L. Frank Baum (6 page)

"I wanted to astonish the natives," said Rob, grinning.

The Demon uttered an exclamation of anger, and stamped his foot so
fiercely that thousands of electric sparks filled the air, to disappear
quickly with a hissing, crinkling sound.

"You might have astonished those ignorant natives as easily by showing
them an ordinary electric light," he cried, mockingly. "The power of
your gifts would have startled the most advanced electricians of the
world. Why did you waste them upon barbarians?"

"Really," faltered Rob, who was frightened and awed by the Demon's
vehement anger, "I never intended to visit a cannibal island. I meant
to go to Cuba."

"Cuba! Is that a center of advanced scientific thought? Why did you
not take your marvels to New York or Chicago; or, if you wished to
cross the ocean, to Paris or Vienna?"

"I never thought of those places," acknowledged Rob, meekly.

"Then you were foolish, as I said," declared the Demon, in a calmer
tone. "Can you not realize that it is better to be considered great by
the intelligent thinkers of the earth, than to be taken for a god by
stupid cannibals?"

"Oh, yes, of course," said Rob. "I wish now that I had gone to Europe.
But you're not the only one who has a kick coming," he continued.
"Your flimsy traveling machine was nearly the death of me."

"Ah, it is true," acknowledged the Demon, frankly. "The case was made
of too light material. When the rim was bent it pressed against the
works and impeded the proper action of the currents. Had you gone to a
civilized country such an accident could not have happened; but to
avoid possible trouble in the future I have prepared a new instrument,
having a stronger case, which I will exchange for the one you now have."

"That's very kind of you," said Rob, eagerly handing his battered
machine to the Demon and receiving the new one in return. "Are you
sure this will work?"

"It is impossible for you to injure it," answered the other.

"And how about the next three gifts?" inquired the boy, anxiously.

"Before I grant them," replied the Demon, "you must give me a promise
to keep away from uncivilized places and to exhibit your acquirements
only among people of intelligence."

"All right," agreed the boy; "I'm not anxious to visit that island
again, or any other uncivilized country."

"Then I will add to your possessions three gifts, each more precious
and important than the three you have already received."

At this announcement Rob began to quiver with excitement, and sat
staring eagerly at the Demon, while the latter increased in stature and
sparkled and glowed more brilliantly than ever.

"I have seen the folly of sending you into the world with an offensive
instrument, yet with no method of defense," resumed the Demon,
presently. "You have knocked over a good many people with that tube
during the past week."

"I know," said Rob; "but I couldn't help it. It was the only way I had
to protect myself."

"Therefore my next gift shall be this Garment of Protection. You must
wear it underneath your clothing. It has power to accumulate and
exercise electrical repellent force. Perhaps you do not know what that
means, so I will explain more fully. When any missile, such as a
bullet, sword or lance, approaches your person, its rush through the
air will arouse the repellent force of which I speak, and this force,
being more powerful than the projective force, will arrest the flight
of the missile and throw it back again. Therefore nothing can touch
your person that comes with any degree of force or swiftness, and you
will be safe from all ordinary weapons. When wearing this Garment you
will find it unnecessary to use the electric tube except on rare
occasions. Never allow revenge or animosity to influence your conduct.
Men may threaten, but they can not injure you, so you must remember
that they do not possess your mighty advantages, and that, because of
your strength, you should bear with them patiently."

Rob examined the garment with much curiosity. It glittered like
silver, yet was soft and pliable as lamb's wool. Evidently the Demon
had prepared it especially for his use, for it was just Rob's size.

"Now," continued the Demon, more gravely, "we approach the subject of
an electrical device so truly marvelous that even I am awed when I
contemplate the accuracy and perfection of the natural laws which guide
it and permit it to exercise its functions. Mankind has as yet
conceived nothing like it, for it requires full knowledge of electrical
power to understand even its possibilities."

