ox, who -always laughed when he was angry. - -“Nothing,” said Nimbus; “go ahead with your explanation.” - -“Then a few waves broke,” continued the Equine Ox, “and then day broke -and, well--what could the Equator do but break, too?” - -“Did you sit on it?” asked Billy eagerly. - -The Equine Ox regarded him gravely. - -“Did you ever sit on an Equator?” he asked. - -“Why, no,” said Billy, embarrassed. “I didn’t.” - -“Neither did I,” said the Equine Ox. “Far be it from me to sit on an -Equator when it is going anywhere.” - -“So it’s completely gone, has it?” asked Nimbus. “Which way did it go?” - -“Shall I answer both of those questions first?” said the Equine Ox. - -“I’ll answer the last,” volunteered the Evening Star. “It went south -and slipped off the South Pole. I saw it.” - -Nimbus fell back with a groan and Billy ran forward to catch him. - -The motorman and conductor gathered around. “Jab him in the ribs with -the crank handle,” suggested the conductor. “It’s the way we do when -they faints on the car.” - -But Nimbus revived before this became necessary. - -“It gave me such a start,” he said. - -“The Equator’s got a better one,” said the Equine Ox. - -“Everything’s easy once you get a start,” commented the motorman. - -Nimbus was now himself, and a very energetic little self he was. First -he placed the conductor and the motorman in charge of the Equine Ox, -with orders not to let him out of their sight. - -“He must be here to-morrow,” he said, “or the procession cannot go on, -and if the procession does not go on it will always be summer and the -sea will dry up.” - -The motorman and the conductor were scarcely eager to undertake the -charge, but something in Nimbus’s manner convinced them that it was -necessary, so they consented. - -“You,” said Nimbus to the Evening Star, “will please go and tell your -father that the Equator is off the Earth and that I will try to catch -him.” - -“And you,” he said to Billy, “come with me. As soon as the Equator is -off the Earth, he will shrink up to the size of a barrel hoop, and the -meanness in his disposition condensed into that small space will make a -perfect fiend of him. He is liable to drop right down on us this very -minute and burn us into a cinder before you can say ‘Jack Robinson.’ He -gets so hot when he’s angry that he has been known to set an iceberg on -fire. By the way,” he added, “how quickly can you say ‘Jack Robinson’?” - -“Jackrobinson!” said Billy. - -“I thought so!” said Nimbus. “You’d have been dry ashes before you got -to a-c-k.” - -Hardly had he left off speaking when a Meteor dashed in with a message -from the Dog Star. - -“Equator coming back to Earth vowing vengeance against Nimbus and -Evening Star,” it said. - - - - -IN PURSUIT - - - - -CHAPTER V - -IN PURSUIT - - -“First of all,” said Nimbus, “we must find the Rays. Then we’ll go down -to the Meteor farm and put all the Meteors who are off watch or on part -time, to work doing scout duty.” - -“Who are the Rays?” asked Billy. - -“They are the Sun’s private messengers. They do all his regular work -for him, such as making things grow, and arranging the weather, and -building the bridges----” - -“Bridges?” Billy inquired. - -“Yes, rainbow bridges. How could we fairies get over the ocean if it -wasn’t for them?” - -“You might go on enchanted trolley cars,” suggested Billy. - -“Yes, we might, if trolley cars grew on trees in jungles like monkeys, -but they don’t.” - -Billy thought it best to make no more suggestions. - -“The Rays,” continued Nimbus, “are named Violet, Indigo, Blue, -Green, Yellow, Orange and Red. Get them all together and they make a -beautiful, clear, white light, and we’ll need such a light to find the -Equator.” - -There was a rustling of the trees behind them and a sad voice called -out: “I wish you’d take me with you. I’m afraid to stay alone.” - -Billy looked quickly around and saw the Evening Star standing at a -little distance, looking very pretty indeed in the soft light that -seemed to sift out of her white frock. - -“Oh, nonsense!” said Nimbus. “We’ve men’s work here. You don’t want to -go anyway!” - -Two bright tears stood in the Evening Star’s eyes and glistened in the -glow that surrounded her. Nimbus clapped his hands in delight. - -“There you are, you fellows!” he shouted; “come out of that.” - -“Who?” cried Billy. - -“The Rays--all of them. Don’t you see them hiding in those teardrops? -Come, come. No more delay! I’ve important work for you.” - -As he spoke, there suddenly appeared before him seven lively little -chaps, each clad from head to foot in his own prismatic color, and all -dancing excitedly about the ground. - -“Go tell the old man that the Equator has got away,” commanded Nimbus. -“And then come back here and make us a searchlight. If he isn’t back -here where he belongs by to-morrow there’s no telling what will happen.” - -Without a word the Rays suddenly united in a brilliant shaft of white -light and whisked away over the treetops. - -As they vanished Billy thought he heard a sob, and glancing about, saw -the Evening Star sitting in the branches of a low palm and crying as if -her heart would break. - -“Oh, I’m afraid! I’m afraid!” she wailed. “If the Equator should come -back and find me here when you’re gone he’ll turn me into a Comet; I -just know he will!” - -Nimbus’s face grew serious at this. - -“There is danger of that,” he said. “Yes, he would be just about -contemptible enough to do that very thing.” - -“But how could he?” inquired Billy, his bewilderment steadily -increasing. - -“Easiest thing in the world. He has only to set fire to her hair, -and it would stream out behind her in a fan of flame. Then she’d be -so frightened that she’d go wandering off through space and become a -Comet.” - -“Then,” said Billy, “I think we had better take Miss Evening Star with -us, don’t you? Unless her father, Mr. Sun, can look after her.” - -Nimbus frowned at Billy impatiently. - -“My dear boy,” he said, “don’t you know that the Sun never does any -night work of any kind? Besides, just now he’s busy on the other side -of the world. Yes, we’ll take her with us.” - -So Nimbus and the Evening Star and Billy went off to the yard where the -Meteors off duty and on part time were assembled. - -The inclosure, which was walled in by four fogs, was full of them, -jumping hurdles, playing marbles, or racing around after each other. - -So busy were they at their sport that it was not until Nimbus had -shouted himself hoarse that they paid the slightest attention to him. - -At last, however, one of them heard him and shot over to see what he -wanted. - -“I don’t believe,” said Nimbus, “that you Meteors could hear the rings -of Saturn if they rang all at once. Did you know that the Equator had -escaped?” - -“Goodness, no!” said the Meteor, and instantly shot about among his -fellows spreading the dreadful news. - -They left off playing immediately, and all lined up before Nimbus for -orders. - -“You must go find the Equator,” said the Fairy authoritatively. “The -Rays have gone to notify the Sun. Ten of you will come with us. The -other six million will scatter about the universe and look for him. Let -me know the instant you see him, and stop him if he starts to come back -to the Earth.” - -“Yes, sir,” said the Meteors in a breath. With a great crackling noise -they shot away into the void, each taking a different direction so that -their going looked like a splendid shower of rockets on the night of -the Fourth of July. - -[Illustration: “With a great crackling noise they shot into the void”] - -“I suppose,” said Nimbus, “that the next thing to do is to build a -tower so we can see what is going on in the sky.” - -“We have nothing to build it of,” said Billy. - -“We could make it of Moonbeams if there were any Moon,” replied Nimbus. - -“But there isn’t,” said the Evening Star, “so we’d better find a hill -to climb.” - -“I saw a beautiful hill as we were coming here,” said Billy. “It had a -white top, and stood out ever so high over the others.” - -“That was a volcano,” said Nimbus. “It’ll be just the place for us.” - -“Let’s be starting, then,” said Billy. - -So the whole party set out through the trees for the volcano, and in an -hour or two were standing on a great lava field looking up at the dark -sky, which seemed fairly alive with fiery-tailed meteors hurrying here, -there and everywhere on their search for the Equator. - -Billy had just