be all right as regards the sun, but I should not be disposed to admit
that there are any other instances of the same kind."

"Very good, Master Willis; and yet the sun is only a step from us in
comparison to the distance of some stars that we see very distinctly,
but which are, nevertheless, so remote, that their rays, travelling at
the same rate as those of the sun, are several years in reaching us."

Willis rose abruptly, whistling "the Mariner's March," and went to
join Fritz, who was steering the pinnace.

At this _naïve_ mark of disapprobation on the part of the Pilot,
Becker, Ernest, and Jack burst involuntarily into a violent peal of
laughter.

"Laugh away, laugh away." said Willis; "I will not admit your
calculations for all that."

The sky had now assumed an opal or azure tint, the wind had gradually
died away into a gentle breeze, the waves were now swelling gently and
regularly, like the movements of the infant's cradle that is being
rocked asleep. Never had a day, opening in the convulsions of a
tempest, more suddenly lapsed into sunshine and smiles: it was like
the fairies of Perrault's Tales, who, at first wrapped in sorry rags,
begging and borne down with age, throw off their chrysalis and appear
sparkling with youth, gaiety, and beauty, their wallet converted into
a basket of flowers, and their crutch to a magic wand.

"Father" inquired Fritz, "shall we go any farther?"