o keep me at home."

By the time he had finished his preparations and stowed all his
electrical belongings in his various pockets, it was nearly midnight
and the house was quiet. So Rob stole down stairs in his stocking feet
and noiselessly opened the back door.

It was a beautiful July night and, in addition to the light of the full
moon, the sky was filled with the radiance of countless thousands of
brilliant stars.

After Rob had put on his shoes he unfolded the map, which was plainly
visible by the starlight, and marked the direction he must take to
cross the Atlantic and reach London, his first stopping place. Then he
consulted his compass, put the indicator of his traveling machine to
the word "up," and shot swiftly into the air. When he had reached a
sufficient height he placed the indicator to a point north of east and,
with a steady and remarkably swift flight, began his journey.

"Here goes," he remarked, with a sense of exaltation, "for another week
of adventure! I wonder what'll happen between now and next Saturday."

10. How Rob Served a Mighty King

The new traveling machine was a distinct improvement over the old one,
for it carried Rob with wonderful speed across the broad Atlantic.

He fell asleep soon after starting, and only wakened when the sun was
high in the heavens. But he found himself whirling along at a good
rate, with the greenish shimmer of the peaceful ocean waves spread
beneath him far beyond his range of vision.

Being in the track of the ocean steamers it was not long before he
found himself overtaking a magnificent vessel whose decks were crowded
with passengers. He dropped down some distance, to enable him to see
these people more plainly, and while he hovered near he could hear the
excited exclamations of the passengers, who focused dozens of marine
glasses upon his floating form. This inspection somewhat embarrassed
him, and having no mind to be stared at he put on additional speed and
soon left the steamer far behind him.

About noon the sky clouded over, and Rob feared a rainstorm was
approaching. So he rose to a point considerably beyond the clouds,
where the air was thin but remarkably pleasant to inhale and the rays
of the sun were not so hot as when reflected by the surface of the
water.

He could see the dark clouds rolling beneath him like volumes of smoke
from a factory chimney, and knew the earth was catching a severe shower
of rain; yet he congr