In Franklin's time the boy who could fly his kite the highest, or who could make his kite appear to be the most picturesque in the far-away blue sky, was regarded as a leader among his fellows, and young Franklin, as we may infer, made his kite fly very high. But he was not content with the altitude to which he could raise his kite or its beauty in the sky. His inquiry was, What can the kite be made to teach that is useful? What can it be made to _do_? What good can it accomplish? Ben was an expert swimmer. After he had mastered the art of overcoming the water, he sought how to make swimming safe and easy; and when he had learned this himself, he taught other boys how to swim safely and easily. One day he was flying his kite on the shore. His imagination had wings as well as the kite, and he followed it with the eye of fancy as it drifted along the sky pulling at his fingers. It was a warm day, and the cool harbor rippled near, and he began to feel a desire to plunge into the water, but he did not like to pull down his kite. He threw off his clothes and dropped into the cool water, still holding his kite string, which was probably fastened to a short stick in his hand. He turned on his back in the water and floated, looking up to the kite in the blue, sunny sky. But something, was happening. The kite, like a sail in a boat, was bearing him along. He was the boat, the kite high in the sky was the sail, between the two was a single string. He could sail himself on the water by a kite in the sky! So he drifted along, near the Mystic River probably, on that warm pleasant day. The sense of the power that he gained by thus obeying a law of Nature filled him with delight. He could not have then dreamed that the simple discovery would lead up to another which would enable man to see how to control one of the greatest forces in the universe. He saw simply that he could make the air _work_ for him, and he probably dreamed that sometime and somewhere the same principle would enable an inventor to show the world how to navigate the air. The kite now became to him something more than a plaything--a wonder. It caused his fancy to soar, and little Ben was always happy when his fancy was on the wing. There was a man named Jamie who liked to loiter around the Blue Ball. He was a Scotchman, and full of humor. "An' wot you been doin' now?" said Jamie the Scotchman, as the boy returned to the Blue Ball with his big kite and wet hair. "Kite-flying and swimming don't go together." "Ah, sirrah, don't you think that any more! Kite-flying and floating on one's back in the water do go together. I've been making a boat of myself, and the sail was in the sky." "Sho! How did that come about?" "I floated on my back and held the kite string in my hand, and the kite drew me along."