1 Two-Legs had grown so old that no one now knew his age.
 
His family was constantly increasing and over the whole earth. When people thought that they were becoming too many in one place, then some of them broke up and moved to others, where the land was new. They it, extracted metals from the mountains and sailed on the rivers and the sea. Railways and steamboats ran from one end of the earth to the other.
 
People went so far apart that they different languages and no longer knew one another. In every country there were clever men who made new and marvellous discoveries that lightened the work of their brethren and made them richer and happier.
 
Each time that a man made one of these discoveries, he went off to Two-Legs, wherever he might happen to be, to show it to him and receive his praise, for he was honoured by them all as the father of the whole race and the wisest of all who lived on earth.
 
Two-Legs himself no longer had any idea of the number of his descendants; and it seemed as if he simply did not care. He lived now with one tribe of his people and now with the other, always alone in a house to himself, where he could quietly indulge in thought. Often, young men came to him to learn from him. Then he gave them of his wisdom and sent them out into the world again; but what he thought of in his inmost self he talked about to no one.
 
When he sat outside his house and gazed and pondered, the voices spoke to him as before:
 
“Two-Legs ... the lord of the earth ... the of the animals....”
 
“Two-Legs ... who conquered the wind and made it his servant, as he did with the ox and the horse....”
 
“Two-Legs ... who tamed the wild steam and it in the engine, which now has to obey his commands and do his errands....”
 
Two-Legs listened to the voices.
 
He patted the dog, who lay at his feet:
 
“You were once a wild and fierce animal and now you are gentle and serve me faithfully,” he said.
 
He listened to the wind, who was whispering in the trees:
 
“You can cool my forehead on a hot day and you can rush over the earth like a wild monster,” he said. “I know you and I use you.”
 
He looked across the meadow, where the mist was rising and the fine white steam floated to and fro:
 
“You, too,” he said and nodded. “You are as light as a veil and dainty and white and innocent. The poets sing of you and you make little children cough. But you are the same that burst the mountain and destroyed my land. I watched you and discovered you and caught you and put you in my engine; and now you must for my descendants the wide world over.”
 
The thunder rolled in the distance. There came long and deep . Now and again, a flash of lightning gleamed and lit up the darkness. And the voices spoke again:
 
“It is thunder, Two-Legs ... it is lightning.... You do not know what that is. No one knows what it is.”
 
“The world is full of , secret forces ... than the wind ... harder to understand than steam.”
 
“The ox and the horse tremble before the thunder and the lightning. Two-Legs and all his descendants tremble wherever the thunder-storm reaches. There is more between heaven and earth than Two-Legs knows of.”
 
The storm came nearer. The thunder and the lightning-flashes crackled. Those who lived close came running to Two-Legs’ house in great alarm:
 
“Father Two-Legs, what shall we do?” they cried. “God’s is upon us.... Look, look, His fire has struck the house yonder. Now it’s burning; it is all in flames!”
 
Two-Legs did not look at the blazing house, but up at the clouds, where the thunder pealed and the lightning-flashes :
 
“That is not God’s wrath,” he said. “It is a strange force up there in the clouds ... stronger than the wind ... stronger than Steam. Oh, if I could catch it and compel it to serve me, as I compel the ox and the horse and the others!”
 
They heard what he said and looked at one another in affright.
 
Much as they honoured and loved him, they thought that this was madman’s talk. For how could any one dream of taking the terrible lightning into his service?
 
“Two-Legs has grown old,” said one to the other. “He is in his and does not know what he is saying.”
 
Two-Legs did not listen to them, but continued to gaze at the storm overhead:
 
“Look! See how the lightning !” he said. “In a second, it darts from one horizon to the other!... Oh, if I could put it into my carriage!”
 
They from him, so frightened were they at his words.
 
“Look! See how the lightning shines!” he said. “In a second, it is as light as bright noonday!... Oh, if I could catch the lightning’s light and hold it fast and compel it to shine peacefully for human beings!”
 
