OF all the interesting star-scenery that we pass as we travel in our year-long, never-ending path around the sun, the most magnificent and impressive is the figure of the beautiful constellation of Orion. This constellation is not only one of the largest, but its stars are so particularly vivid as a group and so uniquely arranged as a design, that they never fail to catch the eye of even the casual observer,--like the carpenter, who, on noticing it for the first time, humorously exclaimed, "Well, look at the house-roof up in the sky!" thus unconsciously recognizing the stars as being united in a common picture or constellation. All the ancient legends agree in describing Orion as a giant of extraordinary height and the greatest hunter in the world. Classical evidence is abundant as to his huge stature, though obviously, this evidence is not trustworthy. Pliny reports that an earthquake in Crete disclosed the bones of a giant 46 cubits in length, held by some to be Orion. A cubit is an ancient measure of about 18 inches so that if Pliny's report is correct, Orion was 69 feet tall. There are many stories which relate the adventures of Orion but these vary even to the point of contradiction. Even the manner of his death is open to question, the two most popular versions being as follows: Diana, the lovely Moon-goddess, sometimes neglected to carry the moon across the sky so that she might spend the evening hunting with her nymphs upon the mountains. On one of these occasions she met Orion, the mighty hunter, and straightway fell in love with him, thereby so greatly displeasing her twin-brother Apollo, the Sun-god, that he determined to put an end to the affair. The opportunity, unfortunately, came soon afterward when the hunter was wading in the sea. Pouring his golden rays on Orion so that the brightness would conceal him, the god suggested to the goddess that they practice archery on the beach. Then, pointing to a bright object shining on the waves in the distance, Apollo persuaded Diana to try her skill by aiming one of her arrows at it. Diana aimed, and since she had never missed, the arrow hit its mark. Amid the ruffled waters tossed about in the giant's death agony, the goddess recognized the face of her beloved, and weeping bitterly, accused Apollo of the wildest category of sins. Proceeding then to Jupiter, she begged that god to place the hunter among the stars where she might always see him shining in the night time, as she drove her silver chariot along the pathway of the zodiac.