![]() ![]() He tells Giovanni that he has received a letter from his father, announcing that he will be home soon. Giovanni hurries to the river, in fear of what he already knows, and finds Campanella's father just as he sadly gives up searching for his son, believing Campanella to have drowned. As Giovanni passes through town on his way home, he learns that Campanella has fallen into the river while saving another boy from drowning. He heads back to the dairy, where this time he collects a bottle of milk from a farmer, who explains that an escaped calf drank half of the day's milk supply. Giovanni wakes up on the hilltop, and initially dismisses his journey through the Milky Way as a dream. However, as the train approaches the Coalsack - a hole in the sky - Campanella sees what he considers 'the true heaven', where his mother is waiting for him, and suddenly vanishes from the train, leaving Giovanni alone in despair. Giovanni pledges that they should go on together for ever, and vows to follow Scorpio's example of bringing true happiness to everyone. The train next stops at the Southern Cross, where all the other passengers disembark for the Christian heaven, leaving only Giovanni and Campanella onboard as the train continues its journey. As the train passes the flame of Scorpio, Kaoru recalls that it was once a scorpion who ate other insects, but perished in a well after escaping a weasel regretting that it did not sacrifice itself for a good cause, the scorpion prayed to bring happiness to others in the next life, and its body burst into a bright flame that still burns in the night sky. Shortly after, the boys are joined in their seats by a tutor and two children, Kaoru and Tadashi, who were onboard a ship that sank after hitting an iceberg. When a ticket inspector appears, Giovanni discovers he has a rare ticket which allows him to go anywhere that the train runs. The two boys witness many amazing sights and meet various people, including scholars excavating a fossil from sands of white crystal, and a man who catches herons to turn them into candy. ![]() As he gazes up at the Milky Way in the sky above, Giovanni suddenly finds himself with Campanella onboard a steam train, which travels past the Northern Cross and many other stars in its journey across the galaxy. Upset by this taunt, Giovanni flees from the town and walks alone to the top of a nearby hill. Giovanni intends to watch the festival with Campanella, but on his way into town, he is mocked by his schoolmates for expecting an otter-skin coat from his father. Giovanni only encounters an elderly woman at the dairy, and once he pleads that his ill mother needs her milk that night, the woman advises him to come back later. Upon returning home, Giovanni finds that no milk was delivered that day, so he heads out to the dairy to fetch it for his mother's dinner. At the end of the lesson, the teacher encourages all the children to attend the festival of stars that evening. Giovanni knows it is formed of stars, but is unable to say so, and Campanella does the same to save Giovanni from further teasing by the rest of the class. During a lesson about the galaxy, the teacher asks Giovanni what the Milky Way is made of.
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