“Yes, sir,” said the Meteors in a breath. With a great crackling noise they shot away into the void, each taking a different direction so that their going looked like a splendid shower of rockets on the night of the Fourth of July. [Illustration: “With a great crackling noise they shot into the void”] “I suppose,” said Nimbus, “that the next thing to do is to build a tower so we can see what is going on in the sky.” “We have nothing to build it of,” said Billy. “We could make it of Moonbeams if there were any Moon,” replied Nimbus. “But there isn’t,” said the Evening Star, “so we’d better find a hill to climb.” “I saw a beautiful hill as we were coming here,” said Billy. “It had a white top, and stood out ever so high over the others.” “That was a volcano,” said Nimbus. “It’ll be just the place for us.” “Let’s be starting, then,” said Billy. So the whole party set out through the trees for the volcano, and in an hour or two were standing on a great lava field looking up at the dark sky, which seemed fairly alive with fiery-tailed meteors hurrying here, there and everywhere on their search for the Equator. Billy had just settled himself with his back against a comfortable boulder when he noticed right over his head an object which resembled a great, luminous doughnut. “I wonder what that is,” he said, pointing upward. The Evening Star, quite exhausted with the tramp up the mountain, had been sitting with her bright face in her hands. At Billy’s words she glanced up, and a terrified scream brought Nimbus to his feet. “There he is!” shouted Nimbus excitedly. “He’s coming this way, and we can never capture him.” “There who is?” asked Billy. “The Equator!” said Nimbus. ON THE PASSIVE VOLCANO CHAPTER VI ON THE PASSIVE VOLCANO Of course there was but one thing to do, and that was to escape as quickly as possible. Even Nimbus, powerful as he was, couldn’t control a runaway Equator single-handed, and if the Evening Star were ever turned into a comet it would take years of patient effort on the part of her parents to turn her back into a Star again. Nimbus looked swiftly about him for a second, and then he said: “Fortunately, this is not an active volcano, so we’ll slip into the crater.” He led the way toward a cavelike opening right in the summit of the mountain--an opening which led downward diagonally, so that it afforded ample shelter. Billy hesitated. He had heard about volcanoes, and the thought of bearding it in its crater was very terrifying. “Don’t be afraid,” said Nimbus; “this is a passive volcano.” That reassured Billy, and when he was safe inside the crater he asked what a passive volcano was. “It’s one that isn’t active. There are two kinds of verbs and two kinds of volcanoes--active and passive. The fire in this one has been banked, so it’s perfectly safe.” Billy was still a little uneasy, and he was by no means cheered by a sound of dull rumbling that came up out of the depths of the crater.