IDENTITY OF LIGHTNING AND ELECTRICITY PROVED. 591 



lightning could descend that cord, How much of it would 

 so come there was nothing to tell. Every presumption 

 pointed to an out-pour of living flame which would infalli- 

 bly kill. And yet, if his theory was right, the electrical 

 fluid should be drawn from the cloud and flow down with 

 harmless vigor. 



No man ever confronted what he must have believed to 

 be terrible danger with more superb heroism. No man 

 ever led a forlorn hope, or faced a hail of bullets, with more 

 unflinching bravery. No man ever so calmly, so philo- 

 sophically, staked his life upon his faith. 



The great clouds roll up from the horizon, and the gusts 

 grow fitful and strong. As Franklin and his boy disen- 

 tangle the kite from its cords and tail, and get it in posi- 

 tion for ascent, the thunder mutters nearer, and the rain 

 begins to patter upon the grass. A swishing blast comes 

 over the meadows, the kite feels it and rises swiftly, 

 swooping this way and that as the air-currents catch it. 

 The rain now falls heavily, and the mist begins to close in. 

 There is a friendly shed at hand, and Franklin, drenched, 

 takes refuge under it. The kite, heavy with water, is sail- 

 ing sluggishly, except when the gusts set it moving in 

 spirals. 



A huge low-lying black cloud traveling over him sud- 

 denly shoots forth forked flame, and a crash of thunder 

 shakes the very earth. The pour is now in sheets; again 

 the blaze, again the rattling explosion. The kite is mov- 

 ing upward, for Franklin is quickly unwinding the cord. 

 It is soaring straight into the black mass, from which the 

 flashes are now rapidly coming, and in which it soon 

 becomes invisible. 



Quietly Franklin is arranging the silk ribbon and the 

 key. This done, he watches the cord close to him. There 

 is no sign yet to guide him. Has he failed ? Suddenly he 

 sees the little loose fibres of the twine erect themselves. 

 He has not failed, but the moment has come. Without a 

 tremor he advances his knuckle to the key. And then a 



