href="@public@vhost@g@gutenberg@html@files@45347@[email protected]#fellows" class="pginternal" tag="{http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml}a">"Those fellows seem to be looking for trouble"

150 Uttering cries of terror and dismay, the three Turks took to their heels 158 Rob was miserable and unhappy, and remained brooding over his cruel fate—Tailpiece 159 The Tatars arrived swiftly and noiselessly—Headpiece 160 The Turk rose slowly into the air, with Rob clinging to him with desperate tenacity 176 Without more ado Rob mounted into the air, leaving the Turk staring after him—Tailpiece 181 Coming toward him was an immense bird—Headpiece 186 With one last scream the creature tumbled downward to join its fellow—Tailpiece 191 During the next few hours Rob suffered from a severe attack of homesickness—Headpiece 192 The disappointment of the sailors was something awful to witness 196 As they slowly mounted into the sky the sailor gave a squeal of terror—Tailpiece 205 Rob mounted skyward, to the unbounded amazement of the fishermen, who stared after him—Headpiece 206 Rob hovered over the great tower of the Lick Observatory until he attracted the excited gaze of its inhabitants—Tailpiece 213 Finding himself upon the lake front, Rob hunted up a vacant bench and sat down to rest—Headpiece 214 As he started downward he saw the old gentleman looking at him with a half-frightened, half-curious expression—Tailpiece 224 At precisely ten o'clock Rob reached the front door of his own house—Headpiece 225 Rob boldly ascended the stairs, entered the workshop and closed and locked the door—Tailpiece 229 The Demon sank into a chair nerveless and limp, but still staring fearfully at the boy—Headpiece 230 A flash of white light half-stunned and blinded Rob. When he recovered himself the Demon had disappeared—Tailpiece 245

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WHO KNOWS?

These things are quite improbable, to be sure; but are they impossible?

Our big world rolls over as smoothly as it did centuries ago, without a squeak to show it needs oiling after all these years of revolution. But times change because men change, and because civilization, like John Brown's soul, goes ever marching on.

The impossibilities of yesterday become the accepted facts of to-day.

Here is a fairy tale founded upon the wonders of electricity and written for children of this generation. Yet when my readers shall have become men and women my story may not seem to their children like a fairy tale at all.

Perhaps one, perhaps two—perhaps several of the Demon's devices will be, by that time, in popular use.

Who knows?

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THE MASTER KEY

CHAPTER ONE

ROB'S WORKSHOP

When Rob became interested in electricity his clear-headed father considered the boy's fancy to be instructive as well as amusing; so he heartily encouraged his son, and Rob never lacked batteries, motors or supplies of any sort that his experiments might require.

He fitted up the little back room in the attic as