I studied this unusual plan of education and viewed with delight the ponderous portion of this imposing edifice. At last I bid farewell to all these mute instructors and, looking skyward, fixed my mind on the shores of another world.
CHAPTER X.
Floating Cities.
Almost everyone is familiar with Ursa Major, or the Great Dipper, that lies in such bold relief in the region of the northern heavens, and that apparently revolves around Polaris, the North Star.
The nearer of the two stars that help to form this famous Dipper and that point toward Polaris, is called Dubhe by our astronomers. This star and its interesting solar system next claimed my attention.
From Earth I had often looked with admiring wonder at the starry firmament, and during many an evening I had drawn the imaginary lines from star to star outlining the Great Dipper, commencing with the end of the handle and finishing with the star just named at the outer edge, or rim.
As I came near to Dubhe, I scanned the surrounding skies and was surprised to find that the whole semblance of my dipper was lost. Instead of lying in a plane, these stars were widely separated, so far that a billion miles gives no fair hint of the distance.
Many new stars, previously invisible, now shone in great glory so that the whole celestial field presented new aspects. Far away I looked toward our Sun; it sparkled like a tiny star, and none of the planets of our Solar System were visible.
I paused not at Dubhe, but sped onward to one of the busy worlds that revolve around it, which I shall call Plasden. This is two hundred times as large as our world, and "slin" covers seven-eighths of its surface. Slin is a liquid much resembling water and serves practically the same purpose.