The Being paused, and drew from an inner pocket something resembling a
flat metal box. In size it was about four inches by six, and nearly an
inch in thickness.

"What is it?" asked Rob, wonderingly.

"It is an automatic Record of Events," answered the Demon.

"I don't understand," said Rob, with hesitation.

"I will explain to you its use," returned the Demon, "although the
electrical forces which operate it and the vibratory currents which are
the true records must remain unknown to you until your brain has
mastered the higher knowledge of electricity. At present the practical
side of this invention will be more interesting to you than a review of
its scientific construction.

"Suppose you wish to know the principal events that are occurring in
Germany at the present moment. You first turn this little wheel at the
side until the word 'Germany' appears in the slot at the small end.
Then open the top cover, which is hinged, and those passing events in
which you are interested will appear before your eyes."

The Demon, as he spoke, opened the cover, and, looking within, the boy
saw, as in a mirror, a moving picture before him. A regiment of
soldiers was marching through the streets of Berlin, and at its head
rode a body of horsemen, in the midst of which was the Emperor himself.
The people who thronged the sidewalks cheered and waved their hats and
handkerchiefs with enthusiasm, while a band of musicians played a
German air, which Rob could distinctly hear.

While he gazed, spell-bound, the scene changed, and he looked upon a
great warship entering a harbor with flying pennants. The rails were
lined with officers and men straining their eyes for the first sight of
their beloved "VATERLAND" after a long foreign cruise, and a ringing
cheer, as from a thousand throats, came faintly to Rob's ear.

Again the scene changed, and within a dingy, underground room, hemmed
in by walls of stone, and dimly lighted by a flickering lamp, a body of
wild-eyed, desperate men were plighting an oath to murder the Emperor
and overthrow his government.

"Anarchists?" asked Rob, trembling with excitement.

"Anarchists!" answered the Demon, with a faint sneer, and he shut the
cover of the Record with a sudden snap.

"It's wonderful!" cried the boy, with a sigh that was followed by a
slight shiver.

"The Record is, indeed, proof within itself of the marvelous
possibilities of electricity. Men are now obliged to depend upon
newspapers for information; but these can only relate events long after
they have occurred. And newspaper statements are often unreliable and
sometimes wholly false, while many events of real importance are never
printed in their columns. You may guess what an improvement is this
automatic Record of Events, which is as reliable as Truth itself.
Nothing can be altered or falsified, for the vibratory currents convey
the actual events to your vision, even as they happen."

"But suppose," said Rob, "that something important should happen while
I'm asleep, or not looking at the box?"

"I have called this a Record," replied the Demon, "and such it really
is, although I have shown you only such events as are in process of
being recorded. By pressing this spring you may open the opposite
cover of the box, where all events of importance that have occurred
throughout the world during the previous twenty-four hours will appear
before you in succession. You may thus study them at your leisure.
The various scenes constitute a register of the world's history, and
may be recalled to view as often as you desire."

"It's—it's like knowing everything," murmured Rob, deeply impressed
for perhaps the first time in his life.

"It IS knowing everything," returning the Demon; "and this mighty gift
I have decided to entrust to your care. Be very careful as to whom you
permit to gaze upon these pictures of passing events, for knowledge may
often cause great misery to the human race."

"I'll be careful," promised the boy, as he took the box reverently
within his own hands.

"The third and last gift of the present series," resumed the Demon, "is
one no less curious than the Record of Events, although it has an
entirely different value. It is a Character Marker."

"What's that?" inquired Rob.

"I will explain. Perhaps you know that your fellow-creatures are more
or less hypocritical. That is, they try to appear good when they are
not, and wise when in reality they are foolish. They tell you they are
friendly when they positively hate you, and try to make you believe
they are kind when their natures are cruel. This hypocrisy seems to be
a human failing. One of your writers has said, with truth, that among
civilized people things are seldom what they seem."

"I've heard that," remarked Rob.

