"Do you know, Norah," said Willie, "which is the best of all the metals?""I should think gold is the best," said his sister; "it is worth so much money, and is so bright and beautiful.""No," said Will, "gold is not the best metal. Iron is the best, because it is so useful. Teacher says it is the King of Metals. We see more things made of iron than of any other metal. Here comes Fred. Suppose we have a chat about iron now.""All right," said Fred, "I"m ready. Where did thisiron poker come from at first, Norah?"
"The iron was dug out of great pits in the earth, called mines," said Norah. "That is why we say iron is a mineral.""That"s right," said Fred, "but the iron was then only like a rough stone. It was called iron-ore or iron- stone. Much has to be done to make it fit for use.
