“I hope no harm will come to you,” spoke the German, with an unpleasant grin. “I have to have some one on which to experiment. You are a good one. I hope you escape. Do not move when the screw begins to go faster.”
He had fastened a stout cord to the lever of the electric switch that controlled the motor. This cord he passed through the keyhole of the door, which he unlocked. Then he went out into the hall, closing the door after him, but not locking it, and leaving Ben, bound and helpless, alone in the room with the strange machinery.
The motor was purring like a great cat, the screw was whizzing around so swiftly just above his head that it made our hero dizzy to watch it. Once more he tried to break the bonds, but they were too tight.
“Look out now!” called the voice of the insane inventor from the hall. “Tell me if the scale beam moves!”
Ben saw the string that passed through the keyhole become taut. He heard the spitting of fire as the copper blade of the switch passed over the various contact points, letting more current flow to the motor. Then he heard the screw set up a shriller hum, as its speed increased.
The scale platform on which he was lying shook and trembled. The whole room vibrated as though a strong wind was shaking the house. Sparks came from the motor, and there was a roar like a miniature cyclone in Ben’s ears.
“Don’t move!” cried the German from the hall. “Lie still! Watch if the arm moves! You may go through to the cellar! I am going down to catch you!”
Then our hero heard footsteps retreating down the hall. He was alone with the dangerous and rapidly moving machinery, unable to help himself, or to move in case the apparatus flew apart from the awful force that was spinning it around. The thought was too much for the boy, and he fainted.
How long he remained senseless he did not know, but it could not have been more than a few minutes, as after events proved. When he opened his eyes again he saw a pleasant-faced German youth standing over him, regarding him curiously.
“Ach, Herr Voller!” cried the newcomer. “I find dot you are right on der chob, as dese Americans say. I am a writer from der magazine. Der editor sent me to get a story of your wonderful invention. I come in, as I can make no one hear der bell. I find you experimenting mit it. Tell me all about it. Ven are you going to fly? But you speak de German, and dis American he iss not so easy for me,” and with that he launched into a flow of German.