L. Frank Baum by The Master Key

makes a big difference, I assure you."
    The President bowed gravely.
    "This is your invention?" he asked.
    "No; I'm hardly equal to that. But the inventor has made me a present
of the Record, and it's the only one in the world."
    "It is a marvel," remarked the President, thoughtfully. "More! It is
a real miracle. We are living in an age of wonders, my young friend."
    "No one knows that better than myself, sir," replied Rob. "But, tell
me, can you trust your chief of police?"
    "I think so," said the President, slowly; "yet since your invention has
shown me that many men I have considered honest are criminally
implicated in this royalist plot, I hardly know whom to depend upon."
    "Then please wear these spectacles during your interview with the
minister of police," said the boy. "You must say nothing, while he is
with us, about certain marks that will appear upon his forehead; but
when he has gone I will explain those marks so you will understand
them."
    The President covered his eyes with the spectacles.
    "Why," he exclaimed, "I see upon your own brow the letters—"
    "Stop, sir!" interrupted Rob, with a blush; "I don't care to know what
the letters are, if it's just the same to you."
    The President seemed puzzled by this speech, but fortunately the
minister of police arrived just then and, under Rob's guidance, the
pictured record of the Orleanist plot was reproduced before the
startled eyes of the official.
    "And now," said the boy, "let us see if any of this foolishness is
going on just at present."
    He turned to the opposite side of the Record and allowed the President
and his minister of police to witness the quick succession of events
even as they occurred.
    Suddenly the minister cried, "Ha!" and, pointing to the figure of a man
disembarking from an English boat at Calais, he said, excitedly:
    "That, your Excellency, is the Duke of Orleans, in disguise! I must
leave you for a time, that I may issue some necessary orders to my men;
but this evening I shall call to confer with you regarding the best
mode of suppressing this terrible plot."
    When the official had departed, the President removed the spectacles
from his eyes and handed them to Rob.
    "What did you see?" asked the boy.
    "The letters 'G' and 'W'."
    "Then you may trust him fully," declared Rob, and explained the
construction of the Character Marker to the interested and amazed
statesman.
    "And now I must go," he continued, "for my stay in your city will be a
short one and I want to see all I can."
    The President scrawled something on a sheet of paper and signed his
name to it, afterward presenting it, with a courteous bow, to his
visitor.
    "This will enable you to go wherever you please, while in Paris," he
said. "I regret my inability to reward you properly for the great
service you have rendered my country; but you have my sincerest
gratitude, and may command me in any way."
    "Oh, that's all right," answered Rob. "I thought it was my duty to
warn you, and if you look sharp you'll be able to break up this
conspiracy. But I don't want any reward. Good day, sir."
    He turned the indicator of his traveling machine and immediately rose
into the air, followed by a startled exclamation from the President of
France.
    Moving leisurely over the city, he selected a deserted thoroughfare to
alight in, from whence he wandered unobserved into the beautiful
boulevards. These were now brilliantly lighted, and crowds of pleasure
seekers thronged them everywhere. Rob experienced a decided sense of
relief as he mixed with the gay populace and enjoyed the sights of the
splendid city, for it enabled him to forget, for a time, the
responsibilities thrust upon him by the possession of the Demon's
marvelous electrical devices.

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