that to them Eastern way-trains. When we're tryin' for a record, we
'll let you know."
To the Western man (though this would not please either city) Chicago
and Boston are cheek by jowl, and some railroads encourage the
delusion. The Limited whirled the "Constance" into Buffalo and the
arms of the New York Central and Hudson River (illustrious magnates
with white whiskers and gold charms on their watch-chains boarded her
here to talk a little business to Cheyne), who slid her gracefully
into Albany, where the Boston and Albany completed the run from
tide-water to tide-water--total time, eighty-seven hours and
thirty-five minutes or three days, fifteen hours and one half. Harvey
was waiting for them.
II
THE CHILDREN OF THE ZODIAC[2]
"It's too hard," said the Big Boy. "I don't know what
'Zodiac' means." "I will hunt up the words for you in the
dictionary," said the Little Girl. And when they came to the
next story the Boy took pleasure in doing his own hunting in
the dictionary.
Though thou love her as thyself,
As a self of purer clay,
Though her parting dim the day,
Stealing grace from all alive,
Heartily know
When half Gods go
The gods arrive.--_Emerson._
Thousands of years ago, when men were greater than they are to-day,
the Children of the Zodiac lived in the world. There were six Children
of the Zodiac--the Ram, the Bull, the Lion, the Twins, and the Girl;
and they were afraid of the Six Houses which belonged to the Scorpion,
the Balance, the Crab, the Fishes, the Goat, and the Waterman. Even
when they first stepped down upon the earth and knew that they were
immortal Gods, they carried this fear with them; and the fear grew as
they became better acquainted with mankind and heard stories of the
Six Houses. Men treated the Children as Gods and came to them with
prayers and long stories of wrong, while the Children of the Zodiac
listened and could not understand.
[Footnote 2: Copyrighted, 1891, by Harper & Brothers.]
A mother would fling herself before the feet of the Twins, or the
Bull, crying: "My husband was at work in the fields and the Archer
shot him and he died; and my son will also be killed by the Archer.
Help me!" The Bull would lower his huge head and answer: "What is that
to me?" Or the Twins would smile and continue their play, for they
could not understand why the water ran out of people's eyes. At other
times a ma
|