settled himself with his back against a comfortable -boulder when he noticed right over his head an object which resembled -a great, luminous doughnut. “I wonder what that is,” he said, pointing -upward. - -The Evening Star, quite exhausted with the tramp up the mountain, had -been sitting with her bright face in her hands. At Billy’s words she -glanced up, and a terrified scream brought Nimbus to his feet. - -“There he is!” shouted Nimbus excitedly. “He’s coming this way, and we -can never capture him.” - -“There who is?” asked Billy. - -“The Equator!” said Nimbus. - - - - -ON THE PASSIVE VOLCANO - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -ON THE PASSIVE VOLCANO - - -Of course there was but one thing to do, and that was to escape as -quickly as possible. Even Nimbus, powerful as he was, couldn’t control -a runaway Equator single-handed, and if the Evening Star were ever -turned into a comet it would take years of patient effort on the part -of her parents to turn her back into a Star again. - -Nimbus looked swiftly about him for a second, and then he said: -“Fortunately, this is not an active volcano, so we’ll slip into the -crater.” - -He led the way toward a cavelike opening right in the summit of the -mountain--an opening which led downward diagonally, so that it afforded -ample shelter. - -Billy hesitated. He had heard about volcanoes, and the thought of -bearding it in its crater was very terrifying. - -“Don’t be afraid,” said Nimbus; “this is a passive volcano.” - -That reassured Billy, and when he was safe inside the crater he asked -what a passive volcano was. - -“It’s one that isn’t active. There are two kinds of verbs and two kinds -of volcanoes--active and passive. The fire in this one has been banked, -so it’s perfectly safe.” - -Billy was still a little uneasy, and he was by no means cheered by a -sound of dull rumbling that came up out of the depths of the crater. - -He had little time to worry about this new danger, however, for just -then the crater became filled with terrific heat, and its dark recesses -were illumined by a brilliant glare. - -Billy’s eyes were dazzled at first, then right above him he made out -the circular form of the Equator staring blankly down at him. - -“Oh, I am lost!” cried the Evening Star, and with a series of leaps she -disappeared down the crater. - -“The goose, she’ll be burned to death!” said Nimbus, and started after -her. - -There was a sound of falling gravel, a sharp patter of footsteps, and -then silence. - -Billy knew that it would be foolish to follow, so he quietly waited for -something to happen. - -The Equator, meanwhile, was getting a little more accustomed to the -darkness. As he peered about he muttered to himself, and Billy caught -the words: “I hope she hasn’t got away. There’s no one left but the -Equine Ox, and you couldn’t turn him into a Comet any more than you -could turn him out of a pasture.” - -“You ought not to turn anybody into a Comet,” said Billy. “It isn’t -polite.” - -The Equator started violently. - -“Who are you?” he demanded, scowling at Billy. - -“My name is Billy,” said the little boy, “and I am a friend of the -Evening Star.” - -“Do you think you could be turned into a Comet, Billy?” asked the -Equator solicitously. - -“I-I hope not,” faltered Billy. “I never tried, though.” - -“I’m afraid you couldn’t,” grumbled the Equator. “Perhaps you can tell -me where I can find the Evening Star.” - -“No,” said Billy decidedly. “I will not.” - -“Oh, come now, don’t be rude. I won’t turn her into a very big Comet, -you know.” - -“I don’t care,” said Billy. “I shall not tell you where she is, and I -think you ought to be ashamed of yourself.” - -“I was driven to it,” said the Equator; “when the Geographers made me, -they wanted to be sure to have enough of me to go around, and I’ve been -going around ever since. It got so monotonous after a while that I -simply had to get into mischief or explode.” - -“Was that why you escaped?” asked Billy. - -“Yes; the Equine Ox went to sleep and I broke a meridian and got away. -It was quite oxidental, my escaping; I mean accidental.” - -“It cannot be very nice, being an Equator,” said Billy thoughtfully; -“but it would be far worse to be a Comet.” - -“Oh, I don’t know!” said the Equator. “Comets only have to get to a -certain place once in two or three hundred years, while an Equator has -to be in one place always. I’m very tired,” he said suddenly. “What do -you usually do when you’re tired?” - -“I sleep,” said Billy. - -“Indeed!” said the Equator; “how interesting. How is it done?” - -“Why,” exclaimed Billy eagerly, “you lie down somewhere, then you close -your eyes, then you think of sheep jumping through a fence and try to -count them until you fall asleep.” - -“But I can’t think of any sheep jumping through a fence. I never saw a -sheep, nor a fence. Do you suppose it would do just as well to count -hippopotamuses jumping through a swamp?” - -“Perhaps,” said Billy doubtfully, “although I never tried it.” - -To his great joy the Equator settled down on the summit of the volcano -and closed his eyes. He breathed hard and regularly for a little, and -then, as one eye opened, he said: “What do you do when the third and -seventh and eleventh hippopotamus is a rhinoceros? Count him, too?” - -“Certainly,” said Billy, and again the Equator closed his eyes. - -Presently he opened them again. “Look here,” he exclaimed, “I’ve -counted all the hippopotamuses and rhinoceroses there are. Now what do -I do?” - -“Begin on the camels and lions and tigers,” said Billy. - -“And when they’re counted?” - -“Count the ants,” said Billy with a sudden inspiration, and the Equator -troubled him no more. - -Billy was delighted. The Equator’s lips moved rapidly for some minutes, -and Billy slipped quietly down into the crater to find Nimbus and the -Evening Star to tell them to hurry and make their escape. - -He wandered about blindly for some little time, then stopped bewildered. - -The crater forked in many directions. It seemed hopeless to explore any -one of them because his friends might have taken another. - -At last he determined to make sure that when they did come back they -would have no trouble in escaping. - -Returning to the mouth of the crater he saw the Equator still fast -asleep. - -Billy’s hands went to his pockets, and when they came out they brought -a quantity of fish-line, which he always carried for emergencies. - -He deftly tied the line to a huge stone, making sure that the knot Was -fast, and then very cautiously slipped it through the center of the -Equator, making a loose knot, but one that would be reasonably sure to -hold him. He doubled and redoubled the string, and when the job was -done stood back and surveyed it with considerable pride. - -Then, assured that the Equator was at his mercy, he began to hope for -him to wake up so that he could enjoy his triumph. He even coughed once -or twice in the hope of awakening his captive, but the Equator was very -tired and it seemed impossible to arouse him. - -At last, unable longer to restrain his impulse, Billy took a sharp -stick and poked the Equator smartly once, twice, three times. - -The sleeper’s eyes opened, and he tried to yawn and stretch, but the -fish-line restrained him. He looked about wrathfully and espied Billy. - -Instantly his dull glowing skin became white hot with rage, and the -line melted away like straw. - -The Equator sprang to his feet, his whole circular body shining like -the iron which the blacksmith has just taken from the forge. - -“You shall pay for this, young man!” he cried. “I may not be able to -turn you into a Comet, but I can maroon you on the Polar Star, which -will be quite as satisfactory.” - -As Billy stood petrified with fear the Equator swept down upon him. - -[Illustration: “Billy took a sharp stick and poked the Equator -smartly”] - - - - -JACK FROST - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -JACK FROST - - -If you’ve never had an Equator sweep down on you, of course you cannot -understand in the least how frightened Billy was. Even the Equine Ox -grew gray with fear when the Equator was angry, and the Equine Ox was -seldom disturbed by anything but indigestion in his four stomachs. - -As for Billy, he had never been really frightened before, excepting -the time he fell into a tar barrel, and looking back upon it, that -experience now seemed a very tame affair. - -He shrank back