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If only I was there," thought Rob, "I could show that captain where to

find the rebels and capture them. But I guess the Philippines are rather

out of my way, so our soldiers will never know how near they are to a

complete victory."

The boy also found considerable amusement in watching the course of

an insurrection in Venezuela, where opposing armies of well-armed men

preferred to bluster and threaten rather than come to blows.

During the evening he found that an "important event" was Madame

Bernhardt's production of a new play, and Rob followed it from beginning

to end with great enjoyment, although he felt a bit guilty at not having

purchased a ticket.

But it's a crowded house, anyway," he reflected, "and I'm not taking up a

reserved seat or keeping any one else from seeing the show. So where's

the harm? Yet it seems to me if these Records get to be common, as the

Demon wishes, people will all stay at home and see the shows, and the

poor actors 'll starve to death."

The thought made him uneasy, and he began, for the first time, to

entertain a doubt of the Demon's wisdom in forcing such devices upon

humanity.

The clouds had now passed away and the moon sent her rays to turn the

edges of the waves into glistening showers of jewels.

Rob closed the lid of the wonderful Record of Events and soon fell into a

deep sleep that held him unconscious for many hours.

When he awoke he gave a start of surprise, for beneath him was land.

How long it was since he had left the ocean behind him he could not

guess, but his first thought was to set the indicator of the traveling

machine to zero and to hover over the country until he could determine

where he was.

This was no easy matter. He saw green fields, lakes, groves and villages;

but these might exist in any country. Being still at a great elevation he

descended gradually until he was about twenty feet from the surface of

the earth, where he paused near the edge of a small village.

At once a crowd of excited people assembled, shouting to one another

and pointing towards him in wonder. In order to be prepared for

The Master Key