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.