The conversation drifting off to Maeterlinck again, she seized the opportunity to inquire of Lucille: "Who's this astronomy man that's going to lecture to-night? He's quite famous, isn't he?" "Very," said Lucille. "Professor Phelps has been talking about him every day for the last week." "Where's the Lick Observatory, anyway?" pursued Patty. "I can't remember, for the life of me, whether it's in California or on Pike's Peak." Lucille considered a moment. "It's in Dublin, Ireland." "Dublin, Ireland?" asked Patty, in some surprise. "I could have sworn that it was in California. Are you sure you know where it is, Lucille?" "Of course I'm sure. Haven't we been having it for three days steady? California! You must be crazy, Patty. I think you'd better elect astronomy." "I know it," said Patty, meekly. "I was going to, but I heard that it was terribly hard, and I thought senior year you have a right to take something a little easy. But, you know, that's the funniest thing about the Lick Observatory, for I really know a lot about it--read an article on it just a little while ago; and I don't know how I got the impression, but I was almost sure it was in the United States. It just shows that you can never be sure of anything." "No," said Lucille; "it isn't safe." "Is it connected with Dublin University?" asked Patty. "I believe so," said Lucille. "And this astronomy person," continued Patty, warming to her work--"I suppose he's an Irishman, then." "Of course," said Lucille. "He's very noted." "What's he done?" asked Patty. "It said on the bulletin-board he'd made some important discoveries. I suppose, though, they're frightful technicalities that no one ever heard of." "Well," said Lucille, considering, "he discovered the rings of Saturn and the Milky Way." "The rings of Saturn! Why, I thought those had been discovered _ages_ ago. He must be a terribly old man. I remember reading about them when I was an infant in arms." "It was a good while ago," said Lucille. "Eight or nine years, at least." "And the Milky Way!" continued Patty, with a show of incredulity. "I don't see how people could have helped discovering that long ago. I could have done it myself, and I don't pretend to know anything about astronomy." "Oh, of course," Lucille hastened to explain, "the phenomenon had been observed before, but had never been accounted for." "I see," said Patty, surreptitiously taking notes. "He must really be an awfully important man. How did he happen to do all this?" "He went up in a balloon," said Lucille, vaguely. "A balloon! What fun!" exclaimed Patty, her reportorial instinct waking to the scent. "They use balloons a lot more in Europe than they do here." "I believe he has his balloon with him here in America," said Lucille. "He never travels without it." "What's the good of it?" inquired Patty. "I suppose," she continued, furnishing her own explanation, "it gets him such a lot nearer to the stars."