inventor. "I was going to show it to you, and see what you
thought of it. It's the kind you said I couldn't make."

"And did you make it?" asked the instructor grimly.

"Yes, sir--some."

"Where is it?"

"It's--er--well, you can smell it," replied Jack.

Sure enough, there was a strong, unpleasant odor in the
laboratory, but that was usual in the college where all sorts of
experiments were constantly going on.

"Hum--yes," admitted the professor. "I do perceive a new odor.
But I'm glad neither of you was hurt, and the damage doesn't seem
to be great."

"No, sir. It was my own apparatus I was using," explained Jack.
"I'll be more careful next time. I'll not put in so much of the
chemical."

"I don't believe there had better be a 'next time' right away,"
declared Mr. Lenton.

"The next attempt you make to invent a powerful gas, you had
better generate it in something stronger than a glass test tube.
Use an iron retort."