he, Shakespeare, to whom you all defer, he replied Do you not remember that he says: 'Thy demon (that's thy spirit which keeps thee) is Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable. ' Oh, if Shakespeare says it, that's all right, answered the boy. But it seems you're more like a genius, for you answer the summons of the Master Key of Electricity in the same way Aladdin's genius answered the rubbing of the lamp To be sure, A demon is also a genius; and a genius is a demon, said the Being. What matters a name? I am here to do your bidding. 3. The Three Gifts Familiarity with any great thing removes our awe of it, The great general is only terrible to the enemy; the great poet is frequently scolded by his wife; the children of the great statesman clamber about his knees with perfect trust and impunity; the great actor who is called before the curtain by admiring audiences is often waylaid at the stage door by his creditors. So Rob, having conversed for a time with the glorious Demon of Electricity, began to regard him with more composure and less awe, as his eyes grew more and more accustomed to the splendor that at first had well-nigh blinded them. When the Demon announced himself ready to do the boy's bidding, he frankly replied: I am no skilled electrician, as you very well know My calling you here was an accident. So I don't know how to command you, nor what to 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 the world what a powerful element electricity really is. So permit me to inform you that, having struck the Master Key, you are at liberty to 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 they will be of such a character that the Earth people will learn the possibilities that lie before them and be encouraged to work more intelligently and to persevere in mastering those natural and simple laws which control electricity. For one of the greatest errors they now labor under is that electricity is complicated and hard to understand, It is really the simplest Earth element, lying within easy reach of any one who stretches out his hand to grasp and control its powers. Rob yawned, for he thought the Demon's speeches were growing rather tiresome. Perhaps the genius noticed this rudeness, for he continued: I regret, of course, that you are a boy instead of a grown man, for it will appear singular to your friends that so thoughtless a youth should seemingly have mastered the secrets that have baffled your most learned scientists. But that can not be helped, and presently you will become, through my aid, the most powerful and wonderful personage in all the world, Thank you, said Rob, meekly It'll be no end of fun.
