Page:Clement Fezandié - Through the Earth.djvu/190

170 of the car would be attracted toward William. On this point there could be no dispute. But there was one little fact which he overlooked, and that oversight was enough to doom him to disappointment.

William had no pebbles in the car with which to try the experiment, but he had the jack-knife which has already been mentioned, and this would, of course, answer the purpose just as well.

Taking the knife from his pocket, he placed it in the air beside him, and then started to swim for the top of the car. When he reached the top, and turned around to look at the knife, he was overjoyed to find that it had disappeared.

"It is evidently following me," said he. But in this he was mistaken; for, looking more closely, he perceived the knife flying about through the air, but, far from coming toward him, it was going in almost the opposite direction.

"Gracious!" exclaimed our hero, after gazing at it for a few moments in open-mouthed astonishment. "What in the world can be the matter with that knife?"

Then the explanation slowly dawned on him. "I see," said he, laughing. "The wind I make in swimming blows the knife about as though it were a feather. It seems funny to think of blowing a