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]