'll go and see," replied Jack.

Dr Middleton accompanied him, and Mesty followed. They opened, the
door, and beheld a spectacle which made them recoil with horror. There
was Mr Easy, with his head in the machine, the platform below fallen
from under him, hanging, with his toes just touching the ground. Dr
Middleton hastened to him, and, assisted by Mesty and our hero, took him
out of the steel collar which was round his neck; but life had been
extinct for many hours, and, on examination, it was found that the poor
old gentleman's neck was dislocated.

It was surmised that the accident must have taken place the evening
before, and it was easy to account for it. Mr Easy, who had had the
machine raised four feet higher, for the platform and steps to be placed
underneath, must have mounted on the frame modelled by the carpenter for
his work, and have fixed his head in, for the knob was pressed on his
bump of benevolence. The framework, hastily put together with a few
short nails, had given way with his weight, and the sudden fall had
dislocated his neck.

Mr Hanson led away our hero, who was much shocked at this unfortunate
and tragical end of his poor father, while Dr Middleton ordered the
body to be taken up into a bedroom, and immediately despatched a
messenger to the coroner of the county. Poor Mr Easy had told his son
but the day before that he felt convinced that this wonderful invention
would immortalise him, and so it had, although not exactly in the sense
that he anticipated.

We must pass over the few days of sorrow, and closed shutters, which
always are given to these scenes. The coroner's inquest and the funeral
over, daylight was again admitted, our hero's spirits revived, and he
found himself in possession of a splendid property, and his own master.

He was not of age, it is true, for he wanted nine months; but on opening
the will of his father, he found that Dr Middleton was his sole
guardian. Mr Hanson, on examining and collecting the papers, which
were in the greatest confusion, discovered bank-notes in different
corners, and huddled up with bills and receipts, to the amount of two
thousand pounds, and further, a cheque signed by Captain Wilson on his
banker, for the thousand pounds advanced by Mr Easy, dated more than
fifteen months back.

Dr Middleton wrote to the Admiralty, informing them that family affairs
necessitated Mr John Easy, who had been left at sick quarters, to leave
his Majest