“Catch me and use me, if you can!” said Steam.
“Well,” said Two-Legs, “I will try. But first tell me what becomes of you when you float through the air, as you are doing now.”
“Then I turn cold,” said Steam. “And, when I have turned cold, I become water ... rain ... mist ... whatever you please.”
“And then you fall into the sea,” said Two-Legs. “And then you soak into the mountain, where the fire is, and become steam again; and so on and so on, for ever and ever.”
“That’s it,” said Steam.
Then he floated on across the wilderness and disappeared out at sea. Two-Legs gazed after him and then stared at the mountain again, which was smoking peacefully, as it had done before.
He sat the whole night and pondered. Then he rose, called the dog and went after the others.
6
Two-Legs and his family had discovered a new country.