Chapter 156: Whitestone’s Extra Gift

Chapter 155 – Whitestone’s Extra Gift
In the musical instrument store, Elder stared wide-eyed at the suitcase that was held in Wheatstone’s arms.

He first frowned, then leaned down and pressed his ear against the suitcase, after listening for a while, Elder couldn’t help but cover his head and marveled, “Damn! Did you stuff a man in the suitcase? Also, Arthur, why does that voice sound a bit like you?”

Arthur, with his pipe in his mouth, struck a match and lit it, “Because it’s mine.”

Elder cupped his face and suddenly exclaimed, “What do you mean? Arthur, could it be that your soul is imprisoned in this box? And is this you standing in front of me now a human being or a devil?”

Arthur inhaled a cigarette and leisurely exhaled a smoke ring, “What do you think? What’s the difference between these two?”

The red devil who was looking at the wall full of musical instruments and enjoying them with great interest heard this, and couldn’t help but respond with a bad smile, “Indeed, there is no difference, both are the enemies of God. It’s just that the devil didn’t defeat God, but mankind did.”

Arthur glanced at the red devil, and then looked at the phonograph in front of him, “So, this new invention, is it considered a metaphor for man’s victory over God?”

The Red Devil just smiled, “Arthur, that’s not the thing I’m talking about.”

Arthur didn’t continue to talk to him either, but turned his head to look at Elder who was yelling, as well as Wheatstone who was too scared by Elder’s shocking performance to squeak.

He took a brand new pipe out of his pocket, meticulously pressed the tobacco, and then shoved it into the mouth of Wheatstone, whose lips were white and whose temples were sweating.

He then hooked his arm around Wheatstone’s shoulder and spoke, “Here, my friend, take a drag and then come and explain the principles of the phonograph properly to this gentleman from Oxford. After all, I am far inferior to you in the study of acoustics.”

Wheatstone shivered and propped up his pipe, then took a deep breath, but it more than failed to restore his composure; it choked him so that he held onto the counter and coughed repeatedly, as if he had consumption and was about to die at any moment.

But Arthur wasn’t going to give him a chance to escape, he took the flintlock pistol out of the holster that covered him under his coat, and turned his index finger in the trigger guard, then with just a snap he slapped the pistol down on the counter.

Arthur grimaced as he took Wheatstone’s wrist in his hand and pressed his palm against the cool barrel, “Here, Mr. Wheatstone, feel this, it’ll give you courage for your speech.”

Wheatstone’s sweating hand had just touched the musket, and his whole body shivered as if he had been electrocuted in an instant.

In just a moment, he straightened his back, then calmly pushed up his glasses, and seriously and rigorously spoke to Elder.

“This gentleman, this phonograph of mine, the main working principle is based on the principle of vibration and rotation. First of all, when recording, the sound waves are converted into the energy of the vibration of the metal needle, and the metal needle is utilized to engrave the sound waves onto the wax cylinder wrapped in tin foil, while when playing, it is necessary to reverse it ……”

At first, Wheatstone was a bit uncomfortable, but as the principles of the lecture progressed, it was as if he had forgotten the presence of the people around him, and began to state the various structures of the gramophone in an endless stream, as well as the problems that had arisen during the development of this product and what improvements he intended to make in the future.

But Elder is listening more and more confused, this scientific insulator does not understand neither acoustics, nor mechanical, but as a British gentleman who aspires to capture the heart of the aristocratic lady through science, Elder is still in line with the spirit of ‘aspirations are not as high as the year, ignorance is not a fool’ of the spirit of learning, raised his hand to ask a question.

“Mr. Wheatstone, please …… ask.”

But before he could finish his words, he heard Wheatstone violently burst out, “Shut up!”

This gentleman of gentle appearance subconsciously copied the musket on the counter and pressed it against Elder’s chin, glaring and snarling, “No questions now, and if you talk too much, I’ll fucking shoot you!”

Elder was so shocked that his sweat came down, he showed a pleading expression to Arthur who was beside him, but the only thing he gained was the other party’s loving hat-off salute.

Seeing this, Elder could only take a deep breath and flashed a trademark smile, using his melancholic eyebrows and eyes to send a message to Wheatstone – Bullseye, you carry on.

Only then did Wheatstone subside, and I don’t know how long it took, but he finally covered all the principles of acoustics and the structure of the phonograph.

His mouth had just closed, and his whole body fell on the counter as if he was deflated, panting heavily.

