FRANKLIN AND DE ROMAS 169 



of burning is in the air; the kite-string is covered 

 with a luminous envelope and forms a ribbon of fire 

 joining heaven to earth. Three long straws, lying by 

 chance on the ground, start up, jump, spring toward 

 the string, fall, spring up again, and for some min- 

 utes entertain the spectators with their disordered 

 evolutions. ' ' 



"Last evening," Claire remarked, "the down of 

 the feathers and the little pieces of paper jumped in 

 the same way between the electrified sheet of paper 

 and the table." 



"That is quite natural*" said Jules, "since Uncle 

 has just told us that the rubbed sheet of paper takes 

 to itself the very essence of thunder, only in a very 

 small quantity. ' ' 



' ' I am glad to see you grasp the close resemblance 

 between thunder and the electricity that we produce 

 by rubbing certain bodies. De Romas made his per- 

 ilous experiment on purpose to prove that resem- 

 blance. I said perilous experiment; you will see, in 

 fact, what danger the audacious experimenter ran. 

 Three straws, I told you, were jumping from the 

 string to the ground, and from the ground to the 

 string, when all at once everybody turned pale with 

 fright: there came a violent explosion and a thun- 

 derbolt fell, making a large hole in the ground and 

 raising a cloud of dust." 



' ' My goodness ! * ' gasped Claire. ' * Was de Romas 

 killed!" 



"No, de Romas was safe and beaming with joy: 

 n visions were verified \\ith a success that bor- 

 dered on the prodigious: it was demonstrated tint a 



