Page:Clement Fezandié - Through the Earth.djvu/186

166 in the car. Perhaps I may find something in the drawer of the table."

Acting on this idea, our hero opened the drawer; but the only object he found in it was a light wooden box containing various odds and ends. William decided that this box would answer his purpose, and ruthlessly dumped out the contents into the drawer. Then he placed the box beside him in the air, about a foot from the ground, and, supporting himself by one of the handles on the lounge, he drew back his foot and brought it forward with all his strength, giving the box a violent kick that shivered it into fragments and sent the pieces flying in all directions.

"Gracious!" exclaimed William, as he gazed at the flying fragments. "It's mighty lucky I used the wooden box instead of the glass tumbler. Otherwise the car would now be full of flying pieces of broken glass that would n't make very pleasant traveling companions. I guess there's something wrong about Mr. Curtis's mechanics, and I'm glad there are no more of his experiments to try. They don't seem to turn out as expected." William's studies in physics helped him to understand the reason for the two occurrences which had just puzzled him.