t the young fellow could do as he pleased,
only to be rebuffed again, this time with no allowance of a subsequent
familiarity. And so they parted, the old man wearing a look somewhat
perplexed, and the younger one, despite his assumed jaunty air,
exhibiting a little of the same quality of expression.

As a matter of fact, Simpson had not the slightest idea of how such a
keyhole and latch-key as he had promised could be made, save that on one
occasion he had been the author of a practical little invention utilized
in a box-factory, and felt that he had a touch of the inventive genius
in his nature. But there was his friend Hastings. It was the thought of
Hastings which gave him the inspiration when he spoke to Grampus.
Hastings was one of the cleverest inventors and one of the most
prominent among the younger electricians of the city. They were devoted
friends, and they would invent the greatest latch-key in the world, or
burn half the midnight oil upon the market. This he was resolved upon.
He sought Hastings.

To Hastings Simpson unfolded his tale carefully, leaf by leaf, and
interested amazingly that eminent young electrician. Hastings, though
now married, the possessor of a baby with the reddest face in all
Chicago, and perfectly happy, had himself undergone somewhat of an
experience in obtaining the mother of that baby, and so sympathized with
Simpson deeply.

"We'll invent that keyhole or latch-key, or break something," was all he
said. There were thenceforth meetings every evening between the
two--meetings which were sometimes far extended into the night; and the
outcome of it all was that one morning, just as the sunbeams came
thrusting the white fog over blue Lake Michigan, Simpson sought his own
room somewhat weary-eyed, but with a countenance which was simply
beatific in expression. The invention had been perfected! What that
invention was may as well be described here and now. The first object to
be sought was, naturally, a keyhole which could not easily be missed. Of
course, this is a non-scientific description of it, but it may convey a
fair idea to the average reader. First, instead of the ordinary keyhole
there was something exactly resembling the customary mouthpiece through
which we whistle upstairs from the ground floor of a flat seeking to
attract the people who rarely answer. The only difference between it and
the ordinary mouthpiece was that it was set in so that it was even with
the woodwork of