172 
NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
nearer and nearer the time to get dinner. 
“ Fancy dining bountifully to-night on a big dish 
of sunshine! ” 
“ There’s no knowing what miracle may trans¬ 
pire even in the near future,” Grandfather con¬ 
tributed soberly, apparently regarding the whole 
project as quite feasible. “ Ten years ago if 
any one had told me we could sit here comfortably 
in our own home to-night and listen to an orches¬ 
tra in Chicago, I would scarcely have heeded the 
remark. And yet that is just exactly what we 
expect to do! We would no more think of doing 
without our radio now than we would of dis¬ 
pensing with our telephone, our car, or the pho¬ 
nograph. Shortly we may deem just as neces¬ 
sary some contraption for absorbing sunshine and 
pumping its energizing vitality into our systems: 
who knows ? It would certainly be a tremendous 
jolt to old H. C. L. now, wouldn’t it? ” 
“ Hear! Hear! ” Tommy remonstrated, as the 
group seemed separating to attend to various 
evening duties. “ Those little JLycosas are not 
grown up yet: we can’t go and leave them on 
their mother’s back, even if they are lunching in 
a truly miraculous fashion. Please finish them. 
Uncle John.” 
“ Very well,” laughed his uncle, turning back, 
and pausing to lean in the doorway. “ Only I 
shall have to be brief: About the first of April, if 
