“That wonderful tell-tale, the ‘telescope,’ reveals the double character of some stars,” said Mr. Marple. “There are six thousand stars which are thus double.

That is singular.

[Pg 55]There are some in the Pleiades, in the Dog, in Orion, and in the Southern Cross and Crown. But the most wonderful part of my story is yet to come. Some of these double stars revolve round each other.

What! Great suns at a tremendous distance from one another, walk round one another? Why, if they have planets round them, like our sun has, these must have a fine double journey to make. How many of these strange stars are there?

About 650 of them are Binary or revolving.

But which stands still to have the other revolving round it?

They both move, each one round the other.

A regular polka in the heavens, father. And yet I suppose they are not just like a gentleman and his lady partner.

I don’t know that; for it has been observed that a number have different colours to their companions. While one is blue, the other will be yellow. One shall be green, and its mate will be orange. One-half are white, and one-tenth are both blue.

That does please me. How I should like to be in a planet where my sun should be blue, and its companion sun red. It would be so funny to get up in the morning and see my sun blue, throwing a blue tint on everything. Then, when the other sun rose, a rich red would steal over the blue, and change everything. But when the blue sun had set, the red one would have it all its own way, and bathe my world in its ruddy light.

[Pg 56]That fancy is good, and not very improbable either; especially if the other sun should com............