Arthur leaned on the edge of the counter, smiled and applauded, affirming: ”Mr. Wheatstone, aren’t you quite good at this? You see, speeches aren’t particularly difficult. What kind of feelings did you just experience during your speech?”

Wheatstone closed his eyes and covered his thumping heart, his brain was a bit confused, “I …… I just had some fear …… and then, suddenly, some anger, I hate speeches, but you guys had to force me to do this thing, so I was angry …… after that …… after that I spoke so much sparingly.” Arthur nodded slightly and said, “Congratulations! You have sort of captured the essence of a speech. All that is needed for a successful speech is emotion; fear is an emotion that can be utilized, and anger is certainly one that can be utilized as well. For the audience, all you have to do is to transmit your emotions. Infect yourself first, and only then can the audience feel you.”

At the end of his sentence, Arthur spoke at Elder, who was beside him with a face of post-apocalyptic celebration and a handkerchief to wipe off his sweat, “Did you just feel Mr. Wheatstone’s fear?”

Elder sniffed and glared, “Nonsense! Who can be held at gunpoint and not be afraid?”

“And did you feel Mr. Wheatstone’s anger?”

Elder pounded his fist on the counter and emphasized, “How can you not be angry at being held up at gunpoint for no reason?”

Arthur smiled and shook Wheatstone’s hand, “Congratulations, Mr. Wheatstone, while the phonograph has many flaws at the moment, at least you yourself have completed your special training in speech.”

“It’s …… is it?” Wheatstone turned to ask, “But …… I might be able to face a handful of audiences, but if it’s on the scale of the Royal Society Lecture Hall ……”

Arthur sniffed and shook his finger slightly, “Mr. Wheatstone, have you forgotten what I said? When you feel fear, touch this thing.”

He pushed the flintlock pistol in front of his desk toward Wheatstone.

Wheatstone stared blankly at the gun and scratched his head, “Mr. Hastings, what do you mean?”

Arthur spoke, “Although I think this current version of the phonograph is like what you said, for the time being, there are still many flaws, such as the wear and tear problem of the tinfoil wax discs, or the need to be as close as possible when recording vocals as close as possible, or else the sound that comes out will be no louder than a mosquito.

But anyway, these defects also point out the direction for future improvement, and I am sure that with your wisdom, you can easily solve these problems step by step. So, for the sake of this great new invention, I will lend you this gun for the time being.

If you dare to be intimidated by the Royal Society’s speeches, or if you are once again caught by them, then you will touch this gun. There are no bullets in this gun, but it will certainly give you enough courage.

Or to take a step back again, even if it doesn’t give you courage, at the very least, it can make others feel intimidated, don’t you think, is that the truth?”

Wheatstone may be shy and coy, but there was no problem with his intelligence, and what Arthur meant by his words was instantly obvious to him.

The bitter face just now disappeared, and Wheatstone’s face was filled with an expression like a brilliant sunshine that London might not see even once a year.

He spoke enthusiastically, “Come, Mr. Hastings, I almost forgot to tell you. Although the phonograph is not very good at recording vocals at the moment, if it is to record a piano piece, there is still no problem at all.

Thanks to the mechanical transmission and sound amplitude problems you mentioned to me before, I have, in my spare time, come up with a piano that can be connected to the phonograph needle, and as long as the tracks played on that piano, all of them can be recorded onto the phonograph’s turntable.

I don’t know if you know how to play the piano. If you have time today, why don’t you give it a try? It won t take much time to carve a phonograph disk, and after you finish carving it, you will see if you can …… be that what …… simply be magnanimous and let me go.

I beg you, don’t take me to the banquet on Sunday, right? The final choice is yours, of course, but if you choose not to take me, I’ll give you an exclusive customized violin in addition to the phonograph and turntable.”

Arthur cupped his chin, looked at Wheatstone with considerable interest, and asked, “Is that a bribe?”

“A bribe? No, no, no! What are you thinking?” Wheatstone hastily waved his hand in denial, “How could you forget! This is friendship. You have already returned the favor by giving me the pistol, and is it not reasonable for me to give you the violin?”

Arthur pondered slightly, then opened his mouth and smiled, “Alright, Charles, first take me to see the piano that can record records, and for the rest, I’ll think about it.”

When Wheatstone heard this, his hanging heart finally fell to the ground, and he hurriedly made way for the path leading to the back room, and spoke with a smile, “Arthur, this way please.”

(End of chapter)