“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.