One of the elders went up to him and laid his hand on his shoulder:
 
“Two-Legs,” he said, “the success you have had has driven you mad. Your talk is foolish. You are God.”
 
“God the lightning and God kindled my understanding,” said Two-Legs. “He gave me the one that I might explore the other. Go away and mind your own business and leave me alone.”
 
They went away. Two-Legs stood and gazed till the last lightning had vanished from the sky.
 
2
One day, Two-Legs sat on his bench, looking at a boy who was running about and playing with a piece of .
 
The boy rubbed it against his breeches to make it bright. Then he held it up in the air and rejoiced to see it shine so .
 
Just then, a fluff of seamews down came flying and fastened on the amber. Another came ... and another ... and more still. As soon as they came near the amber, they hurried and settled on it.
 
“Look, look!” said the boy and laughed with amusement. “There’s a spirit in the amber! When I rub it on my breeches, the spirit comes out and catches the little fluffs.”
 
Two-Legs took the amber from the boy and looked at it. He rubbed it and caught the fluffs. He held it close to husks and little bits of paper.
 
 
“Look, the spirit catches them too!” said the boy and clapped his hands.
 
More came and looked on. They told it to others, who left their work and came and stood and stared at Two-Legs and the amber.
 
“Is it a spirit, Father Two-Legs?” asked one of the elders.
 
“A mighty spirit,” said Two-Legs. “A new and rare spirit. I do not know him. Go to your work and leave me alone, so that I can explore him.”
 
“Give the spirit a name, Father Two-Legs,” said the man who had spoken before.
 
Two-Legs reflected that the people in the part of the world where he was then living called amber electron.
 
Then he told them that they might call the spirit of the amber Electricity.
 
3
From that day, Two-Legs collected as much amber on the beach as he could find.
 
He rubbed it and saw that then the spirit constantly came and seized upon the little things near by. He put his ear to it and listened, but could hear nothing. He tasted it and it; he broke it to pieces and gazed at it with his old eyes, but could discover nothing:
 
“The spirit is hiding from me,” he said. “But I shall find him, I shall find him!”
 
It occurred to him one day that the strange spirit might dwell elsewhere than in the amber.
 
He began to rub a glass tube and shouted aloud for joy when the spirit at once appeared and seized upon the down and husks and of paper. He took a piece of sulphur and rubbed it and when just the same thing happened. But, in a little while, the spirit disappeared from the amber, the glass tube and the sulphur alike and did not come back until he rubbed them again.
 
He made himself a big sulphur ball, with an iron bar through the middle. The iron bar was between two stakes, so that he could turn the ball with a handle which was at one end of the bar.
 
Now, when he turned the handle and laid his hand on the ball, he saw that the little fluffs which flew in the air at that moment stuck to the ball and, immediately after, flew out into the air, as though the spirit had pushed them away. He turned the handle briskly and the fluffs danced about the ball. One of them flew on his nose and stayed there for a little while and then flew back to the ball again.
 
“The spirit dwells in me too,” said Two-Legs, gladly. “I believe he is everywhere and in everything, if only one could manage to call him forth from his hiding-place. Now I will summon the whole tribe and show them something which they have never seen.”
 
He sent word round and they came and stood in crowds about his house. Then he asked for the little boy who had played with the amber on the beach and been the first of all to call forth the mysterious spirit:
 
“You deserve the honour of sharing in this day,” he said. “You all remember the spirit to whom I gave the name of Electricity?”
 
“We remember him,” said the oldest of those present. “If you have anything good to tell us about him, we shall be pleased to hear it. If it is anything bad, then keep it to yourself and we will flee to a new country where the spirit does not dwell.”
 
