To discover the earth's treasure, and to turn it to use; to tame wild animals and wild plants, and make them serve him; to create ever more beautiful and more useful forms in domestication; to find out the earth's life story, by reading the pages of the great stone book--these are undertakings that waited for man's coming. * * * * * PART II THE SKY * * * * * EVERY FAMILY A "STAR CLUB" The best family hobby we have ever had is the stars. We have a star club with no dues to pay, no officers to boss us, and only three rules: 1. We shall have nothing but "fun" in this club--no hard work. Therefore no mathematics for us! 2. We can't afford a telescope. Therefore we must be satisfied with what bright eyes can see. 3. No second-hand wonders for us! We want to see the things ourselves, instead of depending on books. You can't imagine what pleasure we have had in one short year! The baby, of course, was too young to learn anything, and besides he was in bed long before the stars came out. But Ruth, our seven-year-old, knows ten of the fifteen brightest stars; and she can pick out twelve of the most beautiful groups or constellations. We grown-ups know all of the brightest stars, and all forty-eight of the most famous constellations. And the whole time we have given to it would not exceed ten minutes a day! And the best part is the _way_ we know the stars. The sky is no longer bewildering to us. The stars are not cold, strange, mysterious. They are friends. We know their faces just as easily as you know your playmates. For instance, we know Sirius, because he is the brightest. We know Castor and Pollux, because they are twins. We know Regulus, because he is in the handle of the Sickle. And some we know by their colours. They are just as different as President Taft, "Ty" Cobb, Horace Fletcher and Maude Adams. And quite as interesting! What's more, none of us can ever get lost again. No matter what strange woods or city we go to, we never get "turned around." Or if we do, we quickly find the right way by means of the sun or the stars. Then, too, our star club gives us all a little exercise when we need it most. Winter is the time when we all work hardest and have the fewest outdoor games. Winter is also the best time for young children to enjoy the stars, because it gets dark earlier in winter--by five o'clock, or long before children go to bed. It is pleasant to go out doors for half an hour before supper and learn one new star or constellation.