apapiu/simple_text_files · Datasets at Hugging Face

"He actually put the lid back after he got through."

But this could not last indefinitely. No one suggested a remedy, if there was one. The United States must take possession in the proper way; hats must come off; the flag must go up slowly, and the band must play the national air; -- the music, they had not thought of it before.

"Can you climb the pole, George?" asked the Professor.

"I think so, with the aid of the halliard."

He approached the pole. "Do you hear me, Baby, come down! Come down, I say!"

Red Angel saw George's design, and without saying a word he slowly descended, shambled over to the wagon, and hanging on the side of the box, looked around to the company in the most reproachful manner.

"Red Angel saw George's design, and without saying a word he slowly descended"

The hoisting of the flag was, indeed, a solemn thing, but it had its amusing side, and when, with uncovered heads, the flag went up to the masthead and stopped there, the Professor said: "We should have had music to make it more appropriate, but as we have no band, let us sing 'The Star-Spangled Banner.'"

The boys were both good singers, as the Professor knew. The song was started, but before the first line was finished, they broke down and tears began to come; the Professor, with his hands clasped and head bowed, did not look up, nor was he surprised when they stopped. The boys had a suspicion that even he could not have carried that song a single bar. They were powerless to go on.

When the Professor did look up and gaze on the flag, the boys saw his tears; they were ashamed no longer, and their eyes looked up, too.

In a voice which sounded almost strange to the boys, the Professor said: "We take possession of this land in the name of the United States of America, and give notice that we shall defend the same against all powers."

Then, as the beautiful flag unfurled itself, and threw its waving shadow on the ground that it now protected, they looked down, and there was Red Angel, close beside them, looking up at the flag as though he understood what it meant, and his silence gave consent to the solemn act which transferred his allegiance to a greater power.

As they were about 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 preparing it, the making of glass articles was known at a very early date, certainly fifteen hundred years before the beginning of the Christian era. In the first stages only opaque glass was produced, and it was not until eight hundred years later that the first transparent product was manufactured. Under Pharaoh it was one of the products extensively made and exported to Phonecia and other Mediterranean ports. Five hundred years before Christ, Aristophanes mentions glass or crystal vessels, but as its value at that time was next to gold it could not have been a common article."

"What is glass made of?"

"Simply common sand. Sand is the ground up particles of quartz, and may be found almost everywhere. The principal thing is to get the pure quartz. In connection an alkali of some kind must be used."

"What is an alkali?"

"A substance which is the exact opposite of an acid. Potash, soda and hartshorn (or ammonia) are the best known. They have most remarkable chemical activities, and an alkali united with an acid entirely neutralizes or destroys the activity of both. The compound produced by the union of an acid and an alkali is termed a salt."

"What is the effect of using an alkali with the quartz sand?"

"Quartz possesses all the qualities of an acid, so that when the alkali is fused with the quartz a neutral substance, unlike either, is formed."

"What kind of alkali is best to use?"

"That depends on what it is to be used for. Quartz and lime make a fine window glass product. Bottle glass is usually made of soda and quartz; window glass is also made of quartz, soda and lime; plate glass of quartz, lime, soda and potash; and flint glass has only the alkalis, potash and oxide of lead."

"Well, for our purposes, wouldn't it be better to make the glass out of quartz and lime if windows can be made out of it?"

"By all means, for several reasons: We have the lime on hand, and also because it makes a very hard article."

"What can we melt it up in?"

"The clay retort or crucible will just be the thing for the purpose, and the first thing in the morning I will make a tour to a point close at hand, where I think we shall be able to get a good quality."

The boys were astir in the morning earlier than usual. They had a new impulse -- something to learn and to do. Harry busied himself with putting the crucible in order, and in getting the fuel. George, after his usual morning's work, brought in the lime, and broke it up preparatory to grinding it up into small particles, so that it would intimately mix with the sand.

Within an hour the Professor returned with several samples of sand, either of which, he thought, would make a good article. The yaks were hitched up, and George went with him to get a good supply.

"How much do you think we ought to make up at first?"

"Several gallons of the sand will do for the experiment."

"What kind of article should be made with the first trial?"

"We might make some window glass. It is true it will not be transparent, but it will be translucent, and so will give us light, as well as though it should be transparent."

"What is translucent glass?"

"Where the surface of a cast plate is polished the material is such that you can see through it, but if it is left rough it is impossible to see through it, although it will permit light to go through. The term applied to such glass is translucent."

"If light will pass through, why is it the eye cannot see through it?"

"A powerful magnifying glass shows that the surface of unpolished glass is formed by a layer of crystals, or of sand, with the faces projecting out in all directions and at all angles. The result is, that a beam of light from the eye strikes one or more of these faces and is diverted from a straight line through the glass. As all the rays are thus changed from a direct course, confusion results, and the eye distinguishes nothing."

Several bushels of the sand were brought to the laboratory, and the Professor then directed the preparation of a half dozen slate slabs, each slab being nearly two feet square. He explained that in practice iron plates were used, but as they had nothing of that kind available, slate would answer admirably.

"The slate slabs must be heated, and when the fused material is poured on the slabs, the heat must be kept up for a short time and gradually cooled down."

"What is the object in doing that?"

"If cooled too suddenly the plates, will crack, but by heating the slates and then cooling them down gradually, we anneal the glass, in a measure. You remember how we annealed the steel by gradually cooling it down? Glass, however, cannot be annealed so that it will not fracture, although attempts have been made for years to find a means for doing it. The man who can discover a process that will enable it to bend without breaking, can command any price for the discovery."

Chapter XV

Mysterious Happenings On The Island