“The spirit is neither bad nor good,” said Two-Legs. “He is a force ... a strange, mysterious force, which I have not yet succeeded in discovering. I do not know if he is worth conquering and giving into your service even as I gave you the ox and the horse, the wind and Steam. I do not know how I am to conquer him. But I do know that it is not possible for one of us to flee from the electric spirit. For he dwells not only in the amber as you saw. He can take up his everywhere and in everything ... even in me ... even in every one of you.”
 
They pressed close together and gazed at him in alarm.
 
“Watch me now,” said Two-Legs. “Dismiss all your fears and look in wonder at what I shall show you.”
 
Two-Legs hung the little boy up between two ropes, so that he swung in the air at some height above the ground. Before him, from another cord, hung a glass tube. On the ground under him stood a bowl with little pieces of paper.
 
“I shall now rub the glass until the spirit comes forth,” said Two-Legs. “When that is done, the boy will touch the glass with one hand. The other he will hold at a distance above the bowl with the shreds of paper.”
 
He rubbed the glass tube and the boy did as he said.
 
“Look ... look!” said Two-Legs.
 
They stared and shouted with surprise. All the bits of paper leapt up and hung in the hand which the boy held over the dish.
 
“Do you see that?” asked Two-Legs. “He is electric. The spirit has taken up his abode in him.... Can you all see it?”
 
The oldest and cleverest over the boy and stared and talked of the thing that had happened. They did not understand it and shook their heads. But the others were seized with and clamoured against Two-Legs:
 
“It is magic!” they shouted. “Father Two-Legs is a magician! He is tempting God and the poor boy with his tricks!”
 
“You are fools,” said Two-Legs. “You talk of what you do not understand. Go away and leave me alone, while I into the mighty spirit of Electricity. You can come again in a twelvemonth. Then I shall show you much stranger things than you have seen to-day.”
 
[140]
 
They went on clamouring and crowded round Two-Legs, threatened him with their fists and abusing him:
 
“Father Two-Legs must die!” they cried. “He will bring misfortune upon us all, with his magic! He calls forth spirits whom he cannot lay! Let us kill him before he has brought down God’s wrath upon us!”
 
The elders placed themselves between Two-Legs and the infuriated people. They reminded them of his venerable age and of all the good which he had done to his kinsfolk. They talked until, at length, they persuaded the others to go, though they still muttered and cast angry glances at Two-Legs. The mother of the boy whom he had made electric ran and seized him by his long white beard:
 
“If ever again you use my boy for your tricks, I’ll kill you!” she screamed.
 
“You are only a silly woman,” said Two-Legs and pushed her away. “If I taught your boy the secret of what you call my magic, he would make a name for himself that would be spoken with respect so long as the world lasts. However, go away and take him with you too. No harm has happened to him; and to-morrow he will have forgotten all about it.”
 
She went, hand in hand with the boy, who did not cry, but kept his eyes on Two-Legs. When they were gone, the elders told him he had better move into another country if he wanted to continue searching for the electric spirit, otherwise it would end in this, that the people would kill him one day, when the elders were not there to defend him.
 
Two-Legs stood and rubbed the glass tube with a piece of leather and paid no to them. They had to say it once more before he heard. Then he merely nodded and said:
 
“I will go away this very night and seek another country where the people are cleverer.”
 
4
By midnight he was ready to start. He had nothing with him but his sulphur ball and some other things which he needed for his labours. He hid these under his cloak, put out the light of his house and prepared to leave.
 
Suddenly he heard a noise in the where the others lived. He sat down and waited, not because he was afraid of them, but because he did not choose to talk with fools any more. And, while he sat and waited, he took his sulphur ball from under his cloak and began to rub it with his hand, as he had done thousands of times before. He gazed at it, though he could see nothing, for the night was pitch-dark.
 
All at once, he started up with a cry.
 
 
He dropped the ball, found it again, with difficulty, on the floor and began to rub and rub like mad.
 
Now he saw it quite plainly: light came against his hand when he rubbed. Time after time, he rubbed and, each time, he saw the light.
 
