"Go on! grumble away as much as you please," muttered Cornelius. "I have discovered your secret and will tell it to the world."
"And what is there so interesting in all this, anyway?" asked Balthazar, who, owing to his drenching, was in anything but a good humor.
"You poor fool," replied Cornelius, with a smile of pity; "now tell me, what is that?"
"Why, a flash of lightning, of course!"
"Naturally! but what is the nature of the flash?"
"Why, I always supposed that all flashes were alike."
"That shows how much you know!" answered Cornelius, in a tone of disgust. "Now, there are several classes of lightning. For instance, lightning of the first class is generally in the form of a luminous furrow and is very crooked and forked, effecting a zigzag movement, and of a white or purple color; then, there is the lightning of the second class, an extended sheet of flame, usually red, and which embraces the entire horizon in circumference; and finally lightning of the third class, which is invariably in the form of a rebounding, rolling, spherical body; the question is whether it is really globular in shape or merely an optical illusion? This is exactly the problem I have been trying to solve! I suppose you will say that these globes of fire have been sufficiently observed by Howard, Schubler, Kamtz—"
"Oh, I don't know anything at all about such rot, so I won't venture an opinion. The rain is coming down again and I want to go home."
"Wait a moment," calmly replied Cornelius; "and as soon as I have seen a spherical or globular flash I will—"
"I haven't time to wait; besides, I would be a fool when I only have to go a hundred feet to reach my door. If you want a good fire, a good supper, a good bed and a good pipe, you will be welcome; and if you want to look at a globe, why, the globe of my lamp is at your disposal. I can say no more."