CHAPTER XXXVIII 



FRANKLIN AND DE ROMAS 



THE next day Claire and her two brothers could 

 talk of nothing but the experiments of the eve- 

 ning before. It was their subject of conversation the 

 whole morning. The cat's beads of fire and the 

 flashes from the paper had greatly impressed them; 

 so their uncle, in order to profit by this awakening 

 of their attention, resumed as soon as possible his 

 instructive talk. 



"I am sure you are all three asking yourselves 

 why, before telling you about thunder, I rubbed seal- 

 iim wax, a strip of paper, and the cat's back. You 

 shall know, but first of all listen to a little story. 



"More than a century ago a magistrate of the little 

 town of Nerac, named de Romas, devised the most 

 momentous experiment ever registered in the annals 

 of science. One day he was seen going out into the 

 country in a storm, with an enormous paper kite and 

 a ball of twine. Over two hundred persons, keenly 

 interested, accompanied him. What in the world 

 was that celebrated magistrate going to do. Forget- 

 ful of his grave functions, did he propose some di- 

 version unworthy of him! Was it to witness a puer- 

 ile kite-flying that these curious ones flocked from all 

 points of the townf No, no; de Romas was about 

 to realize the most audacious project that man's 



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