fore," said he, "you must wait until you study astronomy
before you can expect to understand it; but you can now, in the mean
time, make such a dial, if you wish to do it."

Rollo did wish to do it very much. He accordingly told Jonas all that
his father had said. It seemed very strange to Jonas, that a post,
pointing to the North Star, should have its shadows move round any more
regularly than a post in any other position. He could not imagine what
the North Star could have to do with the shadows. Still, he determined
to try the experiment.

A few days after this, Jonas did try the experiment. He got two narrow
boards, which were once pickets belonging to a picket fence, one end of
each was sharp, so that it could be driven down into the ground. Then he
selected a certain part of the yard, in a corner, where the dial would
be out of the way, and yet the path to the barn led along pretty near
it. The reason why Jonas got two boards was this: he knew that, if he
drove only one stake into the ground, and inclined it towards the North
Star, it would be very likely to get started out of its proper position;
but if he had two, he could drive the second one down perpendicularly
from the end of the first, and then nail the two ends together; and that
would keep all steady.

After having got every thing ready, the boys waited till the evening
before fixing up the dial, because they could not see the North Star in
the day time. But when the evening came, they went out, and began their
preparations. It was a clear and pretty cold evening, and the stars were
out in thousands.

"Which is the North Star?" asked Rollo.

Jonas looked about a minute or two, saying, "Let me see--where's the
Dipper? O, I see a part of it; the rest is down behind the barn. It was
up high the last time I saw it."

"Where is the Dipper?" said Rollo, looking eagerly in the direction to
which Jonas was turned.

"Come this way," said Jonas, "so as to be out of the way of the barn,
and you can see it better."

So Jonas pointed out the Dipper to Rollo, with its square body, and
long, bent handle. It was at first quite difficult for Rollo to see any
thing that looked at all like a dipper; as it consisted only of stars,
which it required some imagination to make look like one.

"The handle reaches almost down to the ground," said Rollo.

"Down to the horizon, you mean," said Jonas.

"Is that the horizon?" said Rollo.

"Yes," said Jonas, "where the e