and waited for the worst. To his surprise it did not -happen. For just as the Equator was rushing toward him, just as he was -trying to say Jack Robinson, and say it so quickly that his life would -be spared an instant or two before he was turned to ashes, he heard a -voice say: - -“Hello, ’Quate! Loose, I see!” - -Instantly the Equator, who had been white-hot, turned a sort of sickly -yellow, then faded to dull red, and finally to a bluish green. In the -meantime he had stopped sweeping down on Billy and was motionless, -save for a tremor that ran through his circular frame. - -Between Billy and the Equator stood a wiry little fellow dressed all -in fluffy white, with a white cap to match. In his hand he held what -seemed to be a very straight icicle, which glittered with all the hues -of the rainbow. - -The Equator glowered upon the newcomer for some seconds before he -growled huskily: “Jack Frost!” - -“Perfectly correct,” said the stranger cheerfully. “I always did admire -a good memory for names.” - -“What are you doing here?” demanded the Equator sulkily, and Billy saw -to his joy that he was now in no further danger of attack. - -“Nothing that I am ashamed of,” returned Jack Frost, “which is more, it -seems to me, than you can say.” - -The Equator stared at Billy. “I--I--” he faltered. - -“What was he doing?” asked Jack Frost, turning suddenly to Billy. -Before the little boy could answer the Equator with a flop or two rose -in the air, circled once or twice over the trees and sailed rapidly -away. - -“Bad lot!” commented Jack Frost. “Never take him seriously.” - -“But he was going to burn me up,” said Billy. - -“Umph!” said Jack Frost. “That’s different. Let’s go and see about it.” - -Billy thought he had seen all of the Equator he cared to, but Jack -Frost insisted on watching that ill-tempered creature, and so Billy -followed him to the very top of the volcano where they could get a -clear view of the horizon. - -They saw the Equator making off a mile or two away, and Jack Frost, -taking Billy by the arm, started down the mountain at a brisk trot. As -they hurried along Jack Frost said: - -“I suppose you have heard of me.” - -“Oh, yes,” said Billy. “I have, many times.” - -“I’m not so cold as I’m painted,” said Jack Frost. - -“I’m sure you are not,” replied Billy respectfully. - -“No,” said Jack Frost, “I really am not a bad fellow. Your father -probably holds it against me because I freeze the water pipes -sometimes, but think how the plumber’s poor little children love me for -it.” - -“That’s true,” said Billy. - -“Sometimes,” continued Jack Frost, “I pinch little boys’ fingers, but -that is only to remind them that they forget to ask their mothers if -they can go skating.” - -“I only did that once,” said Billy, reddening. - -“Again,” said Jack Frost, “I nip flowers. I do that to warn them to go -back into the ground, because winter is coming.” - -“You ought to do it,” said Billy. “I hope they don’t object.” - -“They do, though. People often object to things that are good for them, -like going to bed early, and washing their hands and geography.” - -“Oh, I love geography now,” protested Billy. - -“Oh, I’m delighted to hear it. Do you like songs?” - -“Yes, indeed. The Equine Ox knows a beautiful one about the Equator.” - -“I cannot imagine a beautiful song about the Equator,” said Jack Frost. -“See what you think of mine.” And seating himself on the edge of the -cliff they had been skirting, with his heels hanging over space, he -sang: - -THE SONG OF JACK FROST - - “In the brown October, - When the bonfires burn, - When reluctant robins - Sadly homeward turn, - When the trees are moulting - Leaves of gold and red, - Like stray flakes of sunset - From the sky o’erhead, - Then I steal at twilight - Through the shadows gray, - Heralding the winter - That is on its way. - Soon with films of silver - I shall overspread - Every quiet water - In its pebbly bed. - Soon I’ll warn the flowers - That it’s time to keep - Tryst with dreams of springtime, - Wrapped in golden sleep. - -[Illustration: “And seating himself on the edge of the cliff, he -sang”] - - Then when first the snowflakes - Tremble in the air - I must forth and hurry, - Hurry everywhere: - Silvering the treetops - Till their branches bright - Shimmer as the rainbow - In the morning light. - Etching lacy landscapes - On the windowpane, - Spreading fluffy carpets - Over hill and plain, - Roofing over rivers, - Blanketing the bears, - Warm and snug and cozy - In their forest lairs. - Here and there and yonder, - Always on the wing, - Till I’m called to slumber - By the voice of Spring.” - -“I think that is a very pretty song,” said Billy. - -“Thank you,” said Jack Frost; “but what has become of the Equator in -the meantime?” - -Billy looked in every direction, but no sign of the Equator was to be -seen. - -“I was listening to your song,” he said. “I forgot to keep looking.” - -“You are a very nice little boy,” said Jack Frost, patting Billy on -the head, “but we have just got to find that Equator. There is no -telling what he may be doing.” - -“I know what he will try to do,” said Billy. - -“That’s something. What is it?” - -“Catch Miss Evening Star and make a Comet out of her.” - -“Great goodness! Why didn’t you say that before?” - -“There wasn’t time,” explained Billy. - -“There is always time,” said Jack Frost coldly. “Time is everywhere. -The supply is inexhaustible.” - -“I’m sorry,” said Billy. - -“Never mind,” said Jack Frost kindly. “I dare say it will turn out all -right, like the farmer’s wagon that met the automobile. Anyway, here -comes the Geography Fairy. He ought to have some tidings.” - -Looking over the edge of the cliff, Billy saw Nimbus approaching. He -explained afterward that the crater which he and the Evening Star had -followed, led right through the volcano and out of the cliff at the -bottom. - -Jack Frost hailed him, and Nimbus climbed up, bidding his train of -Meteors wait until he returned. - -He and Jack Frost shook hands cordially, and Nimbus inquired: - -“Have either of you seen anything of the Evening Star? I lost track of -her when we got out of the crater.” - -“Gracious!” said Billy, “I thought she was with you.” - -“So she was,” said Nimbus, “but she said she thought she’d like to fly -once more, and sailed off to pay the Moon a visit.” - -Jack Frost looked up quickly. - -“That’s where the Equator’s gone, then,” he said. - -“Has the Equator left the top of the volcano?” asked Nimbus excitedly. - -“He has,” said Jack Frost. “He was just about to destroy this little -boy when I stopped him. He’s afraid of me.” - -“More than of any one else in the whole world,” said Nimbus. “But where -do you suppose he is now?” - -“I don’t suppose,” said Jack Frost; “I can only suspect.” - -“And what do you suspect?” - -“That he’s trailing the Evening Star, and if he finds her----” - -“But he must not find her,” cried Nimbus. - -“No,” said Jack Frost, “he must not.” - -Out of the darkness above them shone a bright speck that grew larger -and larger. As it drew nearer Billy saw that it was a Meteor, a new -Meteor which he had never seen before. - -“Hey, there!” shouted Nimbus, who had seen him the same moment Billy -did; “any message for me?” - -“Yes,” puffed the Meteor, who was not within easy talking distance. -“Miss Evening Star is being chased by the Equator, and has only got -about a thousand miles’ start.” - -“Which way are they going?” asked Nimbus and Jack Frost in a breath. - -“Gee whiz!” said the Meteor, “I forgot to ask.” - - - - -THE COMPASS - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE COMPASS - - -“Strange that you fellows never forget to ask for your meals,” said -Jack Frost tartly. “Your memory never fails you there.” - -“Let us not waste time scolding them,” said Nimbus. “The important -thing is to find where the Equator and the Evening Star have gone.” - -“Very true,” said Jack Frost. “We’ll establish headquarters -immediately, and send out scouts.” - -Then he led the way to a little clump of palms which was at the foot of -a hill just below them. - -The Meteors, like a great flock of fireflies, followed along in their -wake, and when they stopped they lined up for orders. - -“Now,” said Nimbus, addressing them, “how many points of the compass -are there?” - -“It depends entirely on the compass,” said one of the Meteors. - -“He’s right,” said Jack Frost. “A large compass would have more points -than a small one. There’s more room on it.” - -“I can box the compass,” chirruped another Meteor proudly. - -“I can box ears,” snapped Nimbus peevishly. - -Here Jack Frost broke in. - -“Tell off a thousand Meteors,” he said, “to count all the points on the -largest compass, and then order a scout to go in the direction pointed -by each point. That ought to get them.” - -“Good,” declared Nimbus. “Go to work, you fellows, and carry out -orders. The first one who discovers them, notify Aurora Borealis, and -she’ll flash the signal down to us.” - -The Meteors, who were always active when there was work to be done, -shot forth on their errands. - -“How long do you suppose it will be before the Equator can catch the -Evening Star?” asked Billy. - -“It all depends on whether or not they are both going in the same -direction,” replied Jack Frost. - -Billy smiled. “Of course,” he said, “if they were going in opposite -directions he never would catch her.” - -“Wrong,” said Jack Frost. “Supposing I started for the South Pole and -you started for the North Pole, and we both kept on going in the same -direction after we got there, what would happen?” - -Billy thought a minute. “Oh, I see!” he cried; “we’d meet on the -opposite side of the earth.” - -“We would,” said Jack Frost, “if we didn’t stop on the way. The -Equator has probably gone in the opposite direction, intending to meet -the Evening Star on the other side of the world. That would surprise -her.” - -“In that case,” said Nimbus, “Jack Frost and I had better start off in -opposite directions and see which gets to the other side of the world -first. The one who does can put a stop to this chase.” - -“But we don’t know just which part of the other side they’re going to -meet on,” objected Jack Frost. - -“We can take a chance,” said Nimbus. “That’s what the Meteors will have -to do, and we can beat them, because we have no tails to drag after us.” - -“What shall I do?” said Billy. - -“You can stay here and get him if he happens to pass,” said Nimbus. - -Billy was a little troubled about this, but he was not the boy to admit -that he was frightened, and, though his mouth trembled a trifle and he -winked a little more rapidly than usual, he kept a brave face as his -two friends each called a cloud out of the sky and sailed away upon it. - -He had stood there but a few minutes when he heard the tinkling of -a bell a little distance away. At first it rang slowly and at long -intervals, then faster and faster, till at length it sounded like the -triangle the man played in one corner of the orchestra in the theater -at home. - -Thinking there could be no harm in finding out where the sound came -from, as the Equator was as little likely to alight in one place as -another, he listened very carefully, then proceeded slowly toward the -tinkling sound. - -Soon he came out into the very clearing where the trolley car had -reached the earth, and there stood the trolley car with the face of the -Equine Ox protruding from the front door and wearing a very unhappy -expression. - -Confronting the Equine Ox was the conductor, who was waving his hands -and shouting, while the motorman was stooping over, a little way off, -gathering up a smooth round stone about the size of an egg. - -Meanwhile the tinkle of the bell sounded continuously, and the -Equine Ox wriggled and writhed as if very much displeased with his -imprisonment. - -The motorman being nearest to him, Billy addressed him: - -“What are you going to do with that stone?” he inquired. - -“Throw it at the Ox,” replied the motorman. - -“Oh, don’t do that,” pleaded Billy. “You might hurt him. And he isn’t -doing anything bad, I’m sure.” - -“He isn’t, isn’t he?” shouted the motorman. “Ain’t he lashing his tail?” - -“What of that?” asked Billy. “All animals lash their tails except bears -and saddle horses and fox-hunters, which haven’t any tails to lash.” - -“But his tail is caught in the bell rope,” said the motorman, hurling -the stone at the Equine Ox. The stone broke a window, and although -it did not reach its target, it annoyed the creature so that he -struggled more frantically than before, and the bell jingled furiously. - -[Illustration: “Confronting the Equine Ox was the conductor, waving his -hand and shouting”] - -“Stop,” cried the conductor excitedly. “It’s getting too expensive for -me.” - -“Expensive!” said Billy in amazement. - -“Yes, expensive. Every time he wiggles his tail that way he rings up a -fare, and he’s rung up more than thirty-seven dollars’ worth already. -I’ve counted ’em all.” - -Billy understood why the motorman and the conductor were so worried. -The tail of the Ox had become entangled in the rope that led to the -fare register, and every tinkle of the bell meant a fare recorded. - -At first he was shocked to think of this wasteful extravagance, but -then he recollected that as the car was not on a regular run the fares -couldn’t really be counted against the motorman and the conductor. - -They were not at all certain of this when he explained it to them. - -“We’re going back, ain’t we?” asked the conductor. - -“Oh, yes,” said Billy, “I’m sure we are.” - -“Well, when we run the car into the barn they’ll charge me with these -fares,” said the conductor. “The car will have been away so long that -they’ll be disgusted if it has not earned any money.” - -“I tell you,” said Billy; “when Nimbus comes back I’ll get him to -enchant the register so it will only charge up the fares you have -really collected. That will make it all right.” - -This appeased the motorman and the conductor, and in answer to Billy’s -questions they explained how the Equine Ox got into the car. - -When they were left alone with him he had behaved very badly, rolling -on the ground and laughing very heartily, which proved, as they had -been told by Nimbus, that he was furiously angry. - -Then he began to sing, and at last he actually started to run away. - -But they prevented this by tying the trolley rope tightly to his horn -and securing him to the car, and then, fearing that the rope might -break, they hit upon a stratagem. - -They talked eagerly about the comforts and coolness of the inside of -the car, until the curiosity of the Equine Ox outran his discretion and -he insisted upon going in. - -Knowing that he was governed by contraries, they tried to prevent his -doing so. This, as they expected, made him all the more determined, and -he forced his way past them into the car. - -But once inside he found it impossible to get out, and then it was that -he began the lashing of his tail, which had resulted in the ringing up -of so many fares. - -Billy agreed with the motorman and the conductor that the best place -for the Equine Ox was in the trolley car, for if he tried too hard to -escape they had only to shut the door to keep him there. - -So Billy sat down and told the trolley men everything that had happened -since he left them, and they became as excited as he was about the -chances of the Evening Star’s escape from the Equator. - -“I wish I had the Equator in reach of my crank handle,” said the -motorman. - -“I wish,” said Billy, “that the Evening Star would come past here right -now. We’d get Nimbus to enchant the trolley car again, and away we’d go -back home with her.” - -“Sure,” said the conductor. “We could use her for a headlight on the -way home.” - -They were all busily discussing what could be done to secure the -Evening Star against the Equator when they had her in Billy’s home when -a light shone above the trees and soon a Meteor dropped among them. - -“I just met the Equator going west-nor’west,” he said. “Where’s Nimbus?” - -“In that case,” bellowed the Equine Ox, “I’ll go sou’-sou’east,” and he -walked calmly away in that direction, tearing out the forward end of -the trolley car as he went. - -[Illustration: “Soon a Meteor dropped among them”] - - - - -THE TRAIL OF THE RUNAWAY - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE TRAIL OF THE RUNAWAY - - -With wild cries the conductor and the motorman ran after the Equine Ox, -but although he appeared to be walking, he went at a tremendous speed, -and soon they were compelled to give up the chase. - -“Oh! Oh!” wailed Billy, who was terribly distressed at the escape of -the Equine Ox, “I wish there was something I could do. But I am so -small that I am absolutely useless around here.” - -There was a cracking of branches close at hand, and to Billy’s -astonishment and delight the Equine Ox reappeared. - -“Do you think it is unlucky to be small, Billy?” he inquired. - -The motorman and the conductor started forward, but the Equine Ox -lowered his horns. - -“Never mind that now,” he said to them. “I will give you due notice of -my next movements, and on the whole I don’t think I will go at all. I -don’t think the Equator will come this way, at all events.” - -The conductor and the motorman still advanced, but Billy said: - -“I think the Equine Ox is speaking the truth. His eyes look honest.” - -“My eyes are honest,” said the Equine Ox. “They never deceived me in my -life. But as I was saying, why are you so sorry that you’re small?” - -“Because,” said Billy, “I can’t be of any help when things happen.” - -“Listen,” said the Equine Ox, and throwing back his head he sang: - -THE MELANCHOLY STAR - - “A foolish little star I knew, quite petulant and peevish grew, - And all because he thought he was - Compelled to shine unheeded. - ‘I know,’ he sighed, ‘that I am small, and so I shouldn’t shine at - all; - It isn’t fair to keep me where - I plainly am not needed.’ - - “So every night, from dark till dawn, dejectedly he carried on, - And pined and sighed and whined and cried - In this dyspeptic fashion. - In bitterness and discontent his poor defenseless rays he rent, - And tore his hair, till sore despair - Became his ruling passion. - -[Illustration: “Listen, said the Equine Ox, and throwing back his head, -he sang”] - - “Of course when one thus falls a prey to melancholy, night and day, - And merely moans and mopes and groans, - He’ll grow weak-minded from it; - And as this star became more blue, and thinking of his sorrows grew - Each day more sad, he soon went mad, - And turned into a comet. - - “Now little girls who fancy they are always in grown people’s way, - And little chaps who think perhaps - They’re not appreciated; - Of course will surely never share the fate this starlet had to bear, - But still they need perhaps to heed - This tale that I’ve related. - - “For if they do not mind at all because they happen to be small, - They soon will see their tasks will be - Made wonderfully lighter; - And when a child is gay of heart, and always gladly does his part, - And never sighs and never cries, - He makes the whole world brighter.” - -“I’ll try not to be sorry any more,” said Billy, when the song was -finished. - -“That’s right,” said the Equine Ox; “and now, if the gentlemen don’t -mind, I’d like to go back into the trolley car. It fitted me perfectly, -and it was such fun ringing that bell.” - -“The trolley car’s broke,” said the conductor. “And if it wasn’t I -wouldn’t take a chance on having you ring up any more fares.” - -“Very well,” said the Equine Ox, “then we might as well sit quietly and -await the reports of the Meteors. They’ll be coming in very soon now.” - -But it was not a Meteor who first arrived. It was Jack Frost and -Nimbus, coming in from opposite directions almost at the same time. -Both had been clear around the world, they said, and neither had seen a -sign of the Equator or the Evening Star. - -“I suppose,” said Billy, when this dismal report was received, “that we -ought to notify the Sun.” - -“I can’t notify him,” said Jack Frost. “He and I are utter strangers.” - -“I sent the Rays to notify him,” said Nimbus. “But I don’t think it -will do any good. He can only travel so fast anyway, not more than a -million miles a minute, and that would not do any good.” - -“What is there to do, then?” inquired Billy disconsolately. - -Hardly were the words out of his mouth when a Meteor came dashing in -among them. - -“Any news?” asked Jack Frost. - -“Lots of it,” said the Meteor. “News is happening every minute.” - -“He means any news of the Evening Star or the Equator,” said Nimbus. - -“No,” said the Meteor. “In fact I had forgotten all about them in the -excitement.” - -“What excitement?” demanded Nimbus. - -“Why,” said the Meteor, “the most astonishing things are happening. In -Chicago grapefruits are growing on Wabash Avenue, monkeys are swarming -up the Tribune Building on Madison Street, and they are raising tobacco -and watermelons on Drexel Boulevard.” - -“Gracious,” said Jack Frost, “and this is the middle of January! What -can that mean?” - -“Great news,” sang out a voice overhead, and another Meteor settled in -among them. - -“Snow has all melted in Duluth,” he said, “and there is an -unprecedented sale of palmleaf fans all through that part of the -country.” - -Before any one could express surprise at this astonishing information a -third Meteor and a fourth alighted. - -“It is ninety degrees in the shade in Winnipeg,” said the third Meteor, -“and they are picking cocoanuts in Quebec. The baseball season has -opened in Iceland.” - -“Hotter still in Norway,” said the fourth Meteor, who had just arrived; -“oldest inhabitant never remembers such sultry weather. Eskimos are now -wearing mosquito nets instead of furs, and they’re catching crocodiles -in the Arctic Ocean. The icebergs have begun to boil.” - -“This won’t do!” cried Jack Frost excitedly. “All the work that I’ve -been at for centuries is being undone. I’ll soon have to organize a -syndicate to attend to my business if this keeps up. Whatever can have -happened?” - -Another Meteor came in just then with still more tidings. - -“Great schools of whales are passing Cape Nome,” he said, “all going -north. They’re picking strawberries off the tundras there, and they are -advertising hot springs for rheumatism in a glacier.” - -Nimbus, who had been sitting with knitted brows, suddenly leaped to his -feet, and slapped the conductor on the back with such violence that -that gentleman fell forward against the Equine Ox. - -“I know what it is,” shouted Nimbus. “The Equator is up there. That’s -what’s making all this trouble!” - -“Then far be it from me to stay here,” said Jack Frost, preparing to -start at once. “I’m not going to have all my good icebergs and glaciers -melted like ice cream. It took me countless centuries to make some of -them.” - -“Oh, never mind your old icebergs and glaciers,” said Nimbus. “The -point is that we’ve located the Equator and we can stop him before he -catches the Evening Star. He can only thaw a radius of a few miles at -one time, now that he’s shrunk so, so you don’t need to worry at all -about his undoing your work.” - -“Well, anyway, we must go up there,” said Jack Frost. - -“We certainly must,” said Nimbus, “and as soon as possible. I expect -Aurora Borealis will be reporting him at any time now.” - -At that exact moment the sky lighted up with pink splendor that waved -and flickered and danced over the heavens. - -“There she is now,” cried Nimbus. “Come, let us be off!” - -“Please,” said Billy, who was intensely excited, “may I go, too? I -should dearly love to help catch him.” - -“Why, yes, I guess so,” said Nimbus. “I’ll enchant the trolley car -again and we’ll all go in that.” - -The trolley car had been very badly damaged by the Equine Ox, but -Nimbus merely tapped it with his wand and it became whole again. The -motorman regarded him open-mouthed. - -“Wouldn’t he be a wonder in a repair shop?” he exclaimed. - -“I guess she’ll hold together now,” said Nimbus. “Come on, Jack Frost; -come on, Billy,” and he led the way into the car. - -The conductor and the motorman took their places, and the Equine Ox at -the last moment crowded into the rear door. There was scarcely room for -him, but Nimbus did not care to lose any time in putting him out. - -The car was speedily got under way and soon was merrily sailing along -in the direction of the North Pole. - -[Illustration: “The Equine Ox crowded into the rear door”] - - - - -WHERE NIGHT IS SIX MONTHS LONG - - - - -CHAPTER X - -WHERE NIGHT IS SIX MONTHS LONG - - -“It is a good thing that both the Evening Star and the Equator shine,” -said Billy. “We can find them so easily in the dark.” - -“But there isn’t going to be any dark,” said Jack Frost. - -“Oh, but there will be at night!” said Billy confidently. “It is always -dark at night. It has to be or you wouldn’t know it was night.” - -“But there won’t be any night for six months where we are going,” said -Jack Frost. “There never is at the North Pole.” - -“Gracious!” said Billy; “that must be dreadful. And do the days last -for six months, too?” - -“To be sure they do. If you ask a boy to come to your house to spend -the afternoon