They followed the old gentleman up to the attics and into a kind of
tower, where was a small room with two tables spread, the one with a
supper, the other with papers, charts, and mathematical instruments.
"Here," said their guide, "is bread, a cold chicken, and a bottle of
whisky. I beg you to excuse me while you eat. The fact is, I dabble
in astronomy. My telescope is on the roof above, and to-night every
moment is precious."
There was a ladder fixed in the room, leading to a trap-door in the
ceiling. Up this ladder the old gentleman trotted, and in half a
minute had disappeared, shutting the trap behind him.
It was half an hour or more before Adam climbed after him, with Eve,
as usual, at his heels.
"My dear madam!" cried the astronomer, "and in your state!"
"I told you a lie," Adam said. "I've come to beg your pardon.
May we look at the stars before we go?"
In two minutes the old gentleman was pointing out the
constellations--the Great Bear hanging low in the north-east,
pointing to the Pole star, and across it to Cassiopeia's bright
zigzag high in the heavens; the barren square of Pegasus, with its
long tail stretching to the Milky Way, and the points that cluster
round Perseus; Arcturus, white Vega and yellow Capella; the Twins,
and beyond them the Little Dog twinkling through a coppice of naked
trees to eastward; yet further round the Pleiads climbing, with red
Aldebaran after them; below them Orion's belt, and last of all,
Sirius flashing like a diamond, white and red, and resting on the
horizon where the dark pasture lands met the sky.
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