Part 15 (1/2)

But Miette was mistaken this time, for Paul was now very anxious to learn more.

”Very well,” said Monsieur Roger, ”as all this has not wearied you, I am, in order to end to-day, going to make another experiment which will not be a bit tiresome, and which, without any scientific apparatus, without any air-pump, will demonstrate to you for the last time the existence of the pressure, of the weight of the atmosphere.”

Monsieur Roger stopped and looked at Miette, whose good temper he was again going to put to the test. Then he said,--

”I need a carafe and a hard egg; and if Miss Miette will only be kind enough to----”

This time Miette seemed still more uneasy than ever, more embarra.s.sed, more uncomfortable; still, she fled rapidly towards the kitchen. During her absence, Monsieur Roger said to Madame Dalize,--

”Miette seems to think that I trouble her a little too often.”

”That is not what is annoying her, I am certain,” replied Madame Dalize; ”but I do not understand the true cause. Let us wait.”

At this moment Miette returned, with the carafe in one hand, the hard-boiled egg (it was not boiled very hard, however) in the other.

Monsieur Roger took the sh.e.l.l off the egg and placed the egg thus deprived of its sh.e.l.l upon the empty carafe, somewhat after the manner of a stopper or cork.

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”What I want to do,” said he, ”is to make this egg enter the carafe.”

”Very well,” said Miette; ”all you have to do is to push from above: you will force the egg down.”

”Oh, but n.o.body must touch it. It must not be a hand that forces it down, but by weight from above. No, the atmosphere must do this.”

Monsieur Roger took off the egg, and lit a bit of paper, which he threw into the empty carafe.

”In order to burn,” said he, ”this paper is obliged to absorb the oxygen of the air in the carafe,--that is to say, it makes a partial vacuum.”

When the paper had burned for some moments, Monsieur Roger replaced the egg upon the carafe's neck, very much in the manner you would place a close-fitting ground-gla.s.s stopper in the neck of a bottle, and immediately they saw the egg lengthen, penetrate into the neck of the carafe, and at last fall to the bottom. ”There,” said he, ”is atmospheric pressure clearly demonstrated. When a partial vacuum had been made in the carafe,--that is to say, when there was not enough air in it to counterbalance or resist the pressure of the exterior air,--this exterior air pressed with all its weight upon the egg and forced it down in very much the same way as Miss Miette wished me to do just now with my hand.”

In saying these last words, Monsieur Roger looked towards Miette.

”By the way,” he said, ”I must apologize to you, Miss Miette, for having sent you on so many errands. I thought I saw that it annoyed you a little bit.”

Miss Miette raised her eyes with much surprise to Monsieur Roger.

”But that was not it at all,” said she.

”Well, what was it?” asked Monsieur Roger.

And Miette replied timidly, yet sweetly,--

”Why, I only thought that you might stop calling me Miss. If you please, I would like to be one of your very good friends.”

”Oh, yes; with very great pleasure, my dear little Miette,” cried Monsieur Roger, much moved by this touching and kindly delicacy of feeling, and opening his arms to the pretty and obliging little child of his friends.

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