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Indeed, the instrument now worked better than at any time since he had
reached the cannibal island, and the boy was greatly delighted The wind at
first sent him spinning away to the south, but he continued to rise until he
was above the air currents, and the storm raged far beneath him.<br>
Then he set the indicator to the northwest and breathlessly waited to see
if it would obey.<br>
Hurrah! away he sped at a fair rate of speed, while all his anxiety changed
to a feeling of sweet contentment His success had greatly surprised him, but
he concluded that the jar caused by dropping the instrument had relieved the
pressure upon the works, and so helped rather than harmed the free action of
the electric currents.<br>
While he moved through the air with an easy, gliding motion he watched with
much interest the storm raging below.<br>
Above his head the sun was peacefully shining and the contrast was strange
and impressive After an hour or so the storm abated, or else he passed away
from it, for the deep blue of the ocean again greeted his eyes, He dropped
downward until he was about a hundred feet above the water, when he
continued his northwesterly course.<br>
But now he regretted having interfered for a moment with the action of the
machine, for his progress, instead of being swift as a bird's flight, became
slow and jerky, nor was he sure that the damaged machine might not break
down altogether at any moment.<br>
Yet so far his progress was in the right direction, and he resolved to
experiment no further with the instrument, but to let it go as it would, so
long as it supported him above the water.<br>
However irregular the motion might be, it was sure, if continued, to bring
him to land in time, and that was all he cared about just then, When night
fell his slumber was broken and uneasy, for he wakened more than once with a
start of fear that the machine had broken and he was falling into the
sea.<br>
Sometimes he was carried along at a swift pace, and again the machine
scarcely worked at all; so his anxiety was excusable.<br>
The following day was one of continued uneasiness for the boy, who began to
be harrassed by doubts as to whether, after all, he was moving in the right
direction The machine had failed at one time in this respect and it might
again.<br>
He had lost all confidence in its accuracy, In spite of these perplexities
Rob passed the second night of his uneven flight in profound slumber, being
exhausted by the strain and excitement he had undergone.<br>
When he awoke at daybreak, he saw, to his profound delight, that he was
approaching land.<br>
The rising sun found him passing over a big city, which he knew to be
Boston.<br>
He did not stop, The machine was so little to be depended upon that he
dared make no halt But he was obliged to alter the direction from northwest
to west, and the result of this slight change was so great a reduction in
speed that it was mid-day before he saw beneath him the familiar village in
which he lived.<br>
Carefully marking the location of his father's house, he came to a stop
directly over it, and a few moments later he managed to land upon the exact
spot in the back yard whence he had taken his first successful flight,
7.<br>
The Demon Becomes Angry When Rob had been hugged and kissed by his mother
and sisters, and even Mr.<br>
Joslyn had embraced him warmly, he gave them a brief account of his
adventures.<br>
The story was received with many doubtful looks and much grave shaking of
heads, as was quite natural under the circumstances, I hope, my dear son,
said the father, that you have now passed through enough dangers to last you
a lifetime, so that hereafter you will be contented to remain at home Oh,
Robert! cried his mother, with tears in her loving eyes, you don't know how
we've all worried about you for the past week! A week? asked Rob, with
surprise.<br>
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