Thus recalled to his duties, he
removed half of the wet meal to another pan, filled it with water, and
set both pans on the stove. Then he poured a stream of cold water into
the coffee-pot, which by this time was almost red-hot. The effect was
as distressing as it was unexpected. A cloud of scalding steam rushed
up into his face and filled the room, the coffee-pot rolled to the
floor with a clatter, and there was such a furious hissing and
sputtering that poor Winn dropped his bucket of water and staggered
towards the door, fully convinced that he was the victim of a boiler
explosion.
When the cloud of steam cleared away, the boy ruefully surveyed the
scene of disaster, and wondered what had gone wrong. "I'm sure nothing
of the kind ever happened in mother's kitchen," he said to himself. In
spite of his smarting face, he determined not to be daunted by this
first mishap, but to try again. So he wiped the floor with a
table-cloth, drew another bucket of water from the river, and resolved
to proceed with the utmost care this time. To his dismay, as he
stooped to pick up the coffee-pot, he found that it had neither bottom
nor spout, but was a total and useless wreck. "What a leaky old thing
it must have been," soliloquized the boy.
Just then his attention was attracted by another hissing sound from the
stove and a smell of burning.
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