CHAPTER XXXV 



ELECTRICITY 



JULES gave a lengthy account of the day to his 

 brother and sister. At the part relating to the 

 thunderbolt Claire trembled like a leaf. "I should 

 have died of f right, " said she, "if I had seen the 

 lightning strike the pine." After the deeper emo- 

 tion came curiosity, and they all agreed to beg their 

 uncle for a talk on the subject of thunder. And so 

 the next day Jules, Emile, and Claire gathered 

 around their Uncle Paul to hear him tell them all 

 about it. Jules broached the subject. 



''Now that I am no longer afraid, will you please 

 tell us, Uncle, why we should not take refuge under 

 trees during a storm? Emile, I am sure, would like 

 to know." 



"I should first of all like to know what thunder 

 is," said Emile. 



"I too," said Claire. "When we know a little 

 what thunder is, it will be much easier to understand 

 the danger from trees." 



"Quite right," commented their uncle, approv- 

 ingly. "First let us see whether any one of you 

 knows anything about thunder." 



"When I was very small," Emile volunteered, "I 

 used to think it was produced by rolling a large ball 

 of iron made of resounding metal over the vault of 