at the North Pole he stays for three months.” - -“It must be terrible when the baby has the colic all night,” said Billy -thoughtfully. “That happens often at our house, and Papa has to walk -the floor with him.” - -“I don’t know much about babies,” said Jack Frost, “but I suppose they -would stop crying before morning. Maybe they’d be satisfied crying for -a month or two if they weren’t interrupted.” - -“There’s an iceberg,” said Nimbus, who had been keeping a lookout. “We -ought to be getting there in a little while now. We are running into a -dawn anyway.” - -To the southward Billy noticed a faint grayish streak in the sky, and -soon he could see the white caps that the breakers always wear to keep -their heads warm on windy days. - -They were going very fast. Little white specks that seemed to be -flying past beneath them he now saw were icebergs, and by-and-by these -began to appear in great numbers, dotting the sea like schools of tiny -islands in all directions. - -Although the light was growing brighter all the time, he was still -aware of a faint flickering glow to the northward, and this his friends -told him was Aurora Borealis flashing the news that the Equator and the -Evening Star were still in the neighborhood. - -“I wish this thing would hurry,” said Nimbus impatiently. “We are not -going more than five hundred miles an hour now. Mere dawdling, I call -it.” - -“Crawling,” said Jack Frost. - -“I wonder how long it will be before we catch up to them,” said Billy. - -“Can’t tell,” said Nimbus. “Depends on whether we are going in their -direction or not.” - -Suddenly Jack Frost gave a roar of rage. - -“Look there!” he shouted. “Just look there. It took me centuries to -make that glacier, and now look at it. Isn’t that a shame?” - -Below them, where a range of snowy mountains skirted the sea, they saw -a long dark streak which, when more closely observed, proved to be a -mountain area entirely bared of snow and leading like a great broad -road to the north. - -“That’s what that wretched Equator has been doing,” said Jack Frost -sadly. “He’s spoiled a glacier that was a work of art--almost my -masterpiece. I suppose when I get up to the North Pole I’ll find he has -melted that. And if he has, it’ll spoil. You cannot possibly keep a -North Pole unless you keep it on ice.” - -“But,” cried Nimbus, who plainly did not share Jack Frost’s annoyance, -“we can trace him now. That is where he must have lighted. Let’s go -down there and see if we can find any trace of the Evening Star.” - -He had hardly spoken when the car began rapidly to descend, and -presently it was resting on a mountain top between two tall ice cliffs. - -Jack Frost looked at them ruefully. - -“That was my glacier,” he said. “My beautiful glacier--one of the best -I ever built. And now look at it. Ruined, utterly ruined.” - -Nimbus, who had been searching over the rocks, uttered a cry of -pleasure. - -“Look here,” he said. “The Equator got here first. The Evening Star did -not come till later. So she is probably safe, after all.” - -“How do you know that?” said Jack Frost. - -“See,” said Nimbus. “When he got here and cleaned the snow off”--Jack -Frost grunted disgustedly--“the flowers began to spring up. Here are -daisies and buttercups and forget-me-nots and violets and trilliums, -all growing where he turned the heat on.” - -“I don’t see that that proves anything,” said Jack Frost. - -“But it does,” said Nimbus, “whether you see it or not. After they grew -and blossomed somebody came and picked lots of them. You can see where -they have been snipped off.” - -“Well?” said Jack Frost. - -“It must have been the Evening Star,” continued Nimbus. “She’s very -fond of flowers, you know, and nobody else could get here.” - -“Humph!” said Jack Frost; “there may be something in that. But whether -there is or not, I must rebuild this glacier, or at least start it. -I’ll begin by cutting down these flowers.” - -“Oh, please don’t!” said Billy. “They look so pretty here among the -snowdrifts. Let them just stay for a while anyway.” - -“All right,” said Jack Frost, “for a while, if it will please you. But -I want you to understand that they are in the way of the loveliest -glacier that----” - -“Never mind your glacier,” shouted Nimbus. “I’ve found the track of the -Evening Star, and she is going east instead of north.” - -He had climbed up a crevice in one of the ice cliffs and was studying -the surface of a thin covering of new-fallen snow. - -There before him were the dainty footprints of the Evening Star, -and here and there a blossom apparently fallen from her bouquet lay -scattered along the tracks. - -“Now,” said Nimbus, “we will separate. Billy, you and I will go after -the Evening Star, and you, Jack Frost, can follow the open trail of the -Equator and see if you can find him. If you do find him, be sure not to -let him get away.” - -“How about us?” said the motorman severely. - -“Oh, I had forgotten you!” said Nimbus. - -“We hadn’t,” said the motorman. - -“Then you’d better,” said the Equine Ox, sticking his head out of one -of the windows of the car. “Always remember yourself last.” - -“I don’t care to hear anything more from you,” said the motorman. -“It’s against the rules for a beast to talk, anyway.” - -“Oh, I don’t know about that!” said a voice from a little peak just -above them. - -“A bear,” said Billy, astonished. - -“Why not?” said the voice, as a great white Polar Bear threaded his way -down the slope toward the trolley car. - -But the motorman and the conductor seemed to think there were many -reasons why not. They hastily sought shelter inside the car and closed -the door after them, while the Equine Ox, with a snort of terror, -pulled his head in so quickly that he brought away a part of the sash -with his horns. - -“My!” said Billy; “I’m afraid that bear will get them or us.” - -“He’ll have to eat the side of the trolley car before he gets them,” -said Nimbus. - -“And by that time,” added Jack Frost, “he’ll be so full he won’t have -any more room for them.” - -So, leaving the bear busily gnawing at the sash board of the car, -Nimbus, Jack Frost and Billy proceeded afoot on their quest. - -Jack Frost set out on the Equator’s trail at a prodigious pace, -muttering to himself at each fresh discovery of a ruined glacier or -melted icefield. - -Billy and Nimbus proceeded more slowly, for the track of the Evening -Star was not always distinct, and it was plain that, here and there, -when the going was hard, she had sailed over the obstructing cliffs. - -At the end of an hour the track disappeared altogether, nor could they -find it, search as they might. - -“Where do you suppose she has gone?” inquired Billy. - -“Up,” said Nimbus briefly. “Probably saw the Equator coming.” - -As he was speaking they heard a familiar voice, and Jack Frost hailed -them. - -“Hello!” said Nimbus; “what are you doing over here?” - -“This is where the track brought me,” replied Jack Frost, and Billy and -Nimbus saw that the trail through the snow which had been melted by the -Equator was within a few yards of them. - -“That explains why the Evening Star stopped walking,” said Nimbus. “She -saw the Equator headed over this way, and decided she had better travel -a little faster.” - -It had grown quite light, so that the flashes of Aurora could no longer -seem to guide them, for they had quite faded in the brighter dawn. - -As Billy was very tired, Jack Frost and Nimbus agreed to sit down for a -few minutes while he rested. In the mean time they sent a Meteor back -for the trolley car so that they might continue their journey more -easily. - -“Walking is foolish, anyway,” said Jack Frost. “Why any one who can fly -should ever walk is a mystery to me.” - -“Birds do,” said Billy. - -“Yes,” said Jack Frost, “and sometimes they overdo it, like the awkward -auk. Did you ever hear about him?” - -“No,” said Billy, “I never did, but I should love to.” - -“It’s a sad story,” said Jack Frost, “but here it is”: - - “Two excellent wings had the awkward auk, - But he was never known to fly, - Preferring a rambling, shambling walk, - And the walruses wondered why; - Yet there seems no reason that on this point - Their minds should have been so hazy, - For it’s clear to me as a thing can be - That the awkward auk was lazy. - - “Though he might have skirted the rainbow’s rim - Or circled above the seas, - The only gait that appealed to him - Was one of reposeful