“Now,” said Peter, with an air of having shown great patience, “we want to see that three-headed dog. I forgot his name.”
“Cerberus,” said Uncle Henry, “But in order to find him we’ll have to find Hercules, the great strong man, for Hercules has Cerberus fast by one of his throats and is beating at his three ugly heads with a big club. At the same time, Hercules has his left foot on the dragon’s head, so you see he is kept busy.”
“Where do we begin?” asked Paul, impatiently.
“Draw a line,” said Uncle Henry, “from Vega in the ukelele to Gemma in the Northern Crown; the Virgin’s necklace we found a while ago, you know.”
Paul did it. ([14])
“Now,” directed Uncle Henry, “look about half-way between, and you’ll find Hercules’ legs. His left leg is nearly straight, but his right has the knee bent a little. Hercules’ legs and the sides of his body and his belt make sort of an H shape.”
“Oh, I see it!” exclaimed Peter. “Shall I make him, Uncle Hen?”
“Sure, go ahead, Pete; and the rest of you watch for Hercules’ head and arms.”
When the children had put down pebbles to represent all the stars in Hercules, and had connected them with lines in the sand, Hercules looked like this: