The Master Key | Page 6

you accomplish that, you
might command my services forever. But, having once succeeded, you
are entitled to the nine gifts--three each week for three weeks--so you
have no need to call me to do my duty. I shall appear of my own
accord."

"Thank you," murmured the boy.
The Demon bowed and spread his hands in the form of a semi-circle.
An instant later there was a blinding flash, and when Rob recovered
from it and opened his eyes the Demon of Electricity had disappeared.

4. Testing the Instruments
There is little doubt that this strange experience befallen a grown man
he would have been stricken with a fit of trembling or a sense of
apprehension, or even fear, at the thought of having faced the terrible
Demon of Electricity, of having struck the Master Key of the world's
greatest natural forces, and finding himself possessed of three such
wonderful and useful gifts. But a boy takes everything as a matter of
course. As the tree of knowledge sprouts and expands within him,
shooting out leaf after leaf of practical experience, the succession of
surprises dulls his faculty of wonderment. It takes a great deal to startle
a boy.
Rob was full of delight at his unexpected good fortune; but he did not
stop to consider that there was anything remarkably queer or uncanny
in the manner in which it had come to him. His chief sensation was one
of pride. He would now be able to surprise those who had made fun of
his electrical craze and force them to respect his marvelous powers. He
decided to say nothing about the Demon or the accidental striking of
the Master Key. In exhibiting to his friends the electrical devices he had
acquired it would be "no end of fun" to mark their amazement and
leave them to guess how he performed his feats.
So he put his treasures into his pocket, locked his workshop and went
downstairs to his room to prepare for dinner.
While brushing his hair he remembered it was no longer necessary for
him to eat ordinary food. He was feeling quite hungry at that moment,
for he had a boy's ravenous appetite; but, taking the silver box from his
pocket, he swallowed a tablet and at once felt his hunger as fully

satisfied as if he had partaken of a hearty meal, while at the same time
he experienced an exhilarating glow throughout his body and a
clearness of brain and gaiety of spirits which filled him with intense
gratification.
Still, he entered the dining-room when the bell rang and found his
father and mother and sisters already assembled there.
"Where have you been all day, Robert?" inquired his mother.
"No need to ask," said Mr. Joslyn, with a laugh. "Fussing over
electricity, I'll bet a cookie!"
"I do wish," said the mother, fretfully, "that he would get over that
mania. It unfits him for anything else."
"Precisely," returned her husband, dishing the soup; "but it fits him for
a great career when he becomes a man. Why shouldn't he spend his
summer vacation in pursuit of useful knowledge instead of romping
around like ordinary boys?"
"No soup, thank you," said Rob.
"What!" exclaimed his father, looking at him in surprise, "it's your
favorite soup."
"I know," said Rob, quietly, "but I don't want any."
"Are you ill, Robert?" asked his mother.
"Never felt better in my life," answered Rob, truthfully.
Yet Mrs. Joslyn looked worried, and when Rob refused the roast, she
was really shocked.
"Let me feel your pulse, my poor boy!" she commanded, and wondered
to find it so regular.
In fact, Rob's action surprised them all. He sat calmly throughout the

meal, eating nothing, but apparently in good health and spirits, while
even his sisters regarded him with troubled countenances.
"He's worked too hard, I guess," said Mr. Joslyn, shaking his head
sadly.
"Oh, no; I haven't," protested Rob; "but I've decided not to eat anything,
hereafter. It's a bad habit, and does more harm than good."
"Wait till breakfast," said sister Helen, with a laugh; "you'll be hungry
enough by that time."
However, the boy had no desire for food at breakfast time, either, as the
tablet sufficed for an entire day. So he renewed the anxiety of the
family by refusing to join them at the table.
"If this goes on," Mr Joslyn said to his son, when breakfast was
finished, "I shall be obliged to send you away for your health."
"I think of making a trip this morning," said Rob, carelessly.
"Where to?"
"Oh, I may go to Boston, or take a run over to Cuba or Jamaica,"
replied the boy.
"But you can not go so far by yourself," declared his father; "and there
is no one to go