"On the other hand," continued the Demon, "some people with fierce
countenances are kindly by nature, and many who appear to be evil are
in reality honorable and trustworthy. Therefore, that you may judge
all your fellow-creatures truly, and know upon whom to depend, I give
you the Character Marker. It consists of this pair of spectacles.
While you wear them every one you meet will be marked upon the forehead
with a letter indicating his or her character. The good will bear the
letter 'G,' the evil the letter 'E.' The wise will be marked with a
'W' and the foolish with an 'F.' The kind will show a 'K' upon their
foreheads and the cruel a letter 'C.' Thus you may determine by a
single look the true natures of all those you encounter."

"And are these, also, electrical in their construction?" asked the boy,
as he took the spectacles.

"Certainly. Goodness, wisdom and kindness are natural forces, creating
character. For this reason men are not always to blame for bad
character, as they acquire it unconsciously. All character sends out
certain electrical vibrations, which these spectacles concentrate in
their lenses and exhibit to the gaze of their wearer, as I have
explained."

"It's a fine idea," said the boy; "who discovered it?"

"It is a fact that has always existed, but is now utilized for the
first time."

"Oh!" said Rob.

"With these gifts, and the ones you acquired a week ago, you are now
equipped to astound the world and awaken mankind to a realization of
the wonders that may be accomplished by natural forces. See that you
employ these powers wisely, in the interests of science, and do not
forget your promise to exhibit your electrical marvels only to those
who are most capable of comprehending them."

"I'll remember," said Rob.

"Then adieu until a week from to-day, when I will meet you here at this
hour and bestow upon you the last three gifts which you are entitled to
receive. Good-by!"

"Good-by!" repeated Rob, and in a gorgeous flash of color the Demon
disappeared, leaving the boy alone in the room with his new and
wonderful possessions.

By this time you will have gained a fair idea of Rob's character. He
is, in truth, a typical American boy, possessing an average
intelligence not yet regulated by the balance-wheel of experience. The
mysteries of electricity were so attractive to his eager nature that he
had devoted considerable time and some study to electrical experiment;
but his study was the superficial kind that seeks to master only such
details as may be required at the moment. Moreover, he was full of
boyish recklessness and irresponsibility and therefore difficult to
impress with the dignity of science and the gravity of human existence.
Life, to him, was a great theater wherein he saw himself the most
interesting if not the most important actor, and so enjoyed the play
with unbounded enthusiasm.

Aside from the extraordinary accident which had forced the Electrical
Demon into this life, Rob may be considered one of those youngsters who
might possibly develop into a brilliant manhood or enter upon an
ordinary, humdrum existence, as Fate should determine. Just at present
he had no thought beyond the passing hour, nor would he bother himself
by attempting to look ahead or plan for the future.

Yet the importance of his electrical possessions and the stern
injunction of the Demon to use them wisely had rendered the boy more
thoughtful than at any previous time during his brief life, and he
became so preoccupied at the dinner table that his father and mother
cast many anxious looks in his direction.

Of course Rob was anxious to test his newly-acquired powers, and
decided to lose no time in starting upon another journey. But he said
nothing to any of the family about it, fearing to meet with opposition.

He passed the evening in the sitting-room, in company with his father
and mother and sisters, and even controlled his impatience to the
extent of playing a game of carom with Nell; but he grew so nervous and
impatient at last that his sister gave up the game in disgust and left
him to his own amusement.

At one time he thought of putting on the electric spectacles and seeing
what the real character of each member of his family might be; but a
sudden fear took possession of him that he might regret the act forever
afterward. They were his nearest and dearest friends on earth, and in
his boyish heart he loved them all and believed in their goodness and
sincerity. The possibility of finding a bad character mark on any of
their familiar faces made him shudder, and he determined then and there
never to use the spectacles to view the face of a friend or relative.
Had any one, at that moment, been gazing at Rob through the lenses of
the wonderful Character Marker, I am sure a big "W" would have been
found upon the boy's forehead.