"But I don't think metaphysics are much in our line.

If you've finished we may as well go and have a look at the realities." "Which the metaphysicians," laughed Zaidie as she rose, "would tell you are not realities at all, or only realities so far as you can think about them.

'Thinks,' in short, instead of real things.

But meanwhile I've got the breakfast _things_ to put away, so you can go up on deck and put the telescopes in order." When she joined him a few minutes later in the deck-chamber the three-quarter disc of Jupiter was rapidly approaching the full.
Its phases are invisible from the Earth owing to the enormous distance; but from the deck of the _Astronef_ they had been plainly visible for some days, and, since the huge planet turns on its axis in less than ten hours, or with more than twice the speed of the Earth's rotation, the phases followed each other very rapidly.
Thus at twelve o'clock noon by _Astronef_ time they might have seen a gigantic rim of silver-blue overarching the whole vault of heaven in front of them.

By five o'clock it would be a hemisphere, and by five minutes to ten the vast sphere would be once more shining full-orbed upon them.