When @Rob @Joslyn became interested in electricity, his clear-headed father considered the boy's fancy to be instructive as well as amusing. As a result, he heartily encouraged his son. Rob never lacked batteries, motors, or supplies of any sort that his experiments might require.
He fitted up the little back room in the attic as his workshop. From there a network of wires soon ran throughout the house. Not only had every outside door its electric bell, but every window was fitted with a burglar alarm. In addition, no one could cross the threshold of any interior room without Rob's workshop recording that fact.
The gas was lighted by an electric fob. A chime, connected with an erratic clock in the boy's room, woke the servants at all hours of the night and caused the cook to threaten to quit. A bell rang whenever the postman dropped a letter into the box. There were bells, bells, bells everywhere, ringing at the right time, the wrong time, and all the time. And there were telephones in the different rooms, too, through which Rob could call up the different members of the family just when they did not wish to be disturbed.
His mother and sisters soon came to declare the boy's scientific craze an official nuisance. Still, his father was delighted with all of this. It proved Rob's considerable skill as an electrician. He insisted that Rob be allowed perfect freedom in carrying out his ideas.
"Electricity," said the old gentleman, wisely, "is destined to become the power of the world. The future advance of civilization will be along electrical lines. Our boy may become a great inventor and astonish the world with his wonderful creations."
"And in the meantime," said the mother, despairingly, "we shall all be electrocuted. Or maybe the house will be burned down by crossed wires. Or perhaps we shall be blown into eternity by a chemical explosion!"
"Nonsense!" exclaimed the proud father. "Rob's storage batteries are not powerful enough to electrocute anyone or set the house on fire. Do give the boy a chance, @Belinda."
"And the pranks are so humiliating," continued his mother. "When the minister called yesterday and rang the bell, a big card appeared on the front door. On it was printed the words: 'Busy; Call Again.' Fortunately @Helen saw him and let him in, but when I scolded @Robert for what he had done, he said he was just trying out the sign to see if it would work."
"Exactly! The boy is an inventor already. I shall have one of those cards attached to the door of my private office at once. I tell you, Belinda, our son will be a great man one of these days." Mr. Joslyn strutted up and down the hall, almost bursting with the pride he took in his young son.
Mrs. Joslyn sighed. She knew protests were useless so long as her husband encouraged the boy. It was better at this point to simply be strong and say nothing more.
Rob also knew his mother's protests would be of no use. He continued to delight in electrical processes of all sorts. And he was more than happy to use the house as an experimental station to test the powers of his productions.
It was in his own room, however -- his "workshop" -- that he especially delighted. For not only was it the center of all his numerous "lines" throughout the house, but inside that place he had rigged up a wonderful array of devices for his own amusement. A trolley car moved around a circular track and stopped regularly at all stations. An engine and train of cars moved jerkily up and down a steep grade and through a tunnel. A windmill busily pumped water from the dishpan into the copper skillet. A sawmill operated with full steam. And a host of mechanical blacksmiths, carpenters, wood-choppers, and other workmen were connected with a motor which kept them working away at their trades in awkward but unstoppable fashion.
The room was crossed and recrossed with wires. They crept up the walls, lined the floor, made a mesh of the ceiling, and would catch an unwary visitor under the chin or above the ankle just when he least expected it. Yet visitors were forbidden in so crowded a room. Even Rob's father refused to go farther than the doorway. As for Rob, he thought he knew all about the wires, and what each one was for. But sometimes they puzzled even him. And he often wondered how to work them all.
One day he locked himself in his room to avoid interruption. He was planning the electrical lighting of a gorgeous pasteboard palace. But he really became confused over the network of wires. He had a "switchboard," to be sure, where he could make and break connections as he chose. Somehow, though, the wires had become mixed, and he could not tell which combinations to use to throw the power on to his miniature electric lights.
So he experimented in a rather haphazard way. He blindly connected this wire and that, hoping that in his guesswork he would strike the right combination. Once he thought the combination might be right, but there was no power. So he added other lines of wire to his connections, and still others, until he had used almost every wire in the room.
