Fritz was the first who consoled himself; he thought on nothing but building mills, and manufacturing gunpowder.

He begged me to draw him a mill; this was very easy, so far as regards the exterior,--that is, the wheel, and the waterfall that sets it in motion; but the interior,--the disposition of the wheels, the stones to bruise the grain, the sieve, or bolter, to separate the flour from the bran; all this complicated machinery was difficult to explain; but he comprehended all, adding his usual expression,--"I will try, and I shall succeed." Not to lose any time, and to profit by this rainy day, he began by making sieves of different materials, which he fastened to a circle of pliant wood, and tried by passing through them the flour of the cassava; he made some with sailcloth, others with the hair of the onagra, which is very long and strong, and some of the fibres of bark.
His mother admired his work, which he continued to improve more and more; she assured him the sieve would be sufficient for her; it was useless to have the trouble of building a mill.
"But how shall we bruise the grain, mamma ?" said he; "it would be tedious and hard work." "And you think there will be no hard work in building your mill ?" said Jack.

"I am curious to see how you will contrive to form that huge stone, which is called the millstone." "You shall see," said Fritz; "only find me the stone, and it shall soon be done.

Do you think, father, that of our rock would be suitable ?" I told him I thought it would be hard enough, but it would be difficult to cut from the rock a piece large enough for the purpose.

He made his usual reply,--"_I will try_.