"No; but by the zinc route."
That was another new development to the boys.
"Harry made a sage remark some months ago. It was to the effect that in order to start to make anything we had to make something that made something to make something with. In order to make electricity by means of a battery, we had to go through all this process of turning out the zinc, which we have just completed; then, if you have not forgotten it, we had quite a time in converting our copper ore into a copper which we could use. We were compelled to make charcoal, and then coke, with the aid of the charcoal; and now that we have coke, we must again grind it up and make a mortar, so we can form it into little plates or slabs. From the copper we got a liquid, which I asked you to save, and that is vitriol, or sulphate of copper. You see, all these things are necessary before we could possibly attempt to set up a primary battery, and start the first lighting plant."
Not an hour was lost at the Cataract home and factory. All took the keenest delight in forwarding any new enterprise and in looking out for new things to do which would contribute to their pleasure and comfort. The boys now learned what they had never dreamed of before; that life is a most complex problem; that to secure pleasures toil is necessary, and that the greatest happiness comes from knowing you have succeeded. Pursuit, not possession, is man's greatest joy. To the brute the reverse is true.
"Where is the Professor? I have been bitten by a cat."
"A cat, Harry? Where did you find the cat?"
"Across the river, where I was cutting the oak log."
The Professor was soon at hand. "What is this? A cat, you say?"
"It looked just like a big cat, about two feet long?"
"Did it have a pointed nose?"