“Cassiopeia took him up into her chair beside her, and sang little songs to him. The one about the fishes, that he always liked.” “What song?” asked the Kitten, quickly. [Illustration: ORION “Orion was a mighty hunter,” she explained. “This is the way he would attack a lion or any wild creature, without the slightest fear. But he died at last from the bite of a scorpion. The Scorpion is in the sky too, spread out very glittering—a lobstery-kind of a thing—but never at the same time as Orion, because that wouldn’t be good manners. So, sometimes we see Orion marching across, with his two dogs, Sirius and Procyon; then we see the Scorpion, but never the two together.” And she couldn’t draw the dogs near him, where they belonged, because the Kitten had stepped there; they had to move along to a place where the sand was smooth. ] “This,” answered the Princess:— There are just as good fish in the sea—the sea As ever came out (they say); But the finest fish that ever were there Have come to the Sky to stay. These fishes lived in a pool—a pool, Where coral and seaweed grow. The great waves dash on the reef without, But here they ripple and flow. You’d think ’twas a place where a fish—a fish Would willingly live and die; But these two fishes were not content— They wanted to go to the Sky! The Fisherman, up above—above, Espied the fish from afar; He spun a line from a moonbeam fine, And baited it with a star. Now, these silly fish didn’t try—didn’t try To make the best of their home; They fumed and they splashed and they lashed their tails, Till the water was covered with foam. And the Fisherman, watching above—above, And _wanting_ to pull them in, Could only wait till the fish were too tired To move a tail, or a fin. Then, twice, on the face of the placid pool, He dropped the star from on high; And, one by one, drew the Fishes up, To shine each night in the Sky! And the moral’s plain, of this tale (your tail, If you are a bear, or a fish), _Don’t fume and splash and disturb your pool,— And you’ll probably get your wish!_ “Little Bear liked to hear it, but Cassiopeia could see that it wasn’t really any comfort to him, and she was at her wit’s end to know what to do.” “They ought to have thought it was a Comet,” said Pat. “It was stupid in them, but they never once thought of them,” said the Princess. “Don’t you know, it is like that sometimes,” said Phyllisy, “the most probable thing you forget all about.”