“Zerah and Zulamith loved each other, just as mortals love, and this is forbidden by the laws of the Almighty.  And because Zerah and Zulamith had so broken God’s law they were banished from His presence to the uttermost bounds of the universe.  If they had been banished together it would have been no punishment; so Zerah was exiled to a star on one side of the universe, and Zulamith was sent to a star on the other side of the universe; and between them was a fathomless abyss which thought itself could not cross.  Only one thing could cross it—­and that was love.  Zulamith yearned for Zerah with such fidelity and longing that he began to build up a bridge of light from his star; and Zerah, not knowing this, but loving and longing for him, began to build a similar bridge of light from her star.  For a thousand thousand years they both built the bridge of light, and at last they met and sprang into each other’s arms.  Their toil and loneliness and suffering were all over and forgotten, and the bridge they had built spanned the gulf between their stars of exile.

“Now, when the other archangels saw what had been done they flew in fear and anger to God’s white throne, and cried to Him,

“’See what these rebellious ones have done!  They have built them a bridge of light across the universe, and set Thy decree of separation at naught.  Do Thou, then, stretch forth Thine arm and destroy their impious work.’

“They ceased—­and all heaven was hushed.  Through the silence sounded the voice of the Almighty.

“‘Nay,’ He said, ’whatsoever in my universe true love hath builded not even the Almighty can destroy.  The bridge must stand forever.’

“And,” concluded the Story Girl, her face upturned to the sky and her big eyes filled with starlight, “it stands still.  That bridge is the Milky Way.”

“What a lovely story,” sighed Sara Ray, who had been wooed to a temporary forgetfulness of her woes by its charm.

The rest of us came back to earth, feeling that we had been wandering among the hosts of heaven.  We were not old enough to appreciate fully the wonderful meaning of the legend; but we felt its beauty and its appeal.  To us forevermore the Milky Way would be, not Peter’s overwhelming garland of suns, but the lucent bridge, love-created, on which the banished archangels crossed from star to star.

We had to go up Sara Ray’s lane with her to her very door, for she was afraid Peg Bowen would catch her if she went alone.  Then the Story Girl and I walked up the hill together.  Peter and Felicity lagged behind.  Cecily and Dan and Felix were walking before us, hand in hand, singing a hymn.  Cecily had a very sweet voice, and I listened in delight.  But the Story Girl sighed.

“What if Sara does take the measles?” she asked miserably.

“Everyone has to have the measles sometime,” I said comfortingly, “and the younger you are the better.”