Familiarity with any great thing removes our awe of it. The grea. general is only terrible to the enemy; the great poet is frequentl. scolded by his wife; the children of the great statesman clamber abou. his knees with perfect trust and impunity; the great actor who i. called before the curtain by admiring audiences is often waylaid a. the stage door by his creditors.
So Rob, having conversed for a time with the glorious Demon o. Electricity, began to regard him with more composure and less awe, a. his eyes grew more and more accustomed to the splendor that at firs. had well-nigh blinded them.
When the Demon announced himself ready to do the boy's bidding, h. frankly replied:
"I am no skilled electrician, as you very well know. My calling yo. here was an accident. So I don't know how to command you, nor what t. ask you to do.""But I must not take advantage of your ignorance," answered the Demon.
"Also, I am quite anxious to utilize this opportunity to show th. world what a powerful element electricity really is. So permit me t. inform you that, having struck the Master Key, you are at liberty t. demand from me three gifts each week for three successive weeks.
These gifts, provided they are within the scope of electricity. I will grant."Rob shook his head regretfully.
"If I were a great electrician I should know what to ask," he said.
"But I am too ignorant to take advantage of your kind offer.""Then," replied the Demon, "I will myself suggest the gifts, and the. will be of such a character that the Earth people will learn th. possibilities that lie before them and be encouraged to work mor. intelligently and to persevere in mastering those natural and simpl. laws which control electricity. For one of the greatest errors the. now labor under is that electricity is complicated and hard t. understand. It is really the simplest Earth element, lying withi. easy reach of any one who stretches out his hand to grasp and contro. its powers."Rob yawned, for he thought the Demon's speeches were growing rathe. tiresome. Perhaps the genius noticed this rudeness, for he continued:
"I regret, of course, that you are a boy instead of a grown man, fo. it will appear singular to your friends that so thoughtless a yout. should seemingly have mastered the secrets that have baffled your mos. learned scientists. But that can not be helped, and presently yo. will become, through my aid, the most powerful and wonderful personag. in all the world.""Thank you," said Rob, meekly. "It'll be no end of fun.""Fun!" echoed the Demon, scornfully. "But never mind; I must use th. material Fate has provided for me, and make the best of it.""What will you give me first?" asked the boy, eagerly.
"That requires some thought," returned the Demon, and paused fo. several moments, while Rob feasted his eyes upon the gorgeous rays o. color that flashed and vibrated in every direction and surrounded th. figure of his visitor with an intense glow that resembled a halo.
Then the Demon raised his head and said:
"The thing most necessary to man is food to nourish his body. H. passes a considerable part of his life in the struggle to procur. food, to prepare it properly, and in the act of eating. This is no. right. Your body can not be very valuable to you if all your time i. required to feed it. I shall, therefore, present you, as my firs. gift, this box of tablets. Within each tablet are stored certai. elements of electricity which are capable of nourishing a human bod. for a full day. All you need do is to toss one into your mouth eac. day and swallow it. It will nourish you, satisfy your hunger an. build up your health and strength. The ordinary food of mankind i. more or less injurious; this is entirely beneficial. Moreover, yo. may carry enough tablets in your pocket to last for months."Here he presented Rob the silver box of tablets, and the boy, somewha. nervously, thanked him for the gift.
