the thread moves towards the amber, and clings to it. Sealing-wax, and
many other substances, when heated, have this property. Some bodies give
out flashes and sparks by being rubbed. If you stroke a black cat briskly
in the dark, you will see faint flashes of light come from her fur; and on
very cold nights in the winter season, flannels that are worn next the
skin crackle, and give sparks when taken off and shaken."

These things astonished Lady Mary. She tried the experiment with the
amber and thread, and was much amused by seeing the thread attracted, and
wanted to see the sparks from the cat's back, only there happened,
unfortunately, to be no black cat or kitten in Government House. Mrs.
Frazer, however, promised to procure a beautiful black kitten for her,
that she might enjoy the singular sight of the electric sparks from its
coat; and Lady Mary wished winter were come, that she might see the sparks
from her flannel petticoat, and hear the sounds.

"Let us now go and look out again at the sky," said Miss Campbell; and
Lady Mary skipped joyfully through the French window to the balcony, but
ran back, and flinging her arms about her nurse, cried out in accents of
alarm, "Nurse, nurse, the sky is all closing together! Oh, Miss Campbell,
what shall we do?"

"There is no cause for fear, my dear child; do not be frightened. There
is nothing to harm us."

Indeed, during the short time they had been absent, a great and
remarkable change had taken place in the appearance of the sky. The
electric fluid had diffused itself over the face of the whole heavens; the
pale colour of the streamers had changed to bright rose, pale violet, and
greenish yellow. At the zenith, or that part more immediately over head, a