Stand By

nd tin brought old Pompey on the run to see what

ncle Gem's cane as he thumped the floor to s

ther sheepish, and rubbing his elbow

ssured the old man. "That thing I made looked mighty

ed pieces of tin, the knob, and the rest of the necessities. In spite of the smash, he was terrifically thrilled-he had tapped power, real po

re carefully. There was a contrivance of his

thing more than a length of wire and t

Then he charged the inner tin negatively at the friction machine, and the

two strips of glass-he didn't crave any more shocks like that first

Wow! There it came! Snap, crackle, acros

ng this time. That was such lively electricity he had gotten penned up in the glass jar that it co

ing it-and getting a wild

True! Just like t

ilted descriptions of other strange experiments. As he turned the pages,

riction wheel at all, just piled up some metal and wet cloth and got an electr

annel placed in between. Volta had connected his iron discs and his copper discs with two different wires. Next he touche

ieces of iron all right, and as for flannel, a moth-eaten wool shirt in an attic trunk wou

Pompey came

me, but he sho must a throwed away a heap of stuff in his day. Folks been carrying off what-not-and-everything from t

eze soughed mournfully in the tree tops and the afternoon sun slanted downwards to cast a weaving of shadows upon the ground. Then again the little path dipped into close glades of live oak where the long gray moss dripped down from the branches, and where the sunshine could scarce penetrate to dapple the s

never could catch sign of any movement whatever,

boughs, the ghostly, shaking curtain of the long moss that had gotten on his nerves. Best thing for

y, where it wound in close behind what had once been a rich man's house, Lee found a fascinating tangle of cast-offs partly buried in matted vegetation and drift sand. One wheel and the met

e again the cautious crackle of a twig. Someone was wat

the dusk, rather jubilant over having unearthed an old copper pot. Its lack of bottom didn't matter-all he

t. Then a tingle of fear knocked plans out of his head as the bus

how Poolak had carried prejudice further and had taken a shot at his friction-wheel experimenting, Lee had full reason to tingle

p on the copper pot. He'd put up a figh

g hand, he almost dropped the pot in his surprise. A wizen-faced, shock-he

you all evening, and you don't look so harmful. Anyhow, Jimmy Bobb

? What does he want w

he ain't near so big as me. He h

, was it?"

hing but tarnation sin what twisted Jimmy all up. I dunno. But Jimmy, he can't move by himself, just got to sit one place all the time. He heard '

mix in with these Cove people. In every meeting with them, he had sensed their antagonism toward him. If he happened to tread on the toes

Mackey, you go git that there furriner and bring him down here. Folks tell how he's got store-bought clothes and slicks his hair and look

wn the path. This by-trail twisted in and out through some thickets and sudden

. Inside was bareness save for a homemade bedstead spread with a faded old quilt and one chair set by the window opening that had no glass but merely closed with a heavy shutter of

hickens to the store to barter for store-bought rations. Always they had on wide apr

m. She looked worn out and old without being old. Her clothing was awkwa

" she said. "Jimmy here has been pining for a

he boy's limp, twisted legs told why he was a prisoner. The body was undersized, and t

the shed room. And now, mister," extending her hand, "lemme

ifferent from any he had ever known. But here he found genuine courtesy to set him at ease. More than that, the terrible eagerness in Jim

ttled on the bench, "that you got a whirling glass contraption up a

nother start, "it's kind of this way. The glass wheel when turned very, very fast between some fur pads, or rubbers, generates a spark of power called electricity. Smart men have pro

like this," and the excited listener m

ightning strikes the highest pointed objects. Electricity does that too. Lightning sets fire to non-conductors

Bobb. "What and all you going to do with thi

the town where I have always lived, there are plenty of folks brainy enough to make electricity do l

car look? Tele-tel

point, drawing word-pictures of a host of everyday conveniences that had seemed so commonplace

flopping sunbonnet, came forward bearing a tin platter set with the usual Co

upon him. "Uncle Gem-he'll be worried-doesn't know where I am, or what might have happened to me. I-I reckon I bett

de courtesy, "draw out one of these here pine knots f

s, crippled Jimmy Bobb sat in

ed to himself. "If," shutting his eyes tightly, then opening th