and the St

arroo like a canopy of softest velvet, making a deep, mysterious back

tions with which Cousin Minnie had made them familiar, and were deep in a discussion a

a billion stars up there in

, "is a thousand million, and it would

Stars

pag

l surely be a billion stars up there. Perhaps," he added, judicially considering the matter, "two billion, but no one knows, beca

stool, and his little au

herself by a wood fire, played with the ashes. She took the ashes in her hands and threw them up to see how pretty they were when they floated in the air. And as they floated away she put green bushes on the fire and stirred it with a stic

r hands and danced, shaking herself like Outa

stars! The

road for o

-fire! Dust

Dawn when Ni

rge stars. The old roots turned into stars that gave a red light, and the young roots turned into stars that gave a gold

hildren o

It's so

l when Nig

It's so

sail acr

s' Road, hi

inkling, s

l across

It's so!

dren nodding their heads and saying, 'It's so! It's so! It's so!'" At each repetiti

en a star fall?" Three lit

ed. For the star knows when a person's heart fails and the person dies, and it

tars. He called each one by name, till they all had their names, and in this way they knew that he was the Great Star. No

the way is a big bright star. He is called the Dawn's-Heart Star, and in the dark, dark hour, before the Stars have called the Dawn, he shines-ach! baasjes, he is beautiful to behold! The wife and the child of the Dawn's-Heart Star are pretty, too, b

sing, twinkling

across

Come

like a young m

sleep from

tretching bright

the way f

le the Stars fai

ars' Road

Come

across

's-Heart Sta

It's so!

, because they know th

grow faint and the Stars' Road fades, while the Dawn makes a bright pathway for the Sun. At last he comes with both arms l

singing. Summer is the time when they sing best, but even now, if baasje

ss the Baas was just in time to hand him, was of three little heads bobbing up and down in time to the immemorial music of t

ferent as the Scandinavians of Northern Europe and the Bushmen of South Africa.-See Hans Andersen's L

ether, and all the sons of God s