3. The Three Gifts


Familiarity with any great thing removes our awe of it. The great
general is only terrible to the enemy; the great poet is frequently
scolded by his wife; the children of the great statesman clamber about
his knees with perfect trust and impunity; the great actor who is
called before the curtain by admiring audiences is often waylaid at
the stage door by his creditors.

So Rob, having conversed for a time with the glorious Demon of
Electricity, began to regard him with more composure and less awe, as
his eyes grew more and more accustomed to the splendor that at first
had well-nigh blinded them.

When the Demon announced himself ready to do the boy's bidding, he
frankly replied:

"I am no skilled electrician, as you very well know. My calling you
here was an accident. So I don't know how to command you, nor what to
ask you to do."

"But I must not take advantage of your ignorance," answered the Demon.
"Also, I am quite anxious to utilize this opportunity to show the
world what a powerful element electricity really is. So permit me to
inform you that, having struck the Master Key, you are at liberty to
demand from me three gifts each week for three successive weeks.
These gifts, provided they are within the scope of electricity,
I will grant."