ill
not be afraid of it. The big word is e-lec-tric-i-ty.

Those of you who live in towns have seen the streets lighted by
e-lec-tric-i-ty. But in Franklin's time there were no such lights.
People knew very little about this strange thing with a big name.

But Franklin found out many things about it that nobody had ever known
before. He began to think that the little sparks he got from
e-lec-tric-i-ty were small flashes of lightning. He thought that the
little cracking sound of these sparks was a kind of baby thunder.

So he thought that he would try to catch a little bit of lightning.
Perhaps he could put it into one of the little bottles used to hold
e-lec-tric-i-ty. Then if it behaved like e-lec-tric-i-ty, he would
know what it was. But catching lightning is not easy. How do you think
he did it?

First he made a kite. It was not a kite just like a boy's kite. He
wanted a kite that would fly when it rained. Rain would spoil a paper
kite in a minute. So Franklin used a silk hand-ker-chief to cover his
kite, instead of paper.

[Illustration: Franklin's Discovery.]

He put a little sharp-pointed wire at the top of his kite. This was
a kind of lightning rod to draw the lightning into the kite. His kite
string was a common hemp string. To this he tied a key, because
lightning will follow metal. The end of the string that he held in his
hand was a silk ribbon, which was tied to the hemp string of the kite.
E-lec-tric-ity will not follow silk.

One night when there was a storm coming, he went out with his son.
They stood under a cow shed, and he sent his kite up in the air.

[Illustration]

After a while he held his knuckle to the key. A tiny spark flashed
between the key and his knuckle. It was a little flash of lightning.

Then he took his little bottle fixed to hold e-lec-tric-i-ty. He
filled it with the e-lec-tric-i-ty that came from the key. He carried
home a bottle of lightning. So he found out what made it thunder
and lighten.

After that he used to bring the lightning into his house on rods and
wires. He made the lightning ring bells and do many other
strange things.

FRANKLIN'S WHISTLE.

When Franklin was an old man, he wrote a cu-ri-ous letter. In that
letter he told a story. It was about some-thing that happened to him
when he was a boy.

[Illustration]

Here is the story put into verses, so that you will re-member it
better. Some day you can read the story as Franklin told it himsel