“‘No,’ answered Orion, ’it doesn’t. And we’re all willing. But who is going to hold that star?—and how are we going to know it’s always in the same spot?’ “‘I should think you might agree about that easily enough,’ said Taffy. “‘Well, we can’t,’ said Orion. ‘I can’t do it; I have other things to attend to.’ “‘And you won’t let any one else!’ broke in Cassiopeia. ‘You know how I just sit in my chair, and I’d love to hold it.’ “‘She can’t,’ said Orion. ‘Pretty thing for a woman to do!’ “‘I’m not a woman,’ observed Perseus. “‘Don’t you say another word!’ said Cassiopeia. (‘And stop twirling that Gorgon!—You make me nervous.) You know perfectly well, you have to keep away the monster from my darling child.’ “Perseus said no more, but he looked sulkier than ever. “‘No, he can’t,’ said Orion. ‘And beside that, you’re used to seeing us move about. Now if one of us gives up his own place, it will mix you all up.’ “‘That’s true,’ said Taffy. And just as he spoke, something rubbed against his hand,—something that sent a little prickly shock through him at first, and at the same time, the very softest thing he ever had felt or imagined. “He looked down and saw a little bear—but such a little bear! His long fur was, in color, a beautiful blue-gray, and the tip of each hair seemed to have been dipped in moonlight or powdered with star-dust, for it shone and glinted in the starlight as he moved; and his eyes twinkled like two little stars themselves; and curiously enough for a little bear, he had a great long tail. And unlike any of the Star People, he hadn’t a star on him anywhere. “‘Hello, little one!’ said Taffy. ‘What are you doing here?’ And he bent down to stroke Little Bear. Little Bear leaned against his leg; and as his hand sank in the soft, soft fur, and again the electric tingles ran up his arm, it was as if they took the message to his brain: ‘Oh, dear Taffy, let _me_ take care of the Sailor’s Star!’ “It came so clearly to him, Taffy spoke again: ‘Would you really like it?’—and the answer came, like a long, ‘Oh-h!’ of rapture. “‘See here,’ said Taffy to the Star People. ‘Why don’t you let this little chap have it? That would settle it.’ “‘Little Bear?’ said everybody. Then everybody looked at everybody else, and said, ‘Why not?’—because they all loved Little Bear; and they were glad to find a way to settle the dispute and stop talking.