"I don't see anything in that story to make me unhappy, even if I were a chum of Ebenezer's," said Tom, as the Andiron finished. "You don't? Don't you think it was sad that the Giant couldn't eat a boy who'd behave in that way?" asked Righty, with a scornful glance at Tom. "It was very sad, Tom," said the Lefthandiron. "So don't deny it--especially if you want to go off on our trip to the stars." "Are you really going to the stars?" gasped Tom, breathless at the very idea and forgetting all about Ebenezer. "Perhaps," returned the Andiron. "And may I go with you?" whispered Tom. "You may if you will do whatever we tell you, and admit that you are a Dormouse," said Righty. "All right, I'll obey," said Tom. "And what did you say your name was?" asked Lefty. "Sleepyhead Dozy Pate Dormouse," said Tom, with a laugh. "You'll do," returned the Righthandiron, stepping lightly out of the fireplace. "Now sit astride of my back and take hold of Lefty's right claw." Tom did as he was told, and in an instant he was flying up through space toward the stars. CHAPTER III. Off in the Clouds "Now the point to be decided," said the Lefthandiron, after he and his companions had been flying through space for some time, "is where we are going. There are two or three things we can do, and Tom can have his choice as to which it shall be." "Subject, of course, to my advice," said the Righthandiron, with a bow to Tom. "You can go where you please if I please. See?" "Yes," said Tom. "I see. I can have my way as long as it is your way." "Precisely," said the Righthandiron, with an approving nod. "And as you may have heard, precisely means exactly so. You can have your way as long as it is my way, which shows how generous I am. Fond of my way as I am, I am willing to divide it with you." "All right," returned Tom. "I'm very much obliged. What are the two things we can do?" "Well," said the Lefthandiron, scratching his head softly, "we can fly up a little higher and sit down and watch the world go round; we can take the long jump, or we can visit Saturn." "What was the first?" asked Tom. "To fly up a little higher, where we can get a better view; to sit down there and watch the world go round. It is an excellent way to travel. It's awfully easy--in fact, it isn't you that travels at all. It's the world that does the traveling, while all you've got to do is to sit down there and keep an eye on it. It's like a big panorama, only it's real, and any time you see a place going by that you think you'd like to see more of, all you've got to do is to fly down there and see it." "When you get up higher and sit down," said Tom, "what do you sit on?" "You sit on me and I sit on my hind legs, of course," said Lefthandiron. "Don't you know anything?" "Of course I do," said Tom, indignantly. "I know lots of things."