at him with their weapons, and an officer jabbed at his breast with a
glittering sword, but the Garment of Repulsion protected him from these
dangers as well as from a hail of bullets that followed his advancing
figure.
He reached the entrance of the palace only to face another group of
guardsmen and a second order to halt, and as these soldiers were over
six feet tall and stood shoulder to shoulder Rob saw that he could not
hope to pass them without using his electric tube.
[Illustration: Rob reached the entrance of the palace, only to face
another group of guardsmen]
"Stand aside, you fellows!" he ordered.
There was no response. He extended the tube and, as he pressed the
button, described a semi-circle with the instrument. Immediately the
tall guardsmen toppled over like so many tenpins, and Rob stepped
across their bodies and penetrated to the reception room, where a
brilliant assemblage awaited, in hushed and anxious groups, for
opportunity to obtain audience with the king.
"I hope his Majesty isn't busy," said Rob to a solemn-visaged official
who confronted him. "I want to have a little talk with him."
"I--I--ah--beg pardon!" exclaimed the astounded master of ceremonies.
"What name, please?"
"Oh, never mind my name," replied Rob, and pushing the gentleman aside
he entered the audience chamber of the great king.
King Edward was engaged in earnest consultation with one of his
ministers, and after a look of surprise in Rob's direction and a grave
bow he bestowed no further attention upon the intruder.
But Rob was not to be baffled now.
"Your Majesty," he interrupted, "I've important news for you. A big
fight is taking place in South Africa and your soldiers will probably
be cut into mince meat."
The minister strode towards the boy angrily.
"Explain this intrusion!" he cried.
"I have explained. The Boers are having a regular killing-bee. Here!
Take a look at it yourselves."
He drew the Record from his pocket, and at the movement the minister
shrank back as if he suspected it was an infernal machine and might
blow his head off; but the king stepped quietly to the boy's side and
looked into the box when Rob threw open the lid.
As he comprehended the full wonder of the phenomenon he was observing
Edward uttered a low cry of amazement, but thereafter he silently gazed
upon the fierce battle that still raged far away upon the African
_veld_. Before long his keen eye recognized the troops engaged and
realized their imminent danger.
"They'll be utterly annihilated!" he gasped. "What shall we do?"
"Oh, we can't do anything just now," answered Rob. "But it's curious to
watch how bravely the poor fellows fight for their lives."
The minister, who by this time was also peering into the box, groaned
aloud, and then all three forgot their surroundings in the tragedy they
were beholding.
Hemmed in by vastly superior numbers, the English were calmly and
stubbornly resisting every inch of advance and selling their lives as
dearly as possible. Their leader fell pierced by a hundred bullets,
and the king, who had known him from boyhood, passed his hand across
his eyes as if to shut out the awful sight. But the fascination of the
battle forced him to look again, and the next moment he cried aloud:
"Look there! Look there!"
Over the edge of a line of hills appeared the helmets of a file of
English soldiers. They reached the summit, followed by rank after
rank, until the hillside was alive with them. And then, with a ringing
cheer that came like a faint echo to the ears of the three watchers,
they broke into a run and dashed forward to the rescue of their brave
comrades. The Boers faltered, gave back, and the next moment fled
precipitately, while the exhausted survivors of the courageous band
fell sobbing into the arms of their rescuers.
Rob closed the lid of the Record with a sudden snap that betrayed his
deep feeling, and the king pretended to cough behind his handkerchief
and stealthily wiped his eyes.
"'Twasn't so bad, after all," remarked the boy, with assumed
cheerfulness; "but it looked mighty ticklish for your men at one time."
King Edward regarded the boy curiously, remembering his abrupt entrance
and the marvelous device he had exhibited.
"What do you call that?" he asked, pointing at the Record with a finger
that trembled slightly from excitement.
"It is a new electrical invention," replied Rob, replacing it in his
pocket, "and so constructed that events are reproduced at the exact
moment they occur."
"Where can I purchase one?" demanded the king, eagerly.
"They're not for sale," said Rob. "This one of mine is the first that
ever happened."
"Oh!"
"I really think," continued the boy, nodding sagely, "that it wouldn't
be well to have these Records scattered around. Their use would give
some folks unfair advantage over others, you know."
