It is an interesting fact that while Sirius is moving away from us, we are also moving away from him. Our “first station ahead,” in the constellation Hercules, lies exactly in the opposite direction from Sirius. But the sun does not move so fast as Sirius. He is believed to accomplish only about one hundred and fifty millions of miles each year, drawing all his planets with him. Fifthly, has Sirius a family, or system, like that of our sun? Why not? Common sense and reason alike answer with a “Probably, yes”--not only about Sirius, but about other stars also. No doubt the systems--the number, size, weight, speed, distance, and kind of planets--differ very greatly. No doubt there are boundless varieties of beauty and grandeur. But that our sun should be the head of so wonderful and complex a system, that his rays should be the source of life and heat to so many dependents, and that all the myriads of suns besides should be mere solitary lamps shining into empty space, warming, lighting, controlling _nothing_, is an idea scarcely to be looked in the face. Of course, there may be other and different uses for some of these suns, beyond our understanding. We must not be positive in the matter. It seems, however, pretty certain that Sirius at least is not a solitary, unattended sun. Astronomers, carefully watching his movements, were somewhat perplexed. As with Uranus, the attraction of a heavy body beyond was suspected from the nature of the planet’s motions, so it happened again with the far more distant Sirius. Astronomers could only explain his movements by supposing the attraction of some large and near satellite. No one knew anything about such a satellite, but it was felt that one must exist.