CHAPTER XV
MR. EDDY'S SON'S SONS
It took but a short time to repair the break; before many other days hadpassed the Pelton wheel, a direct action turbine, was going at atremendous rate, driven by a nozzled stream from the pipe. It wasnecessary to belt it down from a small to a larger pulley to run thegenerator at a slower speed, which was 1200 a minute. Then came theboxing in, the wiring to the house, and the making of connections withthe wiring to the house after the town company's service was dispensedwith, and it was a proud moment when Gus turned on the first bulb andgot a full and brilliant glare.
Mr. Hooper clasped the hands of both boys, compelled them to spend theevening, ordered special refreshments for the occasion, told Grace toinvite a lot of the young folks and when, at dusk all the lights of thehouse went on with an illumination that fairly startled the guests, thehost proposed a cheer for the boys which found an eager and unanimousresponse. Mr. Hooper attempted to make a speech, with his matronly andcontented wife laughing and making sly digs at his effort, and hisdaughter encouraging him.
"Now, young fellers," he began, "these boys--uh, Mister Bill Brown an'Mister 'Gustus Grier,--I says to them,--in the first place, I says:'Perfesser, these here kids don't know enough to build a chicken coop,'I says, an' Perfesser Gray he says to me, he says, he would back themfellers to build a battleship or tunnel through to Chiny, he says. So Isays: 'You kids kin go ahead,' I says, an' these blame boys they wentahead an' shucks! you all see what they, Bill an' Gus, has done. Youfellers has got to have a lot o' credit an' you are goin' to git it!
"Now, my wife she don't think I'm any good at makin' a speech an 'Iain't, but I'm a-makin' it jes' the same fer these boys, Bill an' Gus,b'jinks! They got to git credit fer what they done, jes' two kids doin'a reg'lar man's job. An' I reckon that not even that feller Eddy's son,that there chap they call the 'Wizard of Menlo Park,' I reckon hecouldn't 'lectrocute nothin' no better'n these here boys, Bill an' Gus,has lighted this here domycile. An'--oh, you kin laugh, Ma Hooper,b'jinks, but I reckon you're as proud o' these here young Eddy's son'ssons as I be. Now, Mister Bill an' Mister Gus, you kin bet all thesefolks'd like to have a few words. Now, as they say in prayer meetin','Mister Bill Brown'll lead us in a speech.' Hooray!"
Bill seized his crutch, got it carefully under his arm and arose. He wasnot just a rattle-box, a mere word slinger, for he always had somethingto say worth listening to; talking to a crowd was no great task for himand he had a genius for verbal expression.
"I hope my partner in mechanical effort and now in misery will let mespeak for him, too, for he couldn't get up here and say a word if you'dpromise him the moon for a watch charm. Our host, Mr. Hooper, would havegiven us enough credit if he had just stated that we were twopersevering ginks, bent on making the best of a good chance and using,perhaps with some judgment, the directions of our superior, ProfessorGray, along with some of our own ideas that fitted, in. But to compareus and our small job here, which was pretty well all mapped out for us,to the wonderful endeavors of Thomas Alva Edison is more than even ourcombined conceit can stand for. If we deserved such praise, even in thesmallest way, you'd see us with our chests swelled out so far that we'dlook like a couple of garden toads.
"Edison! Mr. Hooper, did you, even in your intended kindness inflattering Gus and myself, really stop to think what it could mean tocompare us with that wonderful man? I know you could not mean tobelittle him, but you certainly gave us an honor far beyond what anyother man in the world, regarding electrical and mechanical things,could deserve. If we could hope to do a hundredth part of the greatthings Edison has done, it would, as Professor Gray says, indeed makelife worth living.
"But we thank you, Mr. Hooper, for your kind words and for inviting allthese good friends and our classmates, and we thank you and good Mrs.Hooper for this bully spread and everything!"
Bill started to sit down amidst a hearty hand-clapping, but Cora Sieboldwaved her hand for silence and demanded:
"Tell us more about Edison, Billy, as you did after the talk over theradio! You see, we missed the last of it and I'll bet we'd all like tohear more--"
"Yes!" "Yes!" "Sure!" "Me, too!" "Go on, Billy!" came from Dot Myers,Skeets, Grace Hooper, Ted Bissell and Gus. In her enthusiastic effortsat showing an abundant appreciation, the fat girl wriggled too far outon the edge of her chair, which tilted and slid out from under her,causing sufficient hilarious diversion for Bill to take a sneak out ofthe room. When Cora and Grace captured and brought him back, the keenedge of the idea had worn off enough for him to dodge the issue.
"I'll tell you what we're going to do," he said, and it will be betterthan anything we can think of just between us here. You all read, didn'tyou, that the lectures were to be repeated by request in two monthsafter the last talk? We didn't hear it because Professor went away, andnow three weeks of the time have gone by. But I'll tell you what Gus andI are going to do: we're going to build a radio receiver and get it donein time to get those talks on Edison all over again."
"Really?"
"Do you think you can do it?"
"If Billy says he can, why, the--"
"Oh, you Edison's son!" This from the irrepressible Ted.
"Go to it, Bill!"
"Can we all listen in?"
"Why, of course," said Bill, replying to the last question."Everybody'll be invited and there will be a horn. But don't forgetthis: We've only got a little over four weeks to do it and it's somejob! So, if you're disappointed--"
"We won't be."
"No; Bill'll get there."
"Hurrah for old Bill!"
"Say, people, enough of this. I'm no candidate for President of theUnited States, and remember that Gus is in this, too, as much as I am."
"Hurrah for Gus!" This was a general shout.
Gus turned and ran.