Nimbus was now himself, and a very energetic little self he was. First he placed the conductor and the motorman in charge of the Equine Ox, with orders not to let him out of their sight. “He must be here to-morrow,” he said, “or the procession cannot go on, and if the procession does not go on it will always be summer and the sea will dry up.” The motorman and the conductor were scarcely eager to undertake the charge, but something in Nimbus’s manner convinced them that it was necessary, so they consented. “You,” said Nimbus to the Evening Star, “will please go and tell your father that the Equator is off the Earth and that I will try to catch him.” “And you,” he said to Billy, “come with me. As soon as the Equator is off the Earth, he will shrink up to the size of a barrel hoop, and the meanness in his disposition condensed into that small space will make a perfect fiend of him. He is liable to drop right down on us this very minute and burn us into a cinder before you can say ‘Jack Robinson.’ He gets so hot when he’s angry that he has been known to set an iceberg on fire. By the way,” he added, “how quickly can you say ‘Jack Robinson’?” “Jackrobinson!” said Billy. “I thought so!” said Nimbus. “You’d have been dry ashes before you got to a-c-k.” Hardly had he left off speaking when a Meteor dashed in with a message from the Dog Star. “Equator coming back to Earth vowing vengeance against Nimbus and Evening Star,” it said. IN PURSUIT CHAPTER V IN PURSUIT “First of all,” said Nimbus, “we must find the Rays. Then we’ll go down to the Meteor farm and put all the Meteors who are off watch or on part time, to work doing scout duty.” “Who are the Rays?” asked Billy. “They are the Sun’s private messengers. They do all his regular work for him, such as making things grow, and arranging the weather, and building the bridges----” “Bridges?” Billy inquired. “Yes, rainbow bridges. How could we fairies get over the ocean if it wasn’t for them?” “You might go on enchanted trolley cars,” suggested Billy. “Yes, we might, if trolley cars grew on trees in jungles like monkeys, but they don’t.” Billy thought it best to make no more suggestions. “The Rays,” continued Nimbus, “are named Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red. Get them all together and they make a beautiful, clear, white light, and we’ll need such a light to find the Equator.” There was a rustling of the trees behind them and a sad voice called out: “I wish you’d take me with you. I’m afraid to stay alone.” Billy looked quickly around and saw the Evening Star standing at a little distance, looking very pretty indeed in the soft light that seemed to sift out of her white frock. “Oh, nonsense!” said Nimbus. “We’ve men’s work here. You don’t want to go anyway!” Two bright tears stood in the Evening Star’s eyes and glistened in the glow that surrounded her. Nimbus clapped his hands in delight. “There you are, you fellows!” he shouted; “come out of that.”