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13. Rob Loses His Treasures

Our young adventurer had intended to pass the night in the little bed at

his hotel, but the atmosphere of Paris proved so hot and disagreeable

that he decided it would be more enjoyable to sleep while journeying

through the cooler air that lay far above the earth's surface. So just as

the clocks were striking the midnight hour Rob mounted skyward and

turned the indicator of the traveling machine to the east, intending to

make the city of Vienna his next stop.

He had risen to a considerable distance, where the air was remarkably

fresh and exhilarating, and the relief he experienced from the close and

muggy streets of Paris was of such a soothing nature that he presently

fell fast asleep. His day in the metropolis had been a busy one, for, like

all boys, he had forgotten himself in the delight of sight-seeing and had

tired his muscles and exhausted his strength to an unusual degree.

It was about three o'clock in the morning when Rob, moving restlessly in

his sleep, accidently touched with his right hand the indicator of the

machine which was fastened to his left wrist, setting it a couple of points

to the south of east. He was, of course, unaware of the slight alteration

in his course, which was destined to prove of serious importance in the

near future. For the boy's fatigue induced him to sleep far beyond

daybreak, and during this period of unconsciousness he was passing

over the face of European countries and approaching the lawless and

dangerous dominions of the Orient.

When, at last, he opened his eyes, he was puzzled to determine where he

was. Beneath him stretched a vast, sandy plain, and speeding across

this he came to a land abounding in luxuriant vegetation.

The centrifugal force which propelled him was evidently, for some reason,

greatly accelerated, for the scenery of the country he was crossing glided

by him at so rapid a rate of speed that it nearly took his breath away.

I wonder if I've passed Vienna in the night," he thought. "It ought not to

have taken me more than a few hours to reach there from Paris."

Vienna was at that moment fifteen hundred miles behind him; but Rob's

geography had always been his stumbling block at school, and he had

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