"As I told you," began Mr. Croyden, "about 1518 Portuguese traders brought Chinese porcelains into Europe; and following their lead the Dutch imported the same goods in even greater quantities. Everywhere people marveled at the beauty of these wares just as you would have done if up to that time you had never seen anything but crude clay dishes. The whiteness of the porcelain seemed a miracle, and on every hand people were eager to make such china themselves. Especially eager were the rulers of the different European countries, who were clever enough to see that such production would greatly increase their national fame and prosperity. Now there chanced to be a Prussian by the name of Boettger, an alchemist, who because of the wars had fled for safety to Meissen. He was a man well-versed in the composition of minerals and chemicals, and in consequence Augustus II, who was at that time Elector of Saxony, sent for him, and asked him to join his other skilled chemists, who for a long time had been busy experimenting with clays in the hope of discovering how the Chinese made their porcelain. This was no unusual thing, for chemists of most of the other countries were working feverishly in their laboratories at the same enigma." "Doesn't it seem funny?" "As you look back on it, yes," answered Mr. Croyden. "It is almost tragic when you consider the time, patience, and money that went into these experiments--most of them failures, at that." "Did Boettger fail too?" "I am coming to that," replied the story-teller. "While mixing various combinations of clays Boettger and his associates came upon a hard pottery clay which was neither white nor translucent like the Chinese, but which nevertheless was nearer that ware than anything they had previously succeeded in making. In 1708 some dishes were made from this material, but they were not very satisfactory. After that Boettger tried again. You see he was not a person who was easily discouraged. The next time he got a white ware, but it was not thin; instead it was thick and ugly. He now had the hardness and the whiteness, but not the semi-transparency and fine texture of the Chinese porcelain; and although he tried repeatedly he was unable to fathom the secret of these qualities." Theo waited while Mr. Croyden stopped to rest. "The one thing Boettger needed he did not know where to find and that was----" "Kaolin!" cried Theo. "Exactly," assented Mr. Croyden. "What a pity it is that you could not have shouted the magic word in his ear as lustily as you have in mine. It would have saved poor Boettger no end of worry and hard work. However, even if he had heard the name it probably would have conveyed nothing to him, for no one in Europe had ever heard of kaolin." "I suppose it is a Chinese word." "Yes. The name was taken from the Chinese mountain of Kailing, where the first kaolin, or decomposed feldspar, was found." "Now please go on with the story," urged Theo.