FRANKLIN AND THE KITE.


When Franklin wanted to know whether the ants could talk or not, he
asked the ants, and they told him. When he wanted to know some-thing
else, he asked the sunshine about it, as you have read in another
story. That is the way that Franklin came to know so many things. He
knew how to ask questions of every-thing.

Once he asked the light-ning a question. And the light-ning gave him
an answer.

Before the time of Franklin, people did not know what light-ning was.
They did not know what made the thunder. Franklin thought much about
it. At last he proved what it was. He asked the lightning a question,
and made it tell what it was. To tell you this story, I shall have
to use one big word. Maybe it is too big for some of my little friends
that will read this book. Let us divide it into parts. Then you will
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