第21章 The Man of Science(1)

Rob passed the remainder of the day wandering about London and amusin. himself by watching the peculiar ways of the people. When it becam. so dark that there was no danger of his being observed, he ros. through the air to the narrow slit in the church tower and lay upo. the floor of the little room, with the bells hanging all around him. to pass the night.

He was just falling asleep when a tremendous din and clatter nearl. deafened him, and set the whole tower trembling. It was th. midnight chime.

Rob clutched his ears tightly, and when the vibrations had died awa. descended by the ladder to a lower platform. But even here the nex. hourly chime made his ears ring, and he kept descending from platfor. to platform until the last half of a restless night was passed in th. little room at the bottom of the tower.

When, at daylight, the boy sat up and rubbed his eyes, he said. wearily: "Churches are all right as churches; but as hotels they ar. rank failures. I ought to have bunked in with my friend, King Edward."He climbed up the stairs and the ladders again and looked out th. little window in the belfry. Then he examined his map of Europe.

"I believe I'll take a run over to Paris," he thought. "I must b. home again by Saturday, to meet the Demon, so I'll have to make ever. day count."Without waiting for breakfast, since he had eaten a tablet the evenin. before, he crept through the window and mounted into the fresh mornin. air until the great city with its broad waterway lay spread ou. beneath him. Then he sped away to the southeast and, crossing th. channel, passed between Amiens and Rouen and reached Paris befor. ten o'clock.

Near the outskirts of the city appeared a high tower, upon the fla. roof of which a man was engaged in adjusting a telescope. Upon seein. Rob, who was passing at no great distance from this tower, the ma. cried out:

"APPROCHEZ!--VENEZ ICI!"

Then he waved his hands frantically in the air, and fairly danced wit. excitement. So the boy laughed and dropped down to the roof where. standing beside the Frenchman, whose eyes were actually protrudin. from their sockets, he asked, coolly:

"Well, what do you want?"

The other was for a moment speechless. He was a tall, lean man. having a bald head but a thick, iron-gray beard, and his black eye. sparkled brightly from behind a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles. Afte. attentively regarding the boy for a time he said, in broken English:

"But, M'sieur, how can you fly wizout ze--ze machine. I have experimen. myself wiz some air-ship; but you--zere is nossing to make go!"Rob guessed that here was his opportunity to do the Demon a favor b. explaining his electrical devices to this new acquaintance, who wa. evidently a man of science.

"Here is the secret, Professor," he said, and holding out his wris. displayed the traveling machine and explained, as well as he could. the forces that operated it.

The Frenchman, as you may suppose, was greatly astonished, and to sho. how perfectly the machine worked Rob turned the indicator and rose . short distance above the tower, circling around it before he rejoine. the professor on the roof. Then he showed his food tablets. explaining how each was stored with sufficient nourishment for a. entire day.

The scientist positively gasped for breath, so powerful was th. excitement he experienced at witnessing these marvels.

"Eet is wonderful--grand--magnifique!" he exclaimed.

"But here is something of still greater interest," continued Rob, an. taking the Automatic Record of Events from his pocket he allowed th. professor to view the remarkable scenes that were being enacte. throughout the civilized world.

The Frenchman was now trembling violently, and he implored Rob to tel. him where he might obtain similar electrical machines.

"I can't do that," replied the boy, decidedly; "but, having see. these, you may be able to discover their construction for yourself.