Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1892-10-05

when the captain read aloud the follow
ing letter:
SCAaCHERY, Conn.,, March Il, 1SS-.
DEAR CAPTAIN BANKs-In fulillment Of my
lamented brothers last wishes. have sent
you his telescope in remembrance of many
happy hours passed with you while con-
templating the glory of the heavens, during
your visit to us three years ago. With regards
to your amiable wife, / remain, yours very
truly. HANNAH CRoOKE.
"Bless my soul, | didn't even know
old lien was deadr' said the captain.
"And a telescope! 1 don't know any,
thing about astronomy only kept him
company in his observatory and let him
rave about his hobby. Where the dick
ems can we put the thing?"
''Sell it," suggested Rob.
.sGive it to the academy" said Mrs.
Banks.
''No, that wouldn't be fair to the old
boy. Ha! There's the pilothouse! The
very thing! I'll go and see Shavers
about rigging up a stand or something
for it," And the captain strobe out of
the dining room, leaving u clamor of
voices behind him.
at will spoil the smoking room," said
Rob.
"We won't be allowed to play up there
any MORE" said Frank and Bess.
81 am glad it is really to be an observ-
atory after all. Now perhaps your
father will drop that absurd naine," said
Mrs. Banks.
'And it will really be nice to look at
comets and things WITH" said Lily.
And so the telescope was accepted in
the dining room at least, but Bridget
went out and complained to Mike that
the "capen was going to put a machine
called tellhiscup in the cupilow, and
nobody could hang clothes there on
dusty washdays." The captain had been
riverman, and when on retiring from
that profession he had built house near
the river bank in answer to his wife's
request for cupola he had erected on
the roof a square apartment that SO
nearly resembled that in which he had
spent his early river life that he fondly
called it 1.-THE Pilothouse." It was not
often used; though it was priced by
Bridget as a drying room and Rob as a
smoking room, it was not popular with
Mrs. Banks and Lily-possibly on ac-
count of its name. But its hour was
come.
The captain was the head and center
of his family. Astronomically speaking
(and since the telescope is the hero of
this story such description is appro-
priate) the family at Clematis villa was
arranged in sort of terrestrial or do
mestic solar system, something in this
order:
First, or centrally situated, the cap
tain.
Second, Or revolving nearest him, Mrs.
Banks.
Third, in the next orbit, Robert Banks.
Fourth, or in the third orbit, Lily
Banks and satellites Ghe schoolmaster.
the organist, the postmaster and John
Clark.
Fifth, or revolving in one orbit, Frank
and Bess.
Sixth, revolving in an orbit, but sub.
ject to disturbing influences, Bridget
Corrigan.
Seventh, or revolving in an outer
orbit, but subject to influence from
Bridget, Mike Flynn.
Therefore when the telescope had
been set up, and when the captain had
fallen victim to its attractions, the rest
of the family revolved around him in
their proper orbits, with their poles
slightly inclined toward the telescope.
The first indications of the power of
4a11 eo1< %Lo 4o;-
brought from town a work on astron-
omy. It was not a ponderous tome, such
as discourages earlier star gazers by
weight of wisdom and malodorous calf
skin cover, but dainty volume in blue
binding, over which gilt stars, planets,
nebulD and comets cheerfully frisked,
looking like tho illustrated catalogue of
fireworks factory. To this book, as
we'll as the baleful influence of the tele-
scope, may be attributed the wreck Of
the Banks family, who soon were united
in worshiping the sublime science, each
according to his or her tastes.
The captain, as beftted his position in
the domestic universe, devoted himself
entirely to the sun, and began to fill a
large diary with notes of his observa-
tions and with his theories, in many of
which he begged leave to differ from his
learned confreres-a astronomic lights of
the literary world. Mrs. Banks was de-
voted to nebule, partly from a natural
feminine delight In the mysterious and
unknowable, and partly because. as she
expressed it, there was something nice
ho,,oa1iG1o oh r,o1,,,1o {haxy
minded her of jelly jelling and bread
rising something was always going on
in them, and one could be pretty sure it
would turn out right. The planets
now were always going around and
around in the same track, like ones
sewing machine, and were not so inter-
esting as nebulR.
Rob, on the contrary, found the plan
cts most interesting. They always came
tortime; YOU never caught one off its
Dase Wnen IL ought 70 be there, and 1t
was such a joke to think of the fellows
away out there playing ball and tennis
with rules Of their own, and having no
''umpire" or anything to go by. For a
change, it got to be more fun watching
for the planets to rise than watching
the girls come from church.
Lily found nothing so fascinating as
the moon, and by a singular coincidence
the moon was John Clark's speciality.
No one had supposed he had any special
ty before this. The organist had fire.
quently expressed his distrust of young
man who cared nothing for music; the
schoolmaster found several occasions to
remark upon the general worthlessness
of young men who sneered at the poets
and despised culture; the postmaster,
who painted (in Lrstra), foretold NOR
tifying future for a young man who
was nothing but muscles and mustache,
and all estimable people frowned upon