"They are a sort of trap set for the lightning, are they not?"
"Yes, and into which it is pretty sure to fall. Franklin, of whom I spoke just now, was the first to suggest that bars of steel would draw lightning out of a cloud surcharged with electricity."
"What becomes of it when it is caught?"
"Keeping in view its partiality for bell-pulls, a wire is attached to the rod down which the unconscious fluid glides."
"Like a powder-monkey from the main-top."
"Exactly; till it enters a well, and there it is left at the bottom in company with Truth."
A practical storm had begun to mix itself up with the theory as developed by Jack, but not before they had very nearly reached their destination, where they were waited for with the greatest anxiety.
No sooner had they landed than Sophia ran to meet Willis, who was advancing with Jack.
"Ah, sweetheart," she said, "Susan has been so uneasy about you."
"You are a good girl, Miss Soph—Susan."