y out of bed. The
floor felt cool and pleasant to his bare little feet as he crossed to
the door. He had almost reached the head of the stairs when, looking up,
something so pretty met his eyes that he stopped to admire. It was a
star, shining against the pure sky like a twinkling silver lamp. It
seemed to beckon, and the ladder to lead straight up to it. Almost
without stopping to think, Dickie put his foot on the first rung and
climbed nimbly to the top of the ladder. The star was just as much out
of reach when he got there as it had been before, but there were other
beautiful sights close at hand which were well worth the trouble of
climbing after.

Miles and miles and miles of sky for one thing. It rose above Dickie's
head like a great blue dome pierced with pin-pricks of holes, through
which little points of bright light quivered and danced. Far away
against the sky appeared a church spire, like a long sharp finger
pointing to Heaven. One little star exactly above, seemed stuck on the
end of the spire. Dickie wondered if it hurt the star to be there. He
stepped out on to the roof and wandered about. The evening was warm and
soft. No dew fell. The shingles still kept the heat of the sun, and felt
pleasant and comfortable under his feet. By-and-by a splendid
rocker-shaped moon came from behind the sky's edge where she had been
hiding away, and sailed slowly upward. She was a great deal bigger than
the stars, but they didn't seem afraid of her in the least. Dickie
reflected that if he were a star he should hurry to get out of her way;
but the stars didn't mind the moon's being there at all, they kept their
places, and shone calmly on as they had done before she came.

He was standing, when the moon appeared, by the low railing which
guarded the edge of the roof. The railing was of a very desirable
height. Dickie could just rest his chin on top of it, which was nice.
Suddenly a loud "Maau-w!" resounded from above. Dickie jumped, and gave
his poor chin a knock against the railing. It couldn't be the moon,
could it? Moons didn't make noises like that.

He looked up. There, on the ridge pole of the next roof, sat a black
cat, big and terrible against the sky. "Ma-a-uw," said the cat again,
louder than before.

"Why, pussy, what's the matter?" cried Dick. His voice quavered a
little, but he tried to speak boldly. Pussy was displeased at the
question. She hissed, put up her back, swelled her tail to a puff, and
fled to