Changes in the universe are very gradual and although 4000 years seems a long time to the limited mind of a human being, it is but little in comparison to the vast periods of time which must pass before a visible change can be noticed in the heavens. We speak of these years nonchalantly, but astronomers have had to work hard and patiently in order to make such assertions and to back them up with sufficient proof. Traveling backward in imagination on the circle that our pole has taken 25,000 years to describe in the sky, and again imagining the star which we now see as our Pole Star as the Pole Star of that by-gone era, what a difference we find in the appearance of the earth! Herds of strange and savage animals are scattered here instead of thriving villages and cities, and man, in equally savage state, wanders about the hills and plains alone or in straggling bands. [Figure 20] In traveling forward 21,000 years again to the time only 4000 years ago when Thuban, on the coils of the Dragon, shone as our Pole Star, we come to comparatively recent times; civilization on our earth has made great advances, not the least of them being that it has raised its head and has noted that there are not only stars but that the stars differ from one another. Probably during this era the Chinese chose the Dragon for their national emblem. The principal interest in the constellation of Draco is, of course, the star Thuban. It is interesting to locate this ancient Pole Star which lies on the tail of Draco, just above the handle of the Big Dipper, and reflect that this star was once the hub of the starry universe, with the Big Dipper whirling round and round it in a close circle. [Figure 21: A SUMMER DRAMA. The Stars of this ancient Royal Family shine conspicuously in the Northeast during the late summer evenings.] CHAPTER V THE STORY OF ANDROMEDA IN STARS _Characters_ CEPHEUS, _the King_. ANDROMEDA, _the Princess_. CASSIOPEIA, _the Queen_. PEGASUS, _the Flying Horse_. PERSEUS, _the Hero_. CETUS, _the Sea-monster_. LIKE the shadow of a dream among the summer stars of the northern sky is a wonderful story of romance and adventure. This story has been mentioned in all Greek literature of the 5th century before Christ, in incidents portrayed on early vases and in wall-paintings found in Pompeii, and its characters have been immortalized on brilliant groups of stars. The tale that I am about to recount has lived since the time when great fabled sea-monsters were wont to appear and frighten the people along the coasts of the Mediterranean. Wild with terror, the king and his subjects would fly to the temples for protection and would even sacrifice their loved ones if an oracle so decreed.