Jake & The Giant (The Gryphon Chronicles, Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

called a “Freight Elevator,” with huge pulleys and powerful hydraulics.
    A little farther on, he came to a display of miniature trains where a twangy-voiced American detailed the railways being built across the Wild West, with the help of some new explosive called “Dynamite.” It just looked like red sticks to Jake.
    Soon, he arrived at the aisle for Communications . Here he came face to face with the newest wonder from Archie’s hero, Mr. Alexander Graham Bell. Proudly displayed on a pedestal sat some weird new contraption called a “Telephone.”
    Jake wasn’t sure how it worked, but rumor had it that it would soon replace the telegraph altogether. He was skeptical. We’ll see.
    Strolling through the Improvements For the Home aisle, he heard a man demonstrating a brand-new gadget called a “Carpet Sweeper.”
    “Your chamber maids will no longer need a broom to sweep the floors!” the man promised.
    “Amazing!” people raved, staring at the newfangled thing.
    That’ll put a lot of maids out of work, Jake thought. Next he strolled into a fun row: Photography & Entertainment .
    A man in a top hat was dem onstrating something called a “Cylinder Phonograph” that made music come out of a large horn attached to a rotatey silver thing—and then there was something even stranger.
    Jake stopp ed and stared in shock at the “Moving Pictures.” He couldn’t believe his eyes as the pictures flashed in continuous motion on the screen.
    Blimey, what would they think of next?
    Rather overwhelmed by all this Progress, he shook off a disoriented feeling and went looking for his cousin. When he finally spotted Archie with Henry in the aisle labeled Physics & Astronomy , they were surrounded by other geniuses, deep in conversation.
    Jake hesitated, not at all sure he wanted to go blunderin g into the middle of that egghead conversation.
    The truth was, he had been feeling self-conscious and defensive about his lack of education ever since they had arrived.
    H e had plenty of street-smarts after his pickpocket years, but he had only attended the orphanage school long enough to learn the rudiments of math and reading, and he didn’t much care for either. He preferred to think of himself a young man of action—more of a doer than a thinker.
    Archie, on the other hand, had started solving algebra equations at age four. He took up chemistry by six, and by nine could fix anything mechanical. His favorite hobby was designing amazing bits of gadgetry, and if he could not find the tools he needed to build some new invention, he made the tools, too.
    As the tutor for both students, Henry had privately told Jake not to feel bad about his inability to keep up with Archie in their studies. With his world-class intellect, few people on earth could. At age eleven, Archie already held two degrees from Oxford.
    And with all the geniuses here, he was right at home.
    Jake, on the other hand, felt as dumb in their eyes as Doctor Frankenstein’s big, dancing oaf had seemed to the crowd. With that thought, he decided not to join them, but to wait until Archie was through.
    Fortunately, he was not left alone for long.
    A familiar, high-pitched voice suddenly called his name. “Jake! Jake, look! I almost got everyone on my list! You’ll want to see this.” Dani O’Dell came striding toward him, all business.
    The little redhead had followed him out of the rough-and-tumble rookery neighborhood, where she had been his one true friend through thick and thin.
    When his aristocratic relatives had found him, to Jake’s relief, Great-Great Aunt Ramona had hired Dani to serve as lady’s companion to Cousin Isabelle, Archie’s elder sister.
    He was thankful because now h e didn’t have to worry about Dani. She loved her new life as Isabelle’s hired companion.
    The two girls balanced each other well. Though Dani was only ten, she was rookery-tough, while the fourteen-year-old empath, Isabelle, was a soft and delicate soul.
    As Dani marched