Then the boy sat beside them upon the grass and told them the story of
his acquaintance with the Demon and of all his adventures since he had
come into possession of the wonderful electric contrivances. In his
present mood he felt it would be a relief to confide in some one, and
so these poor, lonely men were the first to hear his story.
When he related the manner in which he had clung to the Turk while both
ascended into the air, the elder of the two sailors listened with rapt
attention, and then, after some thought, asked:
"Why couldn't you carry one or both of us to America?"
Rob took time seriously to consider this idea, while the sailors eyed
him with eager interest. Finally he said:
"I'm afraid I couldn't support your weight long enough to reach any
other land. It's a long journey, and you'd pull my arms out of joint
before we'd been up an hour."
Their faces fell at this, but one of them said:
"Why couldn't we swing ourselves over your shoulders with a rope? Our
two bodies would balance each other and we are so thin and emaciated
that we do not weigh very much.
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