Read Online Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint by Jay Williams - Free Book Online

know.”
    â€œIt’s already taken us all day to get this far up.”
    â€œWhat do you mean? We’ve only been flying for about an hour.”
    â€œBut it’s night,” Joe said, pointing to the window.
    â€œOh, no,” Danny said, laughing. “The air gets thinner and thinner as we go higher, and what we call blue sky is just the effect of the air on light waves. That’s why the sky seems to be getting darker now and why we can see the stars. We’re up where the air is thinned out.”
    Danny left his friend sitting on the bunk and went to watch the Professor, who was busily turning on various instruments, reading dials, and making notes.
    â€œYou know,” Danny said, “it’s a strange thing, but I feel very light somehow. Like I’m walking on air. Is it because we’re up so high?”
    â€œIn a way, you are walking on air,” the Professor replied. “The anti-gravity paint is shielding us from the earth’s pull. Not altogether, since we haven’t got it turned on full—luckily you didn’t move that lever all the way over—but enough so that, as we go higher, our weight lessens.”
    Dr. Grimes came down the ladder. “What’s the reading now?” he asked.
    â€œOne hundred and eighty-five miles,” The Professor glanced at a dial. “At our present speed we have another seven or eight minutes.”
    â€œFantastic!” Dr. Grimes looked at the television screen. “I still can’t believe it. And without rockets—!”
    The Professor grinned. Then he went to a cupboard above the stove and poked around in it for a moment or two. He brought out four bottles of ginger ale.
    â€œGentlemen,” he said, looking around with twinkling eyes, “we are making history. I think the occasion calls for a little celebration. Let us drink a toast to the exploration of space.”
    He handed round the ginger ale and some straws.
    â€œDanny,” he said, “you have a lively mind. Can’t you give us a song, or a poem, that will fit this moment?”
    â€œNot me,” said Danny. “Poetry is Joe’s department. He’s good at that.”
    Joe smiled bashfully; he was beginning to feel much better. He thought for a moment, and then he recited:
    I am a boy who has always thought it was quite a trip from home plate to first base,
    And now, all of a sudden, I find myself on the way to outer space;
    I can imagine myself zipped inside a leather briefcase
    Or in some even more unlikely place,
    But I find it hard to realize that I am on the way to outer space.
    I can picture myself as a contender in a three-legged race,
    Or as a movie star with a million-dollar face;
    In fact, just about the only way I cannot picture myself
    Is on the way to outer space.
    He dropped his eyes modestly as the other three applauded.
    Professor Bullfinch said, “Do you mind if I set that to music?”
    â€œOh, come on,” Joe mumbled. “Quit kidding.”
    â€œNo, really, Joe, it was very good indeed.” The Professor raised his bottle. “To our excellent bard. Drink up.”
    They drank, and he added, “Grimes, watch the altimeter and speed dials. I’m about to cut down the current.”
    He took hold of the red lever. Grimes bent over the control board.
    â€œOh-ten,” he began counting. “Oh-nine, oh-eight, oh-seven—”
    The Professor pushed the handle a little way toward the right.
    â€œâ€”oh-three,” said Grimes, “oh-two, oh-one, zero. Two hundred miles, Bullfinch.”
    The Professor slowly drew the red lever farther over.
    â€œThat’s it,” he said decisively. He glanced through the window. “Our trip is over. But it was a magnificent, an unforgettable—”
    He broke off.
    At the same time Dr. Grimes clutched the edge of the control panel with both hands and shouted, “Bullfinch! There’s something