of the line for a telephone weighed
almost ten pounds and----"

"Ten pounds!" repeated Ted in consternation.

Mr. Hazen nodded.

"Yes," answered he, "the early telephones were heavy, cumbersome
objects and not at all like the trim, compact instruments we have
to-day. In fact, they were quite similar to the top of a sewing-machine
box, only, perhaps, they were a trifle smaller. You can understand that
one would not care to carry on a very long conversation if he must in
the meantime stand and hold in his arms a ten-pound object about ten
inches long, six inches wide, and six inches high."

"I should say not!" Laurie returned. "It must have acted as a fine
check, though, on people who just wanted to gabble."

Both Ted and the tutor laughed.

"Of course telephone owners could not go on that way," Ted said, after
the merriment had subsided. "What did Mr. Bell do about it?"

"The initial step for betterment was not taken by Mr. Bell but by Mr.
Watson," Mr. Hazen responded. "He rigged a little hammer inside the box
and afterwards put a button on the outside. This _thumper_ was the
first calling device ever in use. Later on, however, the assistant felt
he could improve on this method and he adapted the buzzer of the
harmonic telegraph to the telephone; this proved to be a distinct
advance over the more primitive _thumper_ but nevertheless he was
not satisfied with it as a signaling apparatus. So he searched farther
still, and with the aid of one of the shabby little books on
electricity that he had purchased for a quarter from Williams's tiny
showcase, he evolved the magneto-electric call bell such as we use
to-day. This answered every purpose and nothing has ever been found
that has supplanted it. It is something of a pity that Watson did not
think to affix his name to this invention; but he was too deeply
interested in what he was doing and probably too busy to consider its
value. His one idea was to help Mr. Bell to improve the telephone in
every way possible and measuring what he was going to get out of it was
apparently very far from his thought. Of course, the first of these
call bells were not perfect, any more than were the first telephones;
by and by, however, their defects were remedied until they became
entirely satisfactory."

"So they now had telephones, transmitters, and call bells," reflected
Ted. "I should say they were pretty well ready for business."

"You forget the switchboard," was Mr. Hazen's