The Master Key | Page 8

at the dog and pressed the button. Almost at the same
moment the dog gave a yelp, rolled over once or twice and lay still.
"I guess that'll settle him," laughed the boy; but just then he heard an
angry shout, and looking around saw a policeman running toward him.
"Kill me dog, will ye--eh?" yelled the officer; "well, I'll just run ye in
for that same, an' ye'll spend the night in the lockup!" And on he came,
with drawn club in one hand and a big revolver in the other.
"You'll have to catch me first," said Rob, still laughing, and to the
amazement of the policeman he began rising straight into the air.
"Come down here! Come down, or I'll shoot!" shouted the fellow,
flourishing his revolver.
Rob was afraid he would; so, to avoid accidents, he pointed the tube at
him and pressed the button. The red-whiskered policeman keeled over
quite gracefully and fell across the body of the dog, while Rob
continued to mount upward until he was out of sight of those in the
streets.
"That was a narrow escape," he thought, breathing more freely. "I hated
to paralyze that policeman, but he might have sent a bullet after me.
Anyhow, he'll be all right again in an hour, so I needn't worry."
It was beginning to grow dark, and he wondered what he should do

next. Had he possessed any money he would have descended to the
town and taken a bed at a hotel, but he had left home without a single
penny. Fortunately the nights were warm at this season, so he
determined to travel all night, that he might reach by morning some
place he had never before visited.
Cuba had always interested him, and he judged it ought to lie in a
southeasterly direction from Boston. So he set the indicator to that
point and began gliding swiftly toward the southeast.
He now remembered that it was twenty-four hours since he had eaten
the first electrical tablet. As he rode through the air he consumed
another. All hunger at once left him, while he felt the same invigorating
sensations as before.
After a time the moon came out, and Rob amused himself gazing at the
countless stars in the sky and wondering if the Demon was right when
he said the world was the most important of all the planets.
But presently he grew sleepy, and before he realized what was
happening he had fallen into a sound and peaceful slumber, while the
indicator still pointed to the southeast and he continued to move rapidly
through the cool night air.

5. The Cannibal Island
Doubtless the adventures of the day had tired Rob, for he slept
throughout the night as comfortably as if he had been within his own
room, lying upon his own bed. When, at last, he opened his eyes and
gazed sleepily about him, he found himself over a great body of water,
moving along with considerable speed.
"It's the ocean, of course," he said to himself. "I haven't reached Cuba
yet."
It is to be regretted that Rob's knowledge of geography was so
superficial; for, as he had intended to reach Cuba, he should have taken

a course almost southwest from Boston, instead of southeast. The sad
result of his ignorance you will presently learn, for during the entire
day he continued to travel over a boundless waste of ocean, without the
sight of even an island to cheer him.
The sun shone so hot that he regretted he had not brought an umbrella.
But he wore a wide-brimmed straw hat, which protected him somewhat,
and he finally discovered that by rising to a considerable distance above
the ocean he avoided the reflection of the sun upon the water and also
came with the current of good breeze.
Of course he dared no stop, for there was no place to land; so he calmly
continued his journey.
"It may be I've missed Cuba," he thought; "but I can not change my
course now, for if I did I might get lost, and never be able to find land
again. If I keep on as I am I shall be sure to reach land of some sort, in
time, and when I wish to return home I can set the indicator to the
northwest and that will take me directly back to Boston."
This was good reasoning, but the rash youth had no idea he was
speeding over the ocean, or that he was destined to arrive shortly at the
barbarous island of Brava, off the coast of Africa. Yet such was the
case; just as the sun sank over the edge of the waves he saw, to his
great relief, a large island directly in his