At four o'clock he went to his workshop and unlocked the door. Everything was exactly as he had left it, and he looked at his simple electrical devices with some amusement. They seemed tame beside the wonders now in his possession; yet he recollected that his numerous wires had enabled him to strike the Master Key, and therefore should not be despised.
Before long he noticed a quickening in the air, as if it were suddenly surcharged with electric fluid, and the next instant, in a dazzling flash of light, appeared the Demon.
"I am here!" he announced.
"So am I," answered Rob. "But at one time I really thought I should never see you again. I've been--"
"Spare me your history," said the Demon, coldly. "I am aware of your adventures."
"Oh, you are!" said Rob, amazed. "Then you know--"
"I know all about your foolish experiences," interrupted the Demon, "for I have been with you constantly, although I remained invisible."
"Then you know what a jolly time I've had," returned the boy. "But why do you call them foolish experiences?"
"Because they were, abominably foolish!" retorted the Demon, bitterly. "I entrusted to you gifts of rare scientific interest--electrical devices of such utility that their general adoption by mankind would create a new era in earth life. I hoped your use of these devices would convey such hints to electrical engineers that they would quickly comprehend their mechanism and be able to reproduce them in sufficient quantities to supply the world. And how do you treat these marvelous gifts? Why, you carry them to a cannibal island, where even your crude civilization has not yet penetrated!"
