murmured Cabot, in an awe-stricken tone,
"and I didn't even know they had been perfected. I don't suppose there
are half-a-dozen in use in all the world, and yet here is one of them
doing its full duty up here in the Labrador wilderness, a thousand
miles from anywhere. It is fully equal to any tale of the Arabian
Nights, and Mr. Homolupus must, as the natives say, be either a god or
a devil. I do wonder who he is, where he came from, what has happened
to him, where he gets his electricity, and a thousand other things. I
wish he would wake up, and I wish he could talk."

Cabot's curiosity concerning the weird music that had drawn him to that
place had been partially satisfied by the discovery of a violin on the
floor beside the sick man's bed. Now, as he flung himself wearily down
on the lounge for a bit of rest, he became conscious of the muffled
b-r-r-r of a dynamo. That accounted in a measure for the electric
lights, but still left our lad in a daze of wonder at the nature of his
surroundings.

CHAPTER XXVI.

AN ELECTRICIAN IN THE WILDERNESS.

When Cabot threw himself down on that lounge he fully intended to
remain awake, or at most to take only a series of short naps, always
holding himself in readiness to assist the sufferer on the opposite
side of the room. But exhausted nature proved too much for his good
intentions, and he had hardly lain down before he fell into a dead,
dreamless sleep that lasted for many hours. When he next awoke it was
with a start, and he sat up bewildered by the strangeness of his
environment. Daylight was streaming in at the frost-covered windows
and the storm of the night before had evidently spent its fury.

Almost the first thing he saw was the tall form of his host bending
feebly over the electric stove. His face was drawn with pain, and he
was so weak that he was compelled to support himself by grasping the
table with one hand while with the other he stirred the contents of a
simmering kettle.

"Let me do that, sir!" cried Cabot, springing to his feet. "You are
not fit to be out of your bed, and I am perfectly familiar with the
management of electrical cooking apparatus, though I don't know much
about cooking itself."

The man hesitated a moment, and then permitted the other to lead him
back to his bed, on which he sank with a groan. Here Cabot made him as
comfortable as possible before turning his attention to the stove. On
it he found two kettles, each ha