"Certainly."
"I only showed you this battle because I happened to be in London at
the time and thought you'd be interested."
"It was very kind of you," said Edward; "but how did you gain
admittance?"
"Well, to tell the truth, I was obliged to knock over a few of your
tall life-guards. They seem to think you're a good thing and need
looking after, like jam in a cupboard."
The king smiled.
"I hope you haven't killed my guards," said he.
"Oh, no; they'll come around all right."
"It is necessary," continued Edward, "that public men be protected from
intrusion, no matter how democratic they may be personally. You would
probably find it as difficult to approach the President of the United
States as the King of England."
"Oh, I'm not complaining," said Rob. "It wasn't much trouble to break
through."
"You seem quite young to have mastered such wonderful secrets of
Nature," continued the king.
"So I am," replied Rob, modestly; "but these natural forces have
really existed since the beginning of the world, and some one was
sure to discover them in time." He was quoting the Demon, although
unconsciously.
"You are an American, I suppose," said the minister, coming close to
Rob and staring him in the face.
"Guessed right the first time," answered the boy, and drawing his
Character Marking spectacles from his pocket, he put them on and stared
at the minister in turn.
Upon the man's forehead appeared the letter "E".
"Your Majesty," said Rob, "I have here another queer invention. Will
you please wear these spectacles for a few moments?"
The king at once put them on.
"They are called Character Markers," continued the boy, "because
the lenses catch and concentrate the character vibrations radiating
from every human individual and reflect the true character of the
person upon his forehead. If a letter 'G' appears, you may be sure
his disposition is good; if his forehead is marked with an 'E' his
character is evil, and you must beware of treachery."
The king saw the "E" plainly marked upon his minister's forehead, but
he said nothing except "Thank you," and returned the spectacles to Rob.
But the minister, who from the first had been ill at ease, now became
positively angry.
"Do not believe him, your Majesty!" he cried. "It is a trick, and
meant to deceive you."
"I did not accuse you," answered the king, sternly. Then he added: "I
wish to be alone with this young gentleman."
The minister left the room with an anxious face and hanging head.
"Now," said Rob, "let's look over the record of the past day and see if
that fellow has been up to any mischief."
He turned the cylinder of the Record to "England," and slowly the
events of the last twenty-four hours were reproduced, one after the
other, upon the polished plate.
Before long the king uttered an exclamation. The Record pictured a
small room in which were seated three gentlemen engaged in earnest
conversation. One of them was the accused minister.
"Those men," said the king in a low voice, while he pointed out the
other two, "are my avowed enemies. This is proof that your wonderful
spectacles indicated my minister's character with perfect truth. I am
grateful to you for thus putting me upon my guard, for I have trusted
the man fully."
"Oh, don't mention it," replied the boy, lightly; "I'm glad to have
been of service to you. But it's time for me to go."
"I hope you will favor me with another interview," said the king, "for
I am much interested in your electrical inventions. I will instruct my
guards to admit you at any time, so you will not be obliged to fight
your way in."
"All right. But it really doesn't matter," answered Rob. "It's no
trouble at all to knock 'em over."
Then he remembered his manners and bowed low before the king, who
seemed to him "a fine fellow and not a bit stuck up." And then he
walked calmly from the palace.
The people in the outer room stared at him wonderingly and the officer
of the guard saluted the boy respectfully. But Rob only smiled in an
amused way as he marched past them with his hands thrust deep into his
trousers' pockets and his straw hat tipped jauntily upon the back of
his head.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
_CHAPTER ELEVEN_
THE MAN OF SCIENCE
Rob passed the remainder of the day wandering about London and amusing
himself by watching the peculiar ways of the people. When it became so
dark that there was no danger of his being observed, he rose through
the air to the narrow slit in the church tower and lay upon the floor
of the little room, with the bells hanging all around him, to pass the
night.
He was just falling asleep when a tremendous din and clatter nearly
deafened him, and set the whole tower trembling. It was the midnight
chime.
Rob clutched his ears tightly, and when the vibrations had died away
descended by the ladder to a lower platform. But even here the next
hourly chime made his ears ring, and he kept descending from platform
to platform until the last half of a restless night was passed in the
little room at the bottom of the tower.
