The Dragon was now on his hind legs and the Twins were balancing the Moon on his nose. It bobbed up and down uncertainly for a moment. Then it settled and the Dragon began to waltz about the ring to the tune of the starry music. Round he went, very carefully and steadily, once, twice, three times.
'That will do!' said the Sun cracking his whip. And the Dragon, with a sigh of relief, shook its head and sent the Moon flying across the ring. It landed, with a bumpy thud, right in Michael's lap.
'Good gracious!' said he, very startled. 'What shall I do with this?'
'Whatever you like,' said Orion. 'I thought you asked for it.'
And suddenly Michael remembered his conversation that evening with Mary Poppins. He had asked for the Moon then, and now he had got it. And he didn't know what to do with it. How very awkward!
But he had no time to worry about it for the Sun was cracking his whip again. Michael settled the Moon on his knee, folded his arms around it and turned back to the ring.
'What are two and three?' the Sun was asking the Dragon.
The two tails lashed five times on the star-dust.
'And six and four?' The Dragon thought for a minute. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine — The tails stopped.
'Wrong!' said the Sun. 'Quite wrong! No supper for you to-night!'
At that the Dragon burst into tears and hurried from the ring sobbing.
'Alas and alack,
Boo-hoo, boo-hoo!'
he cried bitterly.
'I wanted a Maiden
Served in a stew,
A succulent, seasoned, tasty Girl
With star for her eye
And comet for curl,
And I wouldn't have minded if there'd been two,
For I'm awfully hungry,
Boo-hoo!
Boo-hoo!'
'Won't they give him even a small maiden?' said Michael, feeling rather sorry for the Dragon.
'Hush!' said Orion, as a dazzling form sprang into the ring.
When the cloud of star-dust had cleared away, the children drew back, startled. It was the Lion and he was growling fiercely.
Michael moved a little closer to Jane.
The Lion, crouching, moved forward slowly till he reached the Sun. His long red tongue went out, lolling dangerously. But the Sun only laughed, and lifting his foot, he gently kicked the Lion's golden nose. With a roar, as though he had been burnt, the starry beast sprang up.
The Sun's whip cracked fiercely on the air. Slowly, unwillingly, growling all the time, the Lion rose on his hind legs. The Sun tossed him a skipping-rope and, holding it between his forepaws, the lion began to sing.
'I am the Lion, Leo-the-Lion,
The beautiful, suitable, Dandy Lion,
Look for me up in the starry sky on
Clear cold nights at the foot of Orion,
Glimmering, glittering, gleaming there,
The Handsomest Sight in the atmosphere!'
And at the end of the song he swung the rope and skipped round the ring, rolling his eyes and growling.
'Hurry up, Leo, it's our turn!' A rumbling voice sounded from behind the curtain.
'Come on, you big cat!' a shrill voice added.
The Lion dropped his skipping-rope and with a roar sprang at the curtain, but the two creatures who entered next stepped carefully aside so that the Lion missed them.
'Great Bear and Little Bear,' said Orion.
Slowly the two Bears lumbered in, holding paws and waltzing to slow music. Round the ring they went, looking very serious and solemn, and at the end of their dance they made a clumsy curtsey to the audience and remarked—
'We're the Gruffly Bear and the Squeaky Bear,
O Constellations, has any one here
A honeycomb square that they can spare
For the Squeaky Bear and the Gruffly Bear
To add to the store in their dark blue lair
Or to—
or to—
or to—'
The Great Bear and the Little Bear stammered and stumbled and looked at each other.
'Don't you remember what comes next?' rumbled the Gruffly Bear behind his paw.
'No, I don't!' The Squeaky Bear shook his head and stared anxiously down at the star-dust as though he thought the missing words might be there.
But at that moment the audience saved the situation. A shower of honeycombs came hurtling down, tumbling about the ears of the two Bears. The Gruffly Bear and the Squeaky Bear, looking very relieved, stooped and picked them up.
'Good!' rumbled the Great Bear, digging his nose into a comb.
'fix-cellent!' squeaked the Little Bear, trying another. Then, with their noses streaming with honey, they bowed solemnly to the Sun and lumbered out.
The Sun waved his hand and the music grew louder and rang triumphantly through the tent.
'The signal for the Big Parade,' said Orion, as Castor and Pollux came dancing in with all the Constellations at their heels.
The Bears came back, waltzing clumsily together, and Leo-the-Lion, still growling angrily, came sniffing at their heels. In swept a starry Swan, singing a high, clear chant.