ease; - He strutted about o’er the crags and cliffs - In a most ungainly fashion, - And the fowls that flew he was prone to view - With a kind of cold compassion. - - “But it chanced one night that a hungry fox - Got a look at the awkward auk, - Who was strolling about on the spray-washed rocks - With his usual clumsy walk; - He made a dash for the startled bird, - And the auk with a frown of fright - On his furrowed brow, observed that now - Was a crisis that called for flight. - - “He flapped and flopped with his feeble wings, - And he wobbled his trifling tail; - But, alas! The long-neglected things - Were not of the least avail; - Which is why the fox, as he licked his chops - With a gratified gusto, winked, - And is why the auk who preferred to walk - Has come to be quite extinct.” - -Jack Frost had just finished the last word when the Meteor came flying -up to them. - -“The Equator,” he said, “is at the North Pole, and the Evening Star is -hiding under a glacier there. As soon as he melts the glacier----” - -“Everything will be lost,” finished Nimbus. “Come on, there is not a -moment to lose.” - -“I’ll be there in a minute,” said Jack Frost, “but I’ve got to start -those melted glaciers first; you know that’s my job, and I dare not -neglect it.” - -“All right,” said Nimbus. “Billy and I will go on without you. Come on, -Billy.” - -Billy started to follow him, but Nimbus, in his excitement, had -completely forgotten the little boy. He struck up a pace that Billy -could not possibly keep, and soon was out of hearing--a tiny speck on -the vast white snowfield that stretched ahead toward the horizon. - -“I guess I’ll have to go with you, Jack Frost,” said Billy, turning -sadly toward the spot where that worthy had been standing. - -But Jack Frost had vanished utterly, and there was Billy deserted on a -great Arctic snowfield, just at the most exciting moment of the chase. - - - - -THE END OF THE CHASE - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE END OF THE CHASE - - -It must be admitted that there were tears in the little boy’s eyes, -tears that overflowed and made damp, messy places on his wide -shirt-collar before they could be ordered back where they belonged. - -They were tears of disappointment rather than fear, although certain -thoughts of bears and walruses and even great sharp-billed Arctic owls -insisted on following one another very rapidly through his mind. - -But when five minutes passed and no bears nor other terrifying -creatures appeared Billy began to take heart. - -“They’re sure to miss me,” he said aloud, for it was comforting to hear -a sound, even if it were only that of his own voice. “And when they do -miss me they’ll find me. They are fairies, and they can find anything.” - -“Anything but the Evening Star,” said a deep voice beside him. “They -haven’t found her yet, remember.” - -Billy jumped almost out of his shoes, he was so startled, but he -looked bravely in the direction of the voice just the same, and to his -amazement he saw the Equine Ox standing knee deep in snow and switching -his tail vigorously as he had learned to switch it in the tropics -where the flies are bad. It made Billy laugh to see him do it in the -Arctic Circle. But the Equine Ox said it was a warming process. - -“I repeat,” said the Equine Ox, “that they haven’t found the Evening -Star. That is chiefly because they refused to ask me to help them.” - -“But,” said Billy, “you are supposed to be back there with the -conductor and the motorman.” - -“They were not interesting,” said the Equine Ox. “No doubt they are -very worthy people, but they are not interesting. They talked about pie -and cheese sandwiches and fried beefsteak and other things I do not -care for, so I came up here. I knew I would have to, anyway, before -they found the Evening Star.” - -“How in the world did you get here?” asked Billy. - -“I didn’t,” said the Equine Ox. - -“But you’re here, so you must have got here,” insisted Billy. - -“You asked,” said the Equine Ox placidly, “how in the world I got here. -I didn’t get here in the world. I got here out of the world. I came by -way of the Big Dipper.” - -“Oh!” said Billy; “I suppose I see. Anyway, it would not be polite to -keep on asking you questions, even if I don’t understand.” - -“An Equine Ox,” said the other, “can go anywhere he pleases, on the -world or off of it. I hadn’t seen the Big Dipper for some time, so -I went up there, took a drink and came down here. I know of nothing -easier to do than that, do you?” - -Billy knew of a great many things that would have been easier for him -to do; so many, in fact, that it would be too great a task to enumerate -them, so he kept silent. - -“I do hope you can help them find the Evening Star,” he said at length. - -“Certainly I can,” said the Equine Ox. “There she is now.” - -“Where?” cried Billy. - -“Over across the lake on the other side of the mountain”--and the -Equine Ox pointed with his tail to the southward. “Just now she is -frozen in a glacier.” - -“Mercy!” said Billy; “and there is no one to help us to get her out.” - -“Unless you count us,” said the conductor. “But I suppose, of course, -you don’t.” - -He was standing right at Billy’s elbow, and directly behind him was the -motorman. - -“The Equine Ox ran away on us again,” explained the conductor, noticing -Billy’s astonishment. - -“Ran away on you?” inquired Billy. - -“He means off of them,” said the Equine Ox. “He’s dreadfully -ungrammatical.” - -“Don’t you call me names,” said the conductor threateningly. - -“Please don’t quarrel,” said Billy. “The Evening Star is in that -glacier over yonder, and we must get her out of it or she’ll freeze to -death.” - -“Then let’s,” said the motorman. - -Billy excitedly hurried to the glacier, and the others followed as fast -as they could. - -It was plain that somebody was confined within its green depths, for a -form could be distinctly seen by the whole party, who flattened their -noses against the cliff-like side of the glacier and gazed eagerly into -it. - -“I think you had better begin to batter in the ice with your horns,” -said the motorman, “and we’ll follow you up and throw out the loose -ice.” - -The Equine Ox, thus addressed, fell energetically to work and soon had -broken a fair-sized hole in the ice wall. - -Into it dashed the conductor and the motorman, and they threw out the -fragments of ice broken off by the sharp horns, while Billy, unable to -do anything or to find any place to work at all, stood and wrung his -hands in impatience. - -It was a hard task, but the three kept steadily at it, and in a very -little while only a thin wall separated them from the object of their -search. - -Suddenly the last film of ice was broken through, and then they all -fell back in blank amazement, for it was not the Evening Star at all -who came forth, but Jack Frost, looking rather chilly and very much -ashamed. - -“Jack Frost!” cried the Equine Ox. “Jack Frost, by all that’s -astonishing!” - -“Well, I never!” said the conductor. - -“Me neither,” said the motorman, “and many of ’em.” - -“How in the world did you get in there, Jack Frost?” asked Billy. - -“Well, I hate to admit it,” said Jack Frost, “but I froze myself in. It -was all a mistake.” - -“Mistakes will happen,” said the motorman. “The best of us are sure to -make ’em at times. I hate to run over dogs, but sometimes I do it.” - -“You see,” said Jack Frost, “I was in a hurry to rebuild that glacier, -and I got so interested I didn’t leave myself any place to get out till -it was all done.” - -“But why didn’t you build it from the outside?” asked Billy. - -“That’s the way men build things,” said Jack Frost. “It’s different -with us Nature people. Did you ever see a tree built from the outside? -Or a tomato?” - -Billy couldn’t remember that he ever had. - -“And now,” continued Jack Frost, “I wish you would tell me the news. -Has the Equator got the Evening Star yet?” - -“I don’t know,” said Billy. - -“Why haven’t you been finding out?” - -“Look here, Jack Frost,” said the Equine Ox impatiently, “that’s a nice -question for you to be asking. If we had been finding out, what would -have become of you?” - -“I suppose, of course, you knew it was I who was in here when you -started digging?” said Jack Frost. - -“Ho, ho!” roared the motorman. “He’s got the critter on that one.” - -The Equine Ox tossed his horns indifferently and stalked away. - -“Where are you going?” asked