BEN And Me (2)

BEN And ME (2)

Somehow that sounded promising.

So I found my way inside.

The place was full of strange contraptions, brass rods, tangles of wire and such.

It was about as cold inside as out.

Back in the shadows sat a round-faced man, trying to write by candlelight.

As I watched the little man, he began to shiver with cold.
Then came a mighty sneezeーAhーahーchoo !
Off flew his glasses, and they crashed on the floor.

" Oh, dear ! " Don't tell me ! " cried the little man.
" My last pair ! Now what will I do ? I'll never get my paper out. And if I don't pay my rent in twenty-four hours, the men I owe money to will take my press and my furniture and throw me out ! "

" Twenty-four hours ? " I said thoughtfully.
" It isn't much. "

" It's hopeless, " said the little man.

" But you can't give up ! " I told him.
" Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Mr.Flanklin. "

" My name is Ben, " he said.
" Plain Ben. And what would you do, whatever your name is  what would you do, whatever your name is ? "

" My name is Amos, " I told him.
" One of the church mice from over on Second Street. And the first thing I'd do is figure out a way to heat this place. "

I suggested a fire box in the middle of the room, so the heat didn't go up the chimney.
Of course it had to be made of iron, with a pipe to the chimney, to carry off the smoke.

It sure wasn't much to look at, when he got it made, butー

”It works Amos ! "　he had to admit.
" Say, I wonder if we couldn't make those and sell them. Call them Franklin stoves !"

If you know your history, of course you know they did make those stoves.

Well, while Ben had been fooling around with the stove, I'd been at work on his eye-glasses.

He'd broken both his outdoors and his reading pair; the only thing left was to make one pair out of the two, fitting the glass together as best I could.

" Will they do ? " I asked Ben Franklin, when he tried them on.

" Will they do ?" he echoed.
" Why, Amos, they're great. Two-way glasses !
By Geogeーbifocals, we'll call them.

And to my surprise, they became famous, tooーeven more so than the Franklin stoves.

(つづく　2/7)