that
Mr. Bell recognized the value and importance of that whispered echo
that reached him over the wire and knew, when he heard it, that it was
the embodiment of the idea that had been haunting him--that was not
chance; it was genius!"

The room had been tensely still and now both boys drew a sigh of
relief.

"How strange!" murmured Ted in an awed tone.

"Yes, it was like magic, was it not?" replied the tutor. "For the
speaking telephone was born at that moment. Whatever practical work was
necessary to make the invention perfect (and there were many, many
details to be solved) was done afterward. But on June 2, 1875, the
telephone as Bell had dreamed it came into the world. That single
demonstration on that hot morning in Williams's shop proved myriad
facts to the inventor. One was that if a mechanism could transmit the
many complex vibrations of one sound it could do the same for any
sound, even human speech. He saw now that the intricate paraphernalia
he had supposed necessary to achieve his long-imagined result was not
to be needed, for did not the simple contrivance in his hand do the
trick? The two men in the stuffy little loft could scarcely contain
their delight. For hours they went on repeating the experiment in order
to make sure they were really awake. They verified their discovery
beyond all shadow of doubt. One spring and then another was tried and
always the same great law acted with invariable precision. Heat,
fatigue, even the dingy garret itself was forgotten in the flight of
those busy, exultant hours. Before they separated that night, Alexander
Graham Bell had given to Thomas Watson directions for making the first
electric speaking telephone in the world!"

CHAPTER X

WHAT CAME AFTERWARD

"Was that first telephone like ours?" inquired Ted later as, their
lunch finished, they sat idly looking out at the river.

"Not wholly. Time has improved the first crude instrument," Mr. Hazen
replied. "The initial principle of the telephone, however, has never
varied from Mr. Bell's primary idea. Before young Watson tumbled into
bed on that epoch-making night, he had finished the instrument Bell had
asked him to have ready, every part of it being made by the eager
assistant who probably only faintly realized the mammoth importance of
his task. Yet whether he realized it or not, he had caught a sufficient
degree of the inventor's excitement to urge him forward. Over one of
the receivers, as Mr. Bel