I was still sputtering, but Mary and Professor Jordan both grabbed him and started asking questions.... "What are you talking about? What's your idea?" "Professor, did you see what happened to the coffee?" "Your father got choked, why?" "When he sputtered, did you see what happened? The coffee went _up_!" "Well, yes, it did. But I don't see.... By jove! Wait a minute! I see what you're driving at!" And turning to Mary, the professor added, "Mrs. Wilson, do you have a garden hose long enough to reach into this room?" Mary was shocked. I was still listening between sputters. "Why, yes, we have. What are you going to do?" "I hate to tell you this, Mother," Jim said, "But if Professor Jordan is going to do what I think he's going to do, you're not going to be very happy about it. Neither is Dad." "But we hope to get Mr. Wilson down," the professor said, "Even though it may get a little damp in here." "If you can get Ralph down, I won't mind how damp it gets," said Mary. And turning to Johnny, who was standing open-mouthed, "Johnny, will you hook up the hose?" "Yes, Johnny, and run it through the window so it'll come inside the room," Jim explained, quickly. * * * * * This whole thing sounded like Greek to me, but by now I had recovered from the sputtering spell, and if a garden hose run through the bedroom window would get me down I was certainly in favor of it. "Will this garden hose scheme you both seem to have thought of really work?" "We hope so, Dad. It's going to make a mess in my room, but it's worth a try." "What do I do, climb down it?" "In effect you do," said the professor. "We'll know in a little while, I hope." "Will someone unhook the screen?" Johnny was outside. Jim unhooked the screen and pulled the hose into the room. "Do you want to try it, Professor?" "Yes, but first, let's clear things out of the way." "Hey!" I hollered. "You're not going to turn that hose on in here are you?" The professor chuckled. "Hope you don't mind too much, but we hope it'll get you down." "Well, I sure don't see...." "Dad, the professor and I had the same idea. Maybe I can explain it ... you see, apparently anything you come in contact with takes on a bit of your 'charge.' In the case of the coffee, the small drops became charged and went up. I imagine that the plates and cups picked up a small charge too, while you held them, but it wasn't enough to make them rise. Is that about right, Professor?" "It seems that way, Jim. Anyway, it's worth a try." The professor looked up at me, "Mr. Wilson, I'm afraid you aren't going to care much for this. As soon as we clear the room a bit I'm going to turn the hose on you." My mouth dropped open. "Turn the ho...?" "Yes.... You see, if whatever you touch picks up a bit of the charge, then about the quickest way to 'discharge' you would be to touch you with a large volume of something. Water sounds logical, doesn't it?"