"Wish you luck, Uncle," he said, "but thank goodness I'm not flying. Had quite enough of that; blue water's much safer. But it was a great stroke of yours—the rays invention."
"It was," agreed Sir Brian gravely. "But come this way."
He took his nephew to a corner of the laboratory where stood a simple yet ingenious device.
"That was my emergency gadget," he announced, after explaining the mechanism.
Peter looked at it long and anxiously. Then he turned to his uncle.
"Better sling it in the ditch before there's any harm done," he said seriously.
Sir Brian chuckled.
"That's exactly what I mean to do," he replied. "Give me a hand with the thing."
Together they carried the latest creation of Sir Brian's brain out of the laboratory down the sloping lawn to a small pier.
In the bright moonlight, Peter saw a small dinghy made fast to the steps. Into the stern-sheet of the boat the gadget was placed. Uncle Brian sat aft, while Peter cast off and took the oars.