Stránka:roll 1910.djvu/125

BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA 109 was nicknamed " Bluejay," because he was so fond of chatting and showing off, said, " Oh, I see hundreds." " Well, you can sit down," I said, for you can do nothing of the kind." Another steadier boy said, " I believe I see six," and he proved that he did see them, for he mapped them out properly on a board with six pebbles. That boy had good eyes, because poor eyes see merely a haze, but another boy present had better eyes, for he saw,- and proved that he saw, seven. This is considered first-class. The Indians as a rule see seven, because they call them the Seven Stars. But, according to Flammarion, it is possible to exceed this, for several persons have given proof that they distinguished ten Pleiades. This is almost the extreme of human eyesight. There is, how- ever, according to the same authority, a record of thirteen Pleiades having been actually seen by the unaided human eye. The telescope reveals some 2,000 in the cluster. The Indians call them the " Seven Dancers," and tell a legend that seems to explain their dancing about the smallest one, as well as the origin of the constellation. Once there were seven little Indian boys, who used to take their bowl of succotash each night and eat their suppers together on a mound outside the village. Six were about the same size, one was smaller than the rest, but he had a sweet voice, and knew many songs, so after supper the others would dance around the mound to his singing, and he marked time on his drum. When the frosty days of autumn were ending, and winter threatened to stop the nightly party, they said, " Let us ask our parents for some venison, so we can have a grand feast and dance for the last time on the mound." They asked, but all were refused. Each father said, " When I was a little boy, I thought myself lucky to get even a pot of succotash, and never thought of asking for venison as well." So the boys assembled at the rhound. All were gloomy but the little singer, who said : — " Never mind, brothers ! We shall feast without venison and we shall be merry just the same, for I shall sing you a new song that shall lighten your hearts." First, he made each of them fasten on his head a little torch