himself he uses heavy and dangerous guns, with which to destroy his
enemies. This is wrong. He has no right to take away what he can not
bestow; to destroy what he can not create. To kill a fellow-creature
is a horrid crime, even if done in self-defense. Therefore, my second
gift to you is this little tube. You may carry it within your pocket.
Whenever an enemy threatens you, be it man or beast, simply point the
tube and press this button in the handle. An electric current will
instantly be directed upon your foe, rendering him wholly unconscious
for the period of one hour. During that time you will have
opportunity to escape. As for your enemy, after regaining
consciousness he will suffer no inconvenience from the encounter
beyond a slight headache."

"That's fine!" said Rob, as he took the tube. It was scarcely six
inches long, and hollow at one end.

"The busy lives of men," proceeded the Demon, "require them to move
about and travel in all directions. Yet to assist them there are only
such crude and awkward machines as electric trolleys, cable cars,
steam railways and automobiles. These crawl slowly over the uneven
surface of the earth and frequently get out of order. It has grieved
me that men have not yet discovered what even birds know: that the
atmosphere offers them swift and easy means of traveling from one part
of the earth's surface to another."

"Some people have tried to build airships," remarked Rob.

"So they have; great, unwieldy machines which offer so much resistance
to the air that they are quite useless. A big machine is not needed
to carry one through the air. There are forces in nature which may be