He was so greatly excited that he could hardly breathe. He closed his eyes and opened them again. No, it was not imagination: the light came as soon as he rubbed the sulphur ball.
 
He held the ball up to his ear, while he rubbed and rubbed like mad.... Now he plainly heard a faint crackling....
 
Then he jumped up and sang and cried and laughed and danced round the room like a young man crazy with delight:
 
“It’s the lightning!... It’s the thunder!” he shouted, . “I have called them and they come at my bidding.”
 
The door opened and the little boy whom he had made electric stood on the threshold:
 
“Father Two-Legs, will you take me with you where you are going?” he asked.
 
“Do you want to come?” asked Two-Legs.
 
“Yes,” said the little boy. “I want to stay with you and go where you go. I am not afraid of you. You shall teach me your magic and, one day, I shall become a wise and great man, like yourself.”
 
“You do not know what you are doing,” said Two-Legs. “I am no magician, but I have seen what no other man has seen. You do not know what has happened to me this night.... I have rubbed my sulphur ball and have produced lightning from it and thunder. They lie in my hand. I can call them forth when I please. They are only quite tiny as yet and weak, but I know that, one day, they will grow strong, like those up there in the clouds. Do you dare?”
 
“I dare,” said the boy.
 
“Then come,” said Two-Legs.
 
 
He took him by the hand and went out with him into the dark night, to find a country where there were fewer fools.
 
5
Two-Legs found a new country, where he and the boy settled. The people honoured him for his age and wisdom and knew nothing about his magic arts. But he occupied himself with them as before, sought and listened and thought ... whether he could sooner or later lay hold of the strange spirit who was so weak in the amber and the glass tube and the sulphur and so powerful in the thunder-storm.
 
Every evening, when the day’s work was done, he sat and talked with the boy, who grew in age and understanding. They were happiest when the thunder pealed. Then they felt that the mighty spirit was nearer to them: not only up there, where lightning crackled, but in the air and in everything round about.
 
“There is much electricity up there and only a little here below with us,” he said. “That is why the flashes strike down upon the ground.... Look, there is one from a cloud that has too much to one that has too little.... Oh, I understand, I understand! It is like the water that lies at a different level in two ponds: if I dig a canal between them, it will flow from that which has more into that which has less and, a moment after, it will be at the same height in both. Boy, boy, one day I will collect so much electricity that I can use it for the greatest things!”
 
“That you will, since you say so, Father Two-Legs,” said the boy. “But will you tell me how it is that the mighty spirit dwells in a fragile glass tube like this and not in that thick iron bar? If I were the spirit, I would rather dwell in the strong bar. But he is not there. I have rubbed the iron till my arms ached, but the spirit did not come.”
 
“You may depend upon it that he is there,” said Two-Legs. “If only we could find the right means to call him forth, I believe that there is more of him in iron and in and other metals than in anything else. Just look how weak he is in the glass tube and the amber: he comes when I rub, catches the little fluffs and is gone again at once. No, if we can charm him from the iron, then we shall see him in his might.”
 
6
One day, the boy went into the mountains and found a lodestone, which he thought looked odd. He took it home to Two-Legs, who examined it long and closely, as he examined everything. Without thinking of it further, he began to rub the thick iron bar with the lodestone and saw, to his surprise, that the stone clung to the iron:
 
 
“Boy, what have you found?” he cried.
 
Henceforth, he thought of nothing but iron and copper and other metals.
 
He forged himself bars of iron, large and small, rubbed them with the lodestone and saw that they became electric. The spirit was in them and the spirit came out of them, but differently and not as in the glass tube and the amber and the sulphur ball.
 
It was no use for him to come with fluffs of down and little shreds of paper. The spirit did not catch at them. But, when he came with iron, the spirit caught hold of it and held it ever so tight.
 
“That is the proper, powerful spirit,” said the boy .
 
Two-Leg............