“I suppose so.”
“Well, if the attraction swings the needle, won’t the needle swing the attraction?”
“I—I don’t know,” the boy stammered; “I never heard of such a thing!”
“Isn’t it a poor rule that won’t work both ways?”
“Yes; that’s what folks say, anyhow.”
“Well, it is—a mighty poor rule. Now I’ll show you. Watch me. I desire to travel due east; so I point this little needle in that direction. That done, I turn this thumb-screw, and off we start.”
Slowly the balloon began to move toward the east, over the village, across the river, gradually leaving the valley behind.
“I turn the screw a little more and a little more,” said the goblin, suiting the action to the words, “and we begin to travel faster and faster.”
Soon they were going at a rapid and exhilarating speed. The air appeared to whistle past as they cut through it; the moonlit landscape appeared to flow away behind and beneath them.
“My—my!” Bob cried, gleefully clapping his hands. “I never expected to travel as fast as this. Fitz, this is simply great.”