he next day to Mainz, and had put
some of it out in a sort of saucer or bowl upon the table to cool, Hans
in playing with his letters let one of them fall into the black color,
and pulling it hastily out again he popped it on to the first thing that
lay near, which happened to be a piece of chamois leather which was
stretched out after being cleaned ready for dyeing.

Scarcely had the letter laid an instant on the white leather than Frau
Gensfleisch, turning round, saw with dismay the mischief that was
done;--a large =h= was marked upon the chamois skin!

"Ah Hanschen! Hanschen!" cried she, "what art thou about--thou hast
ruined thy poor mother. See, lackaday! the lady of Dolberg's beautiful
chamois skin that was to be dyed of a delicate green for her ladyship's
slippers. See the ugly black marks that thou hast made upon it! This
comes of all thy letter making and spelling of words and names. Away
with the useless--things! Thou canst do better with thy knife and thy
time than to be bringing thy mother thus into trouble." And in her anger
the Frau Gensfleisch swept the precious letters off the table and threw
them into the fire.

Hans started forward in dismay to save them but it was too late. One
=g= alone remained of his treasured letters, but it was enough. He
had his knife and he could make others--and more than that, there was
left with him a valuable thought. The impression left on the white
chamois skin by the blackened letter had caused a new idea to flash into
his mind--the idea of Printing. On that evening, and in that little
cottage, in fact, the _invention of Printing_ took place.

It was something to have a lucky thought come into one's mind, but it is
quite another thing to have patience and industry and perseverance
enough to put that thought into action as it were, and make it turn to
profit and use. Luckily for Hans and for the world, he had these good
qualities even when thus a little boy, and from that time he made it the
business of his life to turn the thought to good account. We do not say
that the little boy Hans Gensfleisch could at that time foresee any but
a very small part of the good which might arise out of the invention of
printing. He could not possibly tell before-hand, how through its means,
knowledge would be spread all over the face of the earth, nor that that
book which was then only to be found in convents and monasteries--locked
up and rarely opened--read by a few learned monks, a