Yet it still would not work. After pausing a moment to try to think what was wrong, he went at it again. He put this and that line together, adding another here and another there. Then, suddenly, as he made a last change, a quick flash of light almost blinded him. The switchboard crackled ominously, as if struggling to carry a powerful current.
Rob covered his face at the flash, but when he realized he wasn't hurt, he took his hands away. With blinking eyes, he tried to look at a wonderful brilliant light which seemed to fill the room, making it many times brighter than the brightest day.
Although at first completely dazzled, he quickly recovered and looked around some more. He discovered that the light was concentrated near one spot, from which all the glorious rays seemed to radiate.
He closed his eyes a moment to rest them. Then re-opening them and shading them somewhat with his hands, he made out the form of a curious Being. It stood with majesty and composure in the center of the magnificent light and looked down upon him, smiling.
Rob was a courageous boy, but a thrill of fear passed over him in spite of himself as he gazed upon the wondrous vision that confronted him. For several moments he sat as if turned to stone, but he kept his eyes fastened on the Being, devouring every detail of his appearance.
And what a strange appearance!
His jacket was a wavering mass of white light, edged with braid of red flames that shot little tongues in all directions. The buttons blazed in golden fire. His trousers had a bluish, shining color, with glowing stripes of crimson braid. His vest blended all the colors of the rainbow into a flashing, glorious mass. His features were majestic, and his eyes held the soft but penetrating brilliance of electric lights.
It was hard to meet the gaze of those searching eyes, but Rob did it. The splendid apparition bowed and said in a low, clear voice:
"I am here."
"I know that," answered the boy, trembling, "but WHY are you here?"
"Because you have touched the Master Key of Electricity, and I must obey the laws of nature that compel me to respond to your summons."
"I -- I didn't know I touched the Master Key," faltered the boy.
"I understand that. You did it unconsciously. No one in the world has ever done it before, for up until now Nature kept the secret safe locked within her."
Rob took time to consider this statement.
"Then who are you?" he inquired, at length.
"The Demon of Electricity," was the solemn answer.
"Good gracious!" exclaimed Rob, "a demon!"
"Certainly. I am, in truth, the Slave of the Master Key, and I am forced to obey the commands of any one who is wise and brave enough -- or, as in your own case, fortunate and fool-hardy enough -- to touch it."
"I -- I've never guessed there was such a thing as a Master Key, or -- or a Demon of Electricity, and -- and I'm awfully sorry I -- I called you up!" stammered the boy, flustered by the imposing appearance of his companion.
The Demon actually smiled at this speech, a smile that was almost reassuring.
"I am not sorry," he said, in kinder tone, "for it is not much fun waiting century after century for some one to command my services. I have often thought my existence was unnecessary, since you @Earth people are so stupid that you seem unlikely ever to master the secret of electrical power."
"Oh, we have some great masters among us!" cried Rob, a bit angry at the Demon's statement. "Now, there's @Edison -- "
"Edison!" exclaimed the Demon, with a faint sneer; "what does he know?"
"Lots of things," declared the boy. "He's invented no end of wonderful electrical things."
"You are wrong to call them wonderful," replied the Demon, lightly. "He really knows little more than yourself about the laws that control electricity. His inventions are trifling things in comparison with the really wonderful results anyone who actually knows how to direct electricity could produce. Why, I've stood for months by Edison's elbow, hoping and longing for him to touch the Master Key, but I can see plainly he will never accomplish it."
"Then there's @Tesla," said the boy.
The Demon actually laughed.
"There is Tesla, to be sure," he said. "But what of him?"
"Why, he's discovered a powerful light," the boy replied, "and he's in communication with the people in @Mars."
"What people?" The Demon chuckled.
"Why, the people who live there."
"There are none."
This great statement almost took Rob's breath away. All the great science fiction novelists had written about the @Martians for years.