When, at daylight, the boy sat up and rubbed his eyes, he said,
wearily: "Churches are all right as churches; but as hotels they are
rank failures. I ought to have bunked in with my friend, King Edward."
He climbed up the stairs and the ladders again and looked out the
little window in the belfry. Then he examined his map of Europe.
"I believe I'll take a run over to Paris," he thought. "I must be home
again by Saturday, to meet the Demon, so I'll have to make every day
count."
Without waiting for breakfast, since he had eaten a tablet the evening
before, he crept through the window and mounted into the fresh morning
air until the great city with its broad waterway lay spread out beneath
him. Then he sped away to the southeast and, crossing the channel,
passed between Amiens and Rouen and reached Paris before ten o'clock.
Near the outskirts of the city appeared a high tower, upon the flat
roof of which a man was engaged in adjusting a telescope. Upon seeing
Rob, who was passing at no great distance from this tower, the man
cried out:
"_Approchez!--Venez ici!_"
Then he waved his hands frantically in the air, and fairly danced with
excitement. So the boy laughed and dropped down to the roof where,
standing beside the Frenchman, whose eyes were actually protruding from
their sockets, he asked, coolly:
"Well, what do you want?"
The other was for a moment speechless. He was a tall, lean man,
having a bald head but a thick, iron-gray beard, and his black eyes
sparkled brightly from behind a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles. After
attentively regarding the boy for a time he said, in broken English:
"But, M'sieur, how can you fly wizout ze--ze machine? I have experiment
myself wiz some air-ship; but you--zere is nossing to make go!"
[Illustration: The eyes of the Frenchman were actually protruding from
their sockets]
Rob guessed that here was his opportunity to do the Demon a favor by
explaining his electrical devices to this new acquaintance, who was
evidently a man of science.
"Here is the secret, Professor," he said, and holding out his wrist
displayed the traveling machine and explained, as well as he could, the
forces that operated it.
The Frenchman, as you may suppose, was greatly astonished, and to show
how perfectly the machine worked Rob turned the indicator and rose a
short distance above the tower, circling around it before he rejoined
the professor on the roof. Then he showed his food tablets, explaining
how each was stored with sufficient nourishment for an entire day.
The scientist positively gasped for breath, so powerful was the
excitement he experienced at witnessing these marvels.
"Eet is wonderful--grand--magnifique!" he exclaimed.
"But here is something of still greater interest," continued Rob,
and taking the Automatic Record of Events from his pocket he allowed
the professor to view the remarkable scenes that were being enacted
throughout the civilized world.
The Frenchman was now trembling violently, and he implored Rob to tell
him where he might obtain similar electrical machines.
"I can't do that," replied the boy, decidedly; "but, having seen these,
you may be able to discover their construction for yourself. Now that
you know such things to be possible and practical, the hint should
be sufficient to enable a shrewd electrician to prepare duplicates of
them."
The scientist glared at him with evident disappointment, and Rob
continued:
"These are not all the wonders I can exhibit. Here is another
electrical device that is, perhaps, the most remarkable of any I
possess."
He took the Character Marking spectacles from his pocket and fitted
them to his eyes. Then he gave a whistle of surprise and turned his
back upon his new friend. He had seen upon the Frenchman's forehead the
letters "E" and "C."
"Guess I've struck the wrong sort of scientist, after all!" he
muttered, in a disgusted tone.
His companion was quick to prove the accuracy of the Character Marker.
Seeing the boy's back turned, he seized a long iron bar that was used
to operate the telescope, and struck at Rob so fiercely that had he
not worn the Garment of Protection his skull would have been crushed
by the blow. As it was, the bar rebounded with a force that sent the
murderous Frenchman sprawling upon the roof, and Rob turned around and
laughed at him.
"It won't work, Professor," he said. "I'm proof against assassins.
Perhaps you had an idea that when you had killed me you could rob me of
my valuable possessions; but they wouldn't be a particle of use to a
scoundrel like you, I assure you! Good morning."
Before the surprised and baffled scientist could collect himself
sufficiently to reply, the boy was soaring far above his head and
searching for a convenient place to alight, that he might investigate
the charms of this famed city of Paris.
