thing seemed to work, but the thing wouldn't go!

The boy was not ready to despair. He seated himself on the bench
beside the machine, and keeping up a moderate supply of steam,
throwing in bits of wood, and letting in water, when necessary, he
carefully watched the movement for several hours.

Occasionally, Johnny walked slowly back and forth, and with his eyes
upon the 'stately stepping,' endeavored to discover the precise nature
of that which was lacking in his machine.

At length it came to him. He saw from the first that it was not merely
required that the steam man should lift up its feet and put them down
again, but there must be a powerful forward impulse at the same
moment. This was the single remaining difficulty to be overcome. It
required two weeks before Johnny Brainerd succeeded. But it all came
clear and unmistakable at last, and in this simple manner:

(Ah! but we cannot be so unjust to the plodding genius as to divulge
his secret. Our readers must be content to await the time when the
young man sees fit to reveal it himself.)

When the rough figure was fairly in working order, the inventor
removed everything from around it, so that it stood alone in the
center of his shop. Then he carefully let on steam.

Before he could shut it off, the steam man walked clean through the
side of his shop, and fetched up against the corner of the house, with
a violence that shook it to its foundation. In considerable
trepidation, the youngster dashed forward, shut off steam, and turned