"Once upon a time there was a beautiful little girl named Europa, and she was a princess of Phœnicia. One day she was playing with some friends and gathering flowers in a meadow near the seashore. Suddenly a snow-white bull appeared, and the little children were very much afraid. But the princess was not afraid. She made a pretty garland of flowers and placed it around the bull's neck. When it knelt down in front of her as though to thank her, she jumped on its back, and it ran away with her down to the sea. Plunging under the waves, it swam with her to Crete. The Grecians thought they saw the bull outlined among the stars in the sky, but only its head and shoulders are there." [Illustration: THE BULL, AND THE PLEIADES.] "But there are not any animals really in the sky, are there?" said Harry. "No," said Mary, laughing at the question; "but if you look at the stars you can imagine you see outlines of bulls and serpents and all kinds of strange animals. Only you have to imagine very much, and this is exactly what the Grecians did. "In the shoulder of the bull is the pretty little cluster of stars known as the Pleiades." STORY OF THE PLEIADES. "What is a cluster of stars?" asked Harry. [Illustration: A BALL OF SUNS.] "Hundreds and thousands of stars forming a family party, as it were; and seen from earth they seem to be closely packed together. But if we could draw near to them, however, we should find that they were very far apart. If you look at the Pleiades through your opera glass you will see quite a number of little stars, and if you could see it through the large telescope at the Lick Observatory you would be able to count hundreds of stars. When the cluster had its photograph taken, not long ago, six thousand stars were counted, so you might call the Pleiades a 'ball of suns.' There are hundreds of these clusters, or 'family parties,' in the sky--mighty regiments marching across the star-depths." "What do you mean, sister?" asked Harry in surprise. "All the stars are moving," replied his sister. "Some in one direction, some in another; but the stars in the Pleiades are all drifting in the same direction. "The Pleiades were said to be the seven daughters of Atlas, and were so beautiful that Orion pursued them across wood and dale, till the sisters called on Jupiter to help them. He changed them into doves, and afterward placed them among the stars. Orion still seems to be pursuing them among the stars; but, strange to say, they are drifting toward him now instead of away from him." [Illustration: ORION, THE GREAT HUNTER.] "Then he will soon catch them," said Harry, laughing at the idea. "I once heard something about the 'Lost Pleiad.' What does that mean?" "One of the seven stars supposed to represent the sisters does not shine as brightly as the rest, so the Grecians called it the 'Lost Pleiad.'