ng forty feet, and
erected in much the same way as that at the Hooper house, except that
one mast had to be put up as high as the gable end of the cottage, which
was the other support, thirty-five feet high.

Then, when the announcement was made that the talks on Edison were to be
repeated, Bill and Gus told the class and others of their friends, so
the Hoopers came also, the merry crowd filling the Brown living-room.
Mr. Hooper's absence was noted and regretted from the first, as his
eagerness "to be shown" was well known to them all.

The first lectures concerning Edison's boyhood were repeated. The second
and third talks were each better attended than the preceding ones. Cora,
Dot, Skeets and two other girls occupied the front row; Ted Bissell and
Terry Watkins were present. Bill presided with much dignity, most
carefully tuning in, making the announcements, then becoming the most
interested listener, the theme being ever dear to him.

On the occasion of the third lecture, Bill said:

"Now, then, classmates and other folks, this is a new one to all of us.
The last was where we left off in June on the Professor's receiver. You
can just bet this is going to be a pippin. First off, though, is a
violin solo by--by--oh, I forget his name,--and may it be short and
sweet!"

After the music, the now well-known voice came from the horn:

"This is the third talk on the career and accomplishments of Thomas Alva
Edison:

"In a little while young Edison began to get tired of the humdrum life
of a telegraph operator in Boston. As I have told you, after the
vote-recorder, he had invented a stock ticker and started a quotation
service in Boston. He opened operations from a room over the Gold
Exchange with thirty to forty subscribers.

"He also engaged in putting up private lines, upon which he used an
alphabetical dial instrument for telegraphing between business
establishments, a forerunner of modern telephony. This instrument was
very simple and practical, and any one could work it after a few
minutes' explanation.

"The inventor has described an accident he suffered and its effect on
him:

"'In the laboratory,' he says, 'I had a large induction coil. One day I
got hold of both electrodes of this coil, and it clinched my hands on
them so that I could not let go!

"'The battery was on a shelf. The only way I could get free was to back
off and pull the coil, so that the battery wires would pull the cells
off the shelf