ay stretched out like a black line across the grass.

"It's just the same!" he cried. "It's noon now!"

Anton promptly set his watch right by the sun.

"There's Mr. Levin coming," he announced, "let's show him that his watch
is wrong. He's always so exact."

The boys came up to him, but before they could put their question, the
Weather Man spoke.

"Well, boys," he said, "what are you after? Putting up a flag-pole? It's
a little short, isn't it?"

"No, Mr. Levin," Anton answered, "that isn't a flag-pole, it's a new
clock, and one that's always right!"

"How have you been making it?" the Forecaster asked, immediately
interested.

Anton described the principles that the boys had used and especially the
means adopted to ensure that the pole should be upright.

"Why don't you fix it so that you won't have to measure the length of
the shadow every day?" queried the Forecaster. "It's quite easy when you
know how."

"Won't you show us?" responded Anton.

"Certainly," the old Weather Man answered, getting out of his buggy. "I
see," he continued, "you've got hold of the idea that when the sun casts
the shortest shadow it must be true noon, because the sun is half-way
between the longest shadow and the shortest. That means, of course, that
the sun is at the meridian."

"Yes, sir."

"It would be much the same thing, wouldn't it, if you measured half the
distance between the points on the horizon where the sun rose and the
sun set?"

Ross thought for a moment.

"Yes," he said, "I suppose it would. But is that always the same?"

"How can it be anything else?" the Forecaster asked. "In winter the day
is short and in summer it is long, but the meridian plane is always the
same--that is, excepting for certain very small astronomical variations
which would make no difference to you in the matter of measuring time.
Let's get the meridian plane, first. Dan'l, do you suppose there's a
pail of whitewash in the barn?"

"Yas, suh," the darky replied, "Ah knows there is."

"Go ahead and get it then," the observer asked, "and let me have a piece
of string."

He fastened the string to the bottom of the pole and awaited the return
of Dan'l with the whitewash. In a moment the old negro came back with
the pail.

"Now," said the Forecaster, "I'm going to hold this string right at the
end, and, holding it tightly, walk around the pole. What kind of a
figure will that make?"

"A circle," answered the two boys.

"Right. Da