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.
"Well, one day it happened that a rich Saxon iron-master was taking a
ride, and as he went along his horse's foot stuck in the soft clay at
the roadside. As the rider glanced down to see what the trouble was he
was amazed to discover that the clay was white, and being a business
man the thought instantly came into his mind that here was a way to
make some money. At that time all the nobles of the Court wore
powdered wigs, and the quick-witted iron-master said to himself: 'I
will get some of this clay, sift it very fine, do it up in packages,
and sell it for powdering the hair; thus I will make my fortune.
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