After a great deal of tinkering and trying, they did succeed in making
two paddle wheels. They were very rough and crude, but strong and
serviceable. They fastened each of these wheels to the end of an iron
rod which they passed through the boat from side to side. The rod was
bent in the middle so that it could be turned as with a crank. When
the work was finished, the old fishing boat looked rather odd, with
a paddle wheel on each side which dipped just a few inches into the
water. The boys lost no time in trying it.
[Illustration]
"She goes ahead all right," said Christopher, "but how shall we guide
her?"
"Oh, I have thought of that," said Robert. He took something like an
oarlock from his pocket and fastened it to the stern of the boat; then
with a paddle which worked in this oarlock one of the boys could guide
the boat while the other turned the paddle wheels.
"It is better than poling the boat," said Christopher.
"It is better than rowing, too," said Robert. "See how fast she goes!"
That night when Christopher went home he had a wonderful story to tell.
"Bob Fulton planned the whole thing," he said, "and I helped him make
the paddles and put them on the boat."
"I wonder why we didn't think of something like that long ago," said
his father. "Almost anybody could rig up an old boat like that."
"Yes, I wonder, too," said Christopher. "It looks easy enough, now
that Bob has shown how it is done."
When Robert Fulton became a man, he did not forget his experiment with
the old fishing boat. He kept on, planning and thinking and working,
until at last he succeeded in making a boat with paddle wheels that
could be run by steam.
He is now remembered and honored as the inventor of the steamboat. He
became famous because he was always thinking and studying and working.