It was indeed a beautiful place, with many stately buildings lining the
shady boulevards. So thronged were the streets that Rob well knew he
would soon be the center of a curious crowd should he alight upon them.
Already a few sky-gazers had noted the boy moving high in the air,
above their heads, and one or two groups stood pointing their fingers
at him.
Pausing at length above the imposing structure of the Hotel Anglais,
Rob noticed at one of the upper floors an open window, before which
was a small iron balcony. Alighting upon this he proceeded to enter,
without hesitation, the open window. He heard a shriek and a cry of
"_Au voleur!_" and caught sight of a woman's figure as she dashed into
an adjoining room, slamming and locking the door behind her.
"I don't know as I blame her," observed Rob, with a smile at the panic
he had created. "I s'pose she takes me for a burglar, and thinks I've
climbed up the lightning rod."
He soon found the door leading into the hallway and walked down
several flights of stairs until he reached the office of the hotel.
"How much do you charge a day?" he inquired, addressing a fat and
pompous-looking gentleman behind the desk.
The man looked at him in a surprised way, for he had not heard the boy
enter the room. But he said something in French to a waiter who was
passing, and the latter came to Rob and made a low bow.
"I speak ze Eengliss ver' fine," he said. "What desire have you?"
"What are your rates by the day?" asked the boy.
"Ten francs, M'sieur."
"How many dollars is that?"
"Dollar Americaine?"
"Yes; United States money."
"Ah, _oui_! Eet is ze two dollar, M'sieur."
"All right; I can stay about a day before I go bankrupt. Give me a
room."
"_Certainement_, M'sieur. Have you ze luggage?"
"No; but I'll pay in advance," said Rob, and began counting out his
dimes and nickles and pennies, to the unbounded amazement of the
waiter, who looked as if he had never seen such coins before.
He carried the money to the fat gentleman, who examined the pieces
curiously, and there was a long conference between them before it was
decided to accept them in payment for a room for a day. But at this
season the hotel was almost empty, and when Rob protested that he had
no other money the fat gentleman put the coins into his cash box with
a resigned sigh and the waiter showed the boy to a little room at the
very top of the building.
Rob washed and brushed the dust from his clothes, after which he sat
down and amused himself by viewing the pictures that constantly formed
upon the polished plate of the Record of Events.
[Illustration]
_CHAPTER TWELVE_
HOW ROB SAVED A REPUBLIC
While following the shifting scenes of the fascinating Record Rob noted
an occurrence that caused him to give a low whistle of astonishment and
devote several moments to serious thought.
"I believe it's about time I interfered with the politics of this
Republic," he said, at last, as he closed the lid of the metal box and
restored it to his pocket. "If I don't take a hand there probably won't
be a Republic of France very long and, as a good American, I prefer a
republic to a monarchy."
Then he walked down-stairs and found his English-speaking waiter.
"Where's President Loubet?" he asked.
"Ze President! Ah, he is wiz his mansion. To be at his residence,
M'sieur."
"Where is his residence?"
The waiter began a series of voluble and explicit directions which so
confused the boy that he exclaimed:
"Oh, much obliged!" and walked away in disgust.
Gaining the street he approached a gendarme and repeated his question,
with no better result than before, for the fellow waved his arms wildly
in all directions and roared a volley of incomprehensible French
phrases that conveyed no meaning whatever.
"If ever I travel in foreign countries again," said Rob, "I'll learn
their lingo in advance. Why doesn't the Demon get up a conversation
machine that will speak all languages?"
By dint of much inquiry, however, and after walking several miles
following ambiguous directions, he managed to reach the residence of
President Loubet. But there he was politely informed that the President
was busily engaged in his garden, and would see no one.
"That's all right," said the boy, calmly. "If he's in the garden I'll
have no trouble finding him."
Then, to the amazement of the Frenchmen, Rob shot into the air fifty
feet or so, from which elevation he overlooked a pretty garden in the
rear of the President's mansion. The place was protected from ordinary
intrusion by high walls, but Rob descended within the enclosure and
walked up to a man who was writing at a small table placed under the
spreading branches of a large tree.
