All That Goes Up Part 2

"I don't know about d.u.c.h.ess," I yawned, "But I could certainly do with a bit to eat. Like to shave and brush my teeth too. Think you could figure out something?"

Johnny figured, and oddly enough it's no trick to brush your teeth (I'm lucky to still have my own) upside down. It's much the same as when you do it normally ... bent over the lavatory. As for shaving, well I never cared much for them, but I used Jim's electric razor and that was taken care of. No shower though. Not even Johnny could figure that one out.

Mary came in with sandwiches and coffee, and with straws it turned out all right. d.u.c.h.ess did her usual lapping. There wasn't anything else to do but wait, so Johnny brought me the morning paper. Let me tell you, that's no snap, trying to read a paper that's continually trying to pull away from you. My arms got awfully tired after awhile so I gave that up. Noticing it was rather stuffy, I asked Johnny to lower the upper sash of the dormer so the air could circulate a bit, and as it became more comfortable, I must have dropped off to sleep again.

The next thing I knew I was awakened rather forcibly by loud screams and yells from the garden just outside the window. When I got my wits together and looked, the first thing I noticed was that d.u.c.h.ess was nowhere around. About that time, Johnny burst into the room, tears streaming down his face, and crying as though his heart would break.

Close on his heels was Mary, also crying, and Jim was bringing up the rear.

"What in the world's the matter?" I asked.

"Oh, Ralph," Mary sobbed, "It's d.u.c.h.ess ... she's gone!"

"She just flew right up in the air!" Johnny added.

"What do you mean, 'flew right up in the air', what are you all talking about?"

"She got out of the window, Dad," Jim said. "We were out in the garden talking, and I guess she heard us. Looks like she went to the window, scratched the screen loose, and out she went."

"Oh, Ralph, it was just horrible," Mary sobbed. "That poor thing, going up just like a balloon ... getting smaller and smaller."

"Yeah, Dad," Johnny sniffed, "We watched her till she went clear out of sight ... she was kickin' her legs and we could hear her barkin'

too."

"For heaven's sake, Ralph," Mary cried, "don't you go near that window!"

"Yes, you'd go up too, Dad," Jim added.

Clutching tightly to the mattress, I a.s.sured them I wouldn't go near the window, or the door either, for that matter. Just the thought of that poor dog sailing up in the air made me sick in the pit of my stomach.

"How high will she go, Jim?" I asked.

"Gee, I don't know, Dad. But I think she'll just keep right on going, clear up out of the air." Jim had a hard time keeping a sob out of his voice too.

"What'll happen to her, son?"

"Well, you see, between the cold and the lack of oxygen, she'll just go to sleep.... I remember reading about fliers at high alt.i.tude."

"Thank Heaven," Mary breathed. And I added a silent "Amen."

About 3:30 Professor Jordan arrived and Jim brought him in and introduced us. The professor was probably 40, but looked hardly older than Jim, and was built along the same tall and gangly lines. A very business-like man though, thank heaven, and he got right to the point.

After the first shock of seeing me on the ceiling, he turned to Jim, "Now, tell me. Exactly what happened, and what is this rig you have here?"

Jim told him the whole story of how d.u.c.h.ess and I got caught, then went into great detail about the plastic plate, the kinds of metal he had used, and the different settings on the transformer. He finished by telling how d.u.c.h.ess had sailed off into s.p.a.ce.

At this, Professor Jordan looked more closely at the transformer hookup. "You say the settings are still the same?"

"Yes, sir, it's still the same. I haven't changed a thing except to pull the plate out in the hall."

"Have you tried it since your father was caught?"

"No, sir ... in all the excitement I haven't gotten around to fooling with it again."

The professor walked out in the hall, reached in his pocket for a handkerchief, tossed it over the plate. It rose! Straight up, and stuck to the ceiling!

"My gos.h.!.+" Jim blurted. "Somebody must have plugged that thing in again!"

Mary and Johnny, who were watching in silence, both spoke up to say that neither of them had. Jim reached down and picked up the AC line.

Sure enough, it _wasn't_ plugged in!

"Well, this is going to take some studying," Professor Jordan muttered, looking rather awed at Jim's gadget. "Jim, let's start at the beginning again, and be sure you tell me everything you did, every move you made, what kind of metal you used, how finely divided it was, what concentration you used and what voltages and frequencies you used."

"I'll try, Professor," Jim said, "But it's going to be sort of a hit or miss proposition because I fiddled with this thing for an hour or so before accidentally dropping my cigarettes on the plate. When they went up, I was surprised, to say the least, so I tried other things."

"What we've got to figure put first of all, is whether it was caused by a combination of changes, or whether it was the last setting you used," Professor Jordan said. "If it was a combination of voltage and frequency changes, then we've certainly got a problem on our hands."

All this time of course, Mary and Johnny had been standing more or less open-mouthed, listening, and I, from my vantage point high on the ceiling, had been taking it all in too.

"Can you think of any way to run the experiment over?" The professor asked. "Do you think you can remember the formula for the plastic plate?"

Jim thought a moment, snapped his fingers and said, "By golly, I believe I've got another piece of that plastic around here somewhere.

I made it up at school and had to cut a little piece off so I could get it in my suitcase. I'll see if I can find it." And stepping gingerly around the plate in the hall he came back into the room and started rummaging around in his luggage.

The professor looked at me. "Mr. Wilson, what sort of sensation did you have when you stepped on the plate?"

"Well, as near as I can remember, I _don't_ remember," I said. "I started to reach up and pull d.u.c.h.ess down, and the next thing I knew my head hit the ceiling. Still got a b.u.mp big as an Easter egg."

"Did you have a giddy, light sensation?"

"No, as I say, I don't remember anything but the whack on the head."

About that time, Jim hollered, "Hey! I found it! Now maybe we can find out what goes on here."

Jim and the professor very carefully disconnected the transformer from the plate in the hall, made sure the dial settings were the same, then hooked up the new plate. It was a lot smaller than the first one, being only about six inches wide and two feet long.

"I wonder if shape has anything to do with it?" the professor mused.

"We'll find out in a minute," said Jim. "Everybody stand back now, and I'll plug in the transformer."

He plugged it in and in a few seconds the plate began to glow the same as the other one. "We'll give it a few more seconds," Jim said, "then we'll see if it works."

The professor fumbled around in his pockets, started to toss his pipe onto the plate, thought better of it and put it back in his pocket.

Johnny, who had been watching the whole proceedings, pulled out his Boy Scout knife. "You can use this, Professor."