"Well," said the Professor, smiling, "we are developing this at an immense rate. The new idea is the starting point for an invention to so arrange the sections as to make them act as floats. Here is a great opportunity for the genius."
Tom and Harry conferred on this subject for some time, and after luncheon, announced the plan: "It is fortunate that the axles of our wheels project. It will be an easy matter to take the sections from the sides of the body and attach one edge of each section to the projecting ends of the axles, and then the two posts can be used as braces to run up from the outer edges on the sections to the upper edges of the body. The third section can be left under the axles where it now is."
John was delighted at the simple solution of this problem.
"I really believe," said Tom, "that we can adjust the sections in that way while the wagon is moving, as it can be attached without any difficulty."
It is wonderful how one improvement marks the advance stride for the next. Invention is really nothing but a step by step movement; a little addition here, another accretion there, and so on, so that invention has been shown to be, not a matter of quantity, but of quality. The mere bending of a wire, if it produces a new and useful result, is just as much entitled to the dignity of an invention, as a room full of intricate mechanism.
CHAPTER XVIII
TRAILING A WARRING PARTY OF NATIVES
"Professor, won't you tell us what the difference is between weight and gravity? We have been discussing that matter this afternoon."
"Gravity is a force by virtue of which all bodies tend to approach each other constantly; and weight is the measure of the effect of gravity acting upon a body. The two are often confounded."