out to descend the hill the Professor called them to a
halt. "Do you intend to leave the flag at full mast?"

They had entirely forgotten to half mast it. "And now," said Harry, "if
they can't see that flag we'll make one big enough next time."

As they went down the hill, they could not help looking back over and
over, to admire the flag and the pole, and everything connected with it.
They knew every thread and every piece of it. Somehow it seemed to be a
part of them.

There was always a sentimental streak in George. "I can't help thinking
that is the most beautiful flag in the world; I suppose other people
think the same of their flag. How did flags come to be used by people?"

"The flag is the successor of the banner, which is taken from the Celtic
word 'band.' The Bible mentions banners, showing they were used early in
scriptural history. The banners of the Romans, used in their warfares,
were essentially different from modern flags, colors and ensigns; they
were carvings of wood or metal, some of them representing eagles, like
the Persian standard described by Xenophon. In the Middle Ages it was a
connecting link between the military and the clergy. The crescent and
the cross symbols typified the two great contending forces of the world
at that time."

Returning to their home, tired with the exertions, they sat in the
living room and talked over the events of the day. Somehow, they felt
that the day was too sacred to be desecrated with further toil. They
congratulated each other at the success in raising the pole, as that was
a matter which had given them a great deal of concern.

Ever since the day on which they commenced work on the electric battery
the boys deplored the lack of glass. If they could make that it would be
of such immense importance to them in many ways. It would be of great
service for their tableware; they could use it for their electric work,
which interested them more than any branch to which their time had been
given, among the mechanical arts; with that they could make thermometers
and testing instruments; and give their house the air of a modern home,
because windows could be put in.

"Will it be difficult to make glass?" asked George.

"It is an exceedingly simple matter to make glass--that is, to fuse or
melt it. The difficult part is the art of making it, either by the
blowing process, or by making the flat forms, like window panes and the
like. Owing to the simplicity in prepari