Billy. - -“Back to the place where the Equator ought to be,” said the Equine Ox. -“I’m tired of this business. I wish I’d never come.” - -“He means that he wishes he’d never came,” said the conductor to the -motorman. “Somehow that sentiment hits me--hits me hard.” - -“It hits me like a pile driver,” said the motorman. “Let’s go back with -him.” - -“Hurry, if you are coming,” said the Equine Ox, who had overheard them. -“I’ll give you a lift as far as--where do you live, anyway?” - -“Suburbia,” said the conductor. - -“All right,” said the Equine Ox; “climb on my back and we’ll be in -Suburbia in time for supper. Jack Frost, you can send Nimbus back with -the car.” - -“All right,” cried Jack Frost after them, “as soon as we find the -Equator.” - -For a little while Billy, standing beside Jack Frost, watched them as -they galloped off toward where the blue of the sky met the white of the -snowfields. The Equine Ox seemed not to mind the load he carried, and -just as Billy turned away the conductor and the motorman were lighting -their pipes preparatory to settling down for a comfortable ride. Then -Jack Frost spoke to him and Billy saw them no more. - -“What is that on the snow mountain over there?” Jack Frost was saying. - -“Let’s go and see,” said Billy, even before he turned to look. - -The snow mountain was only a little way off, and upon its summit some -dark object seemed to move as if fluttering in the wind. - -“You go ahead,” said Jack Frost, “and I’ll be with you in a minute. -I forgot to stop up that hole you fellows dug in the glacier. If the -Equator ever gets in there he’ll destroy the whole thing again in a -second.” - -“All right,” said Billy; “but don’t be long, for I may need help.” - -Jack Frost turned back, and Billy set out alone for the snow mountain, -and soon got close enough to get a good view. - -At first he was overjoyed, for upon the mountain he saw the Evening -Star, and he felt that the long quest for her was as good as ended. - -A few steps further, however, brought him to the brink of a circular -abyss, too wide to leap over and far too deep to fall into. It shut him -off completely from the peak that rose in its center. - -“Jack Frost will be able to make an ice bridge across it when he -comes,” said Billy, so he patiently sat down to wait. - -In another instant he cried out in alarm. - -Overhead sounded a crackling and snapping, and swiftly the Equator -dropped down from a great height and began to hover directly over the -head of the Evening Star. - -Already the ice under her had begun to melt. Soon it would melt away -altogether and then Billy knew that the Equator, kept at a distance now -by fear of the cold snow, would fall upon her and bear her away, and -perhaps turn her into a Comet right before his horrified eyes. - - - - -ACROSS THE RAINBOW - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -ACROSS THE RAINBOW - - -“Oh, if I could only get over there!” moaned Billy. He had not stopped -to think what he would do if he were there. His eagerness to help the -Evening Star was so keen that he was almost ready to leap the abyss -before him. He even went to the brink and tried to calculate his -chances of getting across with a running jump, but he saw that the best -jumper in the world could not have got half way over before he would -have tumbled into the icy depths below. So, with a sigh, he sat down to -think. - -Billy did not mean to cry--he never meant to cry--but the sight of the -Equator hovering so closely over the Evening Star and melting down the -snow mountain like a wax taper brought an unbidden tear or two to his -eyes, and they rolled slowly down his cheeks. - -One of them fell on his stocking, where it quickly froze, and Billy, -looking at it disconsolately, observed that it shone with the hues of -the rainbow in the light thrown off by the Equator. - -Suddenly he leaped to his feet, dancing for joy. - -“The Rays!” he cried, “they will build me a bridge!” - -And he called them by name one after another: - -“Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red!” - -Instantly the little people stood before him, and Red, who was their -spokesman, asked him what he desired. - -“A bridge!” cried Billy. “A bridge as quickly as you can.” - -It was the work of a second. The little people all sprang into the air -together and lo! in front of Billy stretched a slender rainbow bridge, -leading from his feet to the snow mountain on which was the imprisoned -Evening Star. And at each end was a great pot of yellow gold as large -as a preserve kettle. - -Bravely Billy started to cross the bridge. It trembled violently in the -strong light, as rainbows will, for they are flimsy things at best. -Billy hesitated. He was not frightened, but it was so hard to keep his -balance. - -And then he heard a cheery shout behind him, and up came Jack Frost -running as fast as his legs could carry him, and fairly panting with -excitement. - -“It’s all right, Billy, go ahead!” he called, laying a steadying hand -on the rainbow, which at once hardened under his cold. - -Thus encouraged Billy proceeded. As he went on he noticed that the snow -mountain had ceased to melt. Indeed, it was beginning slowly to rise in -the air again, thanks to the influence of Jack Frost, who was freezing -the water far faster than the Equator could melt it. - -Up, up it went, its peak narrowing to a needle point. Above it the -Equator, unused to the cold, shriveled and shrank. Now he was the size -of a hoop, now of a doughnut, presently he was scarcely larger than a -ring. - -“Slide!” shouted a familiar voice behind Billy. “Slide, Evening Star, -slide for your life!” - -The Evening Star heard the voice, and she, as well as Billy, recognized -it as the voice of Nimbus. - -“The snow mountain is the North Pole!” cried Nimbus. “I just asked an -Eskimo where it was and he pointed it out. I came just in time, didn’t -I?” - -The last question was addressed to the Evening Star, who had followed -his advice and slid right into his arms. - -“I jumped the gully,” said Nimbus, pointing to the abyss. “There wasn’t -time to come over the bridge. And now I think we’ve got the Equator -where we want him.” - -“Where do you want me?” snarled the Equator. - -“Over this Pole,” said Nimbus, and as he spoke he slid up the North -Pole as a sailor slides down a rope, grasped the Equator and impaled -him upon it. - -He rolled him down and down until Jack Frost could reach him and help -hold him, and the Equator, feeling himself stretched like an elastic -over the conical snow peak, saw that he was doomed to be rolled back -around the earth and resume his post of duty in the center. - -“I won’t do it,” he protested. “I’ll never do it!” - -He struggled and twisted in his efforts to escape, but Nimbus held him -fast, and Jack Frost kept him small by the clutch of his icy fingers. - -Billy danced up and down in his excitement, for once the Equator almost -got away. - -“Go on down! Go on down!” shouted Billy. “My mother says you are only -an imaginary line, anyway!” - - * * * * * - -“Why, Billy,” said his mother, “look at the way you have eaten up your -poor North Pole!” - -And at the sound of his mother’s voice Nimbus put a sunbeam into -Billy’s mouth which tasted just like lemon candy. The clang of the -enchanted trolley car sounded in his ears as the whole lot of his new -friends stepped aboard and vanished from his sight. He looked around. -But, instead of Nimbus and the Evening Star and Jack Frost and the -Equator, he found his mother smiling down at him as he lay under the -lilac bush, and the conductor was just ringing the bell for the trolley -car to stop at the corner. - - -THE END - - - - -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: - - - Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. - - Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. - - The illustrations listed on pages 28, 32, 48, and 78 in the List of - Illustrations do not exist in the original text. - - Alternate or archaic spelling has been retained from the original. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Runaway Equator, by Lilian Bell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RUNAWAY EQUATOR *** - -***** This file should be named 61854-0.txt or 61854-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/8/5/61854/ - -Produced by Mary Glenn Krause, David E. 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