L. Frank Baum Read Online Free PDF

across its face, when he was bound,
had put it out of order. There he was, seven feet in the air, but
without the power to rise an inch farther.
    This short flight, however, had greatly astonished the blacks, who,
seeing his body suspended in mid-air, immediately hailed him as a god,
and prostrated themselves upon the ground before him.
    The fat chief had seen something of white men in his youth, and had
learned to mistrust them. So, while he remained as prostrate as the
rest, he peeped at Rob with one of his little black eyes and saw that
the boy was ill at ease, and seemed both annoyed and frightened.
    So he muttered some orders to the man next him, who wriggled along the
ground until he had reached a position behind Rob, when he rose and
pricked the suspended "god" with the point of his spear.
    "Ouch!" yelled the boy; "stop that!"
    He twisted his head around, and seeing the black again make a movement
with the spear, Rob turned his electric tube upon him and keeled him
over like a ten-pin.
    The natives, who had looked up at his cry of pain, again prostrated
themselves, kicking their toes against the ground in a terrified tattoo
at this new evidence of the god's powers.
    The situation was growing somewhat strained by this time, and Rob did
not know what the savages would decide to do next; so he thought it
best to move away from them, since he was unable to rise to a greater
height. He turned the indicator towards the south, where a level space
appeared between the trees; but instead of taking that direction he
moved towards the northeast, a proof that his machine had now become
absolutely unreliable. Moreover, he was slowly approaching the fire,
which, although it had ceased blazing, was a mass of glowing red embers.
    In his excitement he turned the indicator this way and that, trying to
change the direction of his flight, but the only result of his endeavor
was to carry him directly over the fire, where he came to a full stop.
    "Murder! Help! Fire and blazes!" he cried, as he felt the glow of the
coals beneath him. "I'll be roasted, after all! Here; help, Fatty,
help!"
    The fat chief sprang to his feet and came to the rescue. He reached
up, caught Rob by the heels, and pulled him down to the ground, away
from the fire. But the next moment, as he clung to the boy's feet,
they both soared into the air again, and, although now far enough from
the fire to escape its heat, the savage, finding himself lifted from
the earth, uttered a scream of horror and let go of Rob, to fall head
over heels upon the ground.
    The other blacks had by this time regained their feet, and now they
crowded around their chief and set him upright again.
    Rob continued to float in the air, just above their heads, and now
abandoned all thoughts of escaping by means of his wrecked traveling
machine. But he resolved to regain a foothold upon the earth and take
his chances of escape by running rather than flying. So he turned the
indicator to the word "down," and very slowly it obeyed, allowing him,
to his great relief, to sink gently to the ground.

6 - The Buccaneers
*
    Once more the blacks formed a circle around our adventurer, who coolly
drew his tube and said to the chief:
    "Tell your people I'm going to walk away through those trees, and if
any one dares to interfere with me I'll paralyze him."
    The chief understood enough English to catch his meaning, and repeated
the message to his men. Having seen the terrible effect of the
electric tube they wisely fell back and allowed the boy to pass.
    He marched through their lines with a fine air of dignity, although he
was fearful lest some of the blacks should stick a spear into him or
bump his head with a war-club. But they were awed by the wonders they
had seen and were still inclined to believe him a god, so he was not
molested.
    When he found himself outside the village he made for the high plateau
in the center of the island, where he could be safe from the cannibals
while he collected his thoughts. But