"Is this President Loubet?" he inquired, with a bow.
The gentleman looked up.
"My servants were instructed to allow no one to disturb me," he said,
speaking in excellent English.
"It isn't their fault; I flew over the wall," returned Rob. "The fact
is," he added, hastily, as he noted the President's frown, "I have come
to save the Republic; and I haven't much time to waste over a bundle of
Frenchmen, either."
The President seemed surprised.
"Your name!" he demanded, sharply.
"Robert Billings Joslyn, United States of America!"
"Your business, Monsieur Joslyn!"
Rob drew the Record from his pocket and placed it upon the table.
"This, sir," said he, "is an electrical device that records all
important events. I wish to call your attention to a scene enacted in
Paris last evening which may have an effect upon the future history of
your country."
He opened the lid, placed the Record so that the President could see
clearly, and then watched the changing expressions upon the great man's
face; first indifference, then interest, the next moment eagerness and
amazement.
"_Mon Dieu!_" he gasped; "the Orleanists!"
Rob nodded.
"Yes; they've worked up a rather pretty plot, haven't they?"
The President did not reply. He was anxiously watching the Record and
scribbling notes on a paper beside him. His face was pale and his lips
tightly compressed.
Finally he leaned back in his chair and asked:
"Can you reproduce this scene again?"
"Certainly, sir," answered the boy; "as often as you like."
"Will you remain here while I send for my minister of police? It will
require but a short time."
"Call him up, then. I'm in something of a hurry myself, but now I've
mixed up with this thing I'll see it through."
[Illustration: Rob watched the changing expressions upon the great
man's face]
The President touched a bell and gave an order to his servant. Then he
turned to Rob and said, wonderingly:
"You are a boy!"
"That's true, Mr. President," was the answer; "but an American boy, you
must remember. That makes a big difference, I assure you."
The President bowed gravely.
"This is your invention?" he asked.
"No; I'm hardly equal to that. But the inventor has made me a present
of the Record, and it's the only one in the world."
"It is a marvel," remarked the President, thoughtfully. "More! It is a
real miracle. We are living in an age of wonders, my young friend."
"No one knows that better than myself, sir," replied Rob. "But, tell
me, can you trust your chief of police?"
"I think so," said the President, slowly; "yet since your invention
has shown me that many men I have considered honest are criminally
implicated in this royalist plot, I hardly know whom to depend upon."
"Then please wear these spectacles during your interview with the
minister of police," said the boy. "You must say nothing, while he is
with us, about certain marks that will appear upon his forehead; but
when he has gone I will explain those marks so you will understand
them."
The President covered his eyes with the spectacles.
"Why," he exclaimed, "I see upon your own brow the letters--"
"Stop, sir!" interrupted Rob, with a blush; "I don't care to know what
the letters are, if it's just the same to you."
The President seemed puzzled by this speech, but fortunately the
minister of police arrived just then and, under Rob's guidance, the
pictured record of the Orleanist plot was reproduced before the
startled eyes of the official.
"And now," said the boy, "let us see if any of this foolishness is
going on just at present."
He turned to the opposite side of the Record and allowed the President
and his minister of police to witness the quick succession of events
even as they occurred.
Suddenly the minister cried, "Ha!" and, pointing to the figure of a man
disembarking from an English boat at Calais, he said, excitedly:
"That, your Excellency, is the Duke of Orleans, in disguise! I must
leave you for a time, that I may issue some necessary orders to my men;
but this evening I shall call to confer with you regarding the best
mode of suppressing this terrible plot."
When the official had departed, the President removed the spectacles
from his eyes and handed them to Rob.
"What did you see?" asked the boy.
"The letters 'G' and 'W'."
"Then you may trust him fully," declared Rob, and explained the
construction of the Character Marker to the interested and amazed
statesman.
"And now I must go," he continued, "for my stay in your city will be a
short one and I want to see all I can."
The President scrawled something on a sheet of paper and signed his
name to it, afterward presenting it, with a courteous bow, to his
visitor.
"This will enable you to go wherever you please, while in Paris," he
said. "I regret my inability to reward you properly for the great
service you have rendered my country; but you have my sincerest
gratitude, and may command me in any way."