Danny Dunn and the Anti-Gravity Paint Read Online Free

legs.
    â€œDanny,” he said in a dry voice.
    Danny’s face was red. “I—I was excited,” he stuttered. “Gosh, who wouldn’t be?”
    Mr. Willoughby was shaking his head in a bewildered manner. “I still don’t understand it,” he said.
    Mrs. Dunn had jumped to her feet when the Professor fell to the floor. She came over to him now and asked anxiously, “Are you all right?”
    â€œCertainly, just a bit shaken up—or down, as the case may be.”
    He smiled, and began looking for his pipe.
    Mr. Willoughby said, “Professor Bullfinch, for goodness sake, please tell me what this is all about. I can hardly believe, even now, what I saw.”
    He looked up. The Professor’s shoes were still clinging to the ceiling. The strange, glowing liquid could be plainly seen on their soles.
    Dr. Grimes snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it!” he cried. “Static electricity! You gave it away yourself.”
    â€œYes,” said the Professor seriously, “I believe you’re right. When I rubbed my feet on the carpet, I built up a charge of static electricity in my body. In some way this was enough to charge that liquid on my shoes.”
    Dr. Grimes sneered, “Rubbish! Have you got a deck of cards?”
    â€œWhy—I believe so,” said Mrs. Dunn. “But—”
    Dr. Grimes rubbed his hands together. “Give them to me at once, please.”
    Mrs. Dunn glanced at Professor Bullfinch, and he nodded. She opened the drawer of the sideboard and got out a deck of playing cards.
    Dr. Grimes snatched them. He took out one and, holding it, rubbed his feet on the carpet.
    â€œThis is hardly the time,” Mr. Willoughby protested, “for card tricks. Really, Dr. Grimes, I think—”
    The grim-faced rocket expert was not listening. After he had rubbed his feet for a while on the carpet, he placed the card against the smooth surface of the living-room wall. It clung to the wall for a moment or two before fluttering to the floor.
    â€œThere you are!” Dr. Grimes said triumphantly. “Static electricity has made the card stick to the wall. The same thing is true for the shoes.”
    Professor Bullfinch chuckled. Then, standing on the chair, he reached up. He took hold of one of the shoes and, with an obvious effort, forced it away from the ceiling. He carried it to a window. He looked very odd indeed, for the hand in which he held the shoe stuck straight up above his head, and he himself barely touched the floor as he walked.
    â€œDanny,” he called. “Open this window, please.”
    Danny hurried to do as he was asked.
    â€œNow then, the rest of you,” said the Professor. “Quickly, for I can’t hold this shoe much longer. Mr. Willoughby, Dr. Grimes—you open the other window and watch.”
    â€œWatch what?” said Mr. Willoughby.
    Dr. Grimes flung the window open and thrust his head outside. Mr. Willoughby and Mrs. Dunn crowded next to him. Danny, crouching at the sill of the first window, ducked his head so that the Professor could lean out.
    Professor Bullfinch held the shoe out the window and opened his hand. It was as if he had released a balloon. The shoe rose swiftly in the evening air, catching the last rays of the sun on its surface, and then vanished from their sight.
    For once Dr. Grimes had nothing to say. But Mr. Willoughby, in excitement, slammed down the window—almost catching Dr. Grimes’s head in it—and cried, “Spectacular! Amazing! My dear Professor, this is unbelievable!”
    â€œIt is, isn’t it?” said the Professor calmly.
    â€œHow did you do it?”
    â€œI’m not quite sure. This liquid appears to have strange properties.” The Professor began pacing up and down. “I’ll have to do a number of experiments tomorrow in an attempt to find out just how it works.” He stopped and faced the others. “But it