The Greatest Adventure Books for Children. Люси Мод Монтгомери

      "Oh, not at all, I assure you!" said the man, wagging his goatlike beard with every word he spoke. "In this curious island there is no value to anything whatever, not even to life. All I can do with my diamonds here is to stick them into the kinglet's crown and sceptre; so I'm getting a big stock of them laid by. Very soon I shall begin studding the roof of the throne-room with diamonds, and it will be a pretty sight to see them glittering in one mass."

      "Well," said our hero, "if it has stopped raining, I believe I'll bid you good-by."

      "Never mind the rain," answered the man. "Here is a winding staircase that leads directly upward into the castle. If you go that way, the rain cannot reach you. The tunnel through which you entered is only used for ventilation."

      John thanked the good-natured diamond-maker and started to climb the stairs. There were a good many steps, but after a while he came to a gallery of the castle, and had little difficulty in finding the passage that led to his own room.

      THE MUSICIAN THREW HIMSELF UPON THE PIANO

      As he walked along he heard the sound of a piano, and paused at an open door to peer within the room, for he imagined some one was pounding upon the keys of the piano with a sledge-hammer. But immediately a fluffy-haired man looked up and saw him, and the next instant pounced upon the gingerbread man in much the same way that a cat would pounce upon a rat, and seized him fast, drew him into the room, and closed and locked the door.

      John was astonished, but the fluffy-haired musician began pacing up and down the room, swinging his arms and shouting:

      "I have it! I have it at last! I am great! I am magnificent! I am better than Vogner himself!" He paused to glare upon John. "Why don't you shout, you baked idiot? Why don't you weep with joy?" he cried. "It is great, I tell you! It is great!"

      "What is great?" asked John.

      "The symphonie! The divine symphonie, you heartless molasses-cake, or devil's food, or whatever you are! And I composed it—I—Tietjamus Toips! I am greater than Vogner!"

      "I didn't hear it," said the gingerbread man.

      The musician threw himself upon the piano, and produced a succession of such remarkable sounds that John was surprised.

      "Did you understand it?" demanded the fluffy-haired one, jumping up again.

      "No," said John.

      "No! Of course not! No one can understand it. It is genius! It will be played at all the great concerts. The critics will write columns in praise of it. Some folks can understand Vogner a little. No one can understand me at all! I am wonderful! I am superb!"

      "Well," said John, "I'm not a judge. It seemed to me like awful discord."

      The musician threw himself upon his knees and burst into tears.

      "Thank you, my friend!—my dear friend!" said he, between the sobs. "Such praise gladdens my heart and makes me very happy! Ah! glorious moment, in which I produce music that is not understood and sounds like discord!"

      John left the musician still shedding tears of happiness, and walked to his room.

      "The people of this island are certainly peculiar," he reflected; "and I am very glad indeed that I am an ordinary gingerbread man, and not a crank."

      He found the bald-headed inventor of the power of repulsion awaiting him in the room.

      "Well, how did the tube please you? Is it not wonderful?" he inquired.

      "It's wonderful enough when it works," said John; "but it suddenly quit working, and nearly ruined me."

      "Ah, the power became exhausted," returned the man, calmly. "But that is nothing. It can be easily renewed."

      "However," John remarked, "I think that whenever any one uses your tube as a protection from the rain, he should also carry an umbrella to use in case of accident."

      "An umbrella! Bah!" cried the inventor, and left the room in a rage, slamming the door behind him.

The Lady Executioner

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      Presently Chick returned, looking bright and happy as ever; but when the child heard the tale of John's wanderings in the rain he received a sound scolding for being so careless.

      "You mustn't pay any attention to the inventors," said the Cherub. "This Isle is full of 'em, and most of their inventions won't work."

      "I've discovered that," said John.

      "But they're good fun, if you don't take 'em in earnest," continued the Baby; "and as it's going to rain all the afternoon I'll take you around the castle to make some calls on some of the cranks that are harmless."

      John readily agreed to this proposal; so Chick took his hand and led him through some of the wide halls, stopping frequently to call upon the different inventors and scientific discoverers who inhabited the various rooms. They were all glad to see the pretty child and welcomed John Dough almost as cordially.

      One personage presented the gingerbread man with a smokeless cigar that he had recently invented. Another wanted him to listen to a noiseless music-box, and was delighted when John declared he could hear nothing at all. A third wanted him to try a dish of hot ice-cream made in a glowing freezer, and was grieved because the gingerbread man was constructed in such a way that it was impossible for him to eat.

      "Really," said John, "I don't see the use of these things."

      "Oh, they're not useful at all," replied Chick, laughing; "but these folks are all trying to do something queer, and most of them are doing it. Now we'll climb this tower, and I'll show you what I call a really fine invention."

      So up they climbed to the top of one of the turrets, winding round and round a narrow staircase until they came upon a broad platform. And on this platform rested a queer machine that somewhat resembled a bird, for it had two great wings and a big body that glittered as brightly as if it were made of silver.

      While they stood looking at this odd contrivance a door in the body of the bird opened and a young man stepped out and greeted them.

      "THIS IS IMAR," SAID CHICK

      John thought him quite the most agreeable person, in looks and manner, that he had yet met in the Isle of Phreex; excepting, of course, his friend Chick. The young man had a sad face, but his eyes were pleasant and intelligent and his brow thoughtful. In a few polite and well-chosen words he welcomed his guests.

      "This is Imar," said Chick, introducing John; "and he has invented a real flying-machine."

      "One that will fly?" asked John, curiously.

      "Of course," said the Baby. "I've had many a ride in it—haven't I, Imar?"

      "To be sure," replied the young man. "I have often taken Chick to ride as far as forty yards from the tower. If it did not rain, just now, nothing would give me more pleasure than to prove to you that my invention will work perfectly."

      "I see you have made it resemble a bird," remarked John, who was quite interested in the machine.

      "Yes," said the dreamy Imar, "and the reason I have succeeded in my invention is because I have kept close to Nature's own design. Every muscle