Finally the boy believed that he had hit upon the
true scheme.
So he plied harder than ever, scarcely pausing to take his meals.
Finally he got the machine together, fired up, and with feelings
somewhat akin to those, of Sir Isaac Newton, when demonstrating the
truth or falsity of some of his greatest discoveries, he watched the
result.
Soon the legs begin moving up and down, but never a stop did they
advance! The power was there, sufficient to run a saw-mill, every
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.
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