TIIK STORY-HOOK OF SCIENCE 



inventor of chess prime vizier. That is what the 

 wily dervisli wanted." 



14 Like the king, I should have fallen into the der- 

 vish's >nare," said Jules. "I should have thought 

 that doubling a -rain sixty-four times would only 

 a tVw handfuls of wheat." 



"Henceforth," returned Uncle Paul, "you will 

 know that a number, even very small, when multi- 

 plied a number of times by the same figure, is like a 

 snow-ball which grows in rolling, and soon becomes 

 an enormous ball which all our efforts cannot move." 



"Your dervish was very crafty," remarked Emile. 

 "He modestly contented himself with one grain of 

 wheat for his blue pigeons, on condition that they 

 doubled the number on each square. Apparently, he 

 asked next to nothing ; in reality, he asked more than 

 the king possessed. What is a dervish, Uncle 1 ' ' 



"In the religions of the East they call by that name 

 those who renounce the world to give themselves up 

 to prayer and contemplation." 



' ' You say the king made him prime vizier. Is that 

 a high office?" 



"Prime vizier means prime minister. The der- 

 vi>h then became the greatest dignitary of the State, 

 after the king. ' ' 



"I am no longer surprised that he refused the 

 ten purses of a thousand sequins. He was waiting 

 for something better. The ten purses, however, 

 would make a good sum?" 



"A sequin is a gold piece worth about twelve 

 francs. At that rate, the king offered the dervish a 



