The noble young man removed his hat, placed his eye to the instrument, a cloth was thrown over his head, and the astronomer continued:—­

“Behold the bright star of Venus!  A sight of this star is worth a thousand dollars to any man who prefers education to money.”  There was an instant of deep silence, and then the young man exclaimed:—­

“I say!”

I stood behind him, and knew that the telescope pointed at the fifth storey of a building across the square, where a dance was in progress.

“All people indulge in exclamations of admiration as they view the beauties and mysteries of nature,” remarked the astronomer.  “Young man, tell the crowd what you see.”

“I see a feller hugging a girl!” was the prompt reply.  “And if there isn’t a dozen of them!”

“And yet,” continued the astronomer, “there are sordid wretches in this crowd who hang to ten cents in preference to observing such sights as these in ethereal space.  Venus is millions of miles away, and yet by means of this telescope and by paying ten cents this intellectual young man is enabled to observe the inhabitants of that far-off world hugging each other just as natural as they do in this!”

The instrument was wheeled around to bear on the tower of the engine-house some distance away, and the astronomer, continued:—­

“Behold the beauties and the wonders of Saturn!  This star, to the naked eye, appears no larger than a pin’s point, and yet for the paltry sum of ten cents this noble young man is placed within one mile of it!”

“Well, this beats all!” murmured the young man, as he slapped his leg.

“Tell me what you see, my friend.”

“I see two fellows in a small room, smoking cigars and playing chess!” was the prompt reply.

“Saturn is 86,000,000 of miles from this town,” continued the astronomer, “and yet the insignificant sum of ten cents has enabled this progressive young man to learn for himself that the celestial beings enjoy themselves pretty much as we do in this world.  I venture to say that there is not a man in this crowd who ever knew before that the inhabitants of Saturn knew anything about chess or cigars.”

Once more he wheeled the instrument round.  This time it got the range of the upper storey of a tenement-house on the hill The young man had scarcely taken a glance through the tube, when he yelled out:—­

“Great guns!  But what planet is this?”

“You are now looking at Uranus,” replied the professor.  “Uranus is 97,502,304 miles distant from the earth, and yet I warrant that it doesn’t appear over eighty rods away to you.  Will you be kind enough, my friend, to tell this crowd what you see?”

“Give it to him!  That’s it!  Go it old woman!” shouted the young man, slapping one leg and then the other.

“Speak up, my friend.  What do you see?”

“By jove! she’s got him by the hair now!  Why, she’ll beat him hollow!”