In the instrument shop, Elder stared wide-eyed at the suitcase that Wheatstone was holding in his arms.

He frowned at first, then leaned down and put his ear to the suitcase, and after listening for a while, Elder couldn't help but cover his head and exclaim, "Hell! Did you stuff a person in a box? Also, Arthur, why does this sound a bit like you? ”

Arthur took his pipe in his mouth, struck a match and lit it, "Because that's mine." ”

Elder held his face and suddenly exclaimed, "What do you mean?!" Arthur, is your soul locked in this box? Is this guy standing in front of me now a man or a devil? ”

Arthur took a puff of his cigarette and let out a smoke ring leisurely: "What do you think?" What is the difference between these two? ”

When the Red Devil, who was looking at the wall full of musical instruments and enjoying it with great interest, heard this, he couldn't help but smile evilly and responded: "There is really no difference, both are enemies of God." It's just that the devil did not defeat God, but man did. ”

Arthur glanced at the red devil and then at the gramophone in front of him: "So, is this new invention a metaphor for man's victory?" ”

The Red Devil just smiled, "Arthur, that's not what I'm talking about. ”

Arthur didn't continue to pay attention to him, but turned his head to look at Elder who was screaming, and Wheatstone, who was too frightened by Elder to squeak.

He took a brand new pipe from his pocket, carefully pressed it, and shoved it into Wheatstone's mouth, whose lips were white and his sideburns were sweating.

Then he put his arm around Wheatstone's shoulders and said, "Come, my friend, take a sip and then give the gentleman of Oxford a good explanation of the principle of the gramophone." After all, when it comes to acoustics, I'm far inferior to you. ”

Wheatstone shivered and helped his pipe, then took a deep breath, but instead of calming him down, he choked on the counter and coughed, as if he had tuberculosis and was about to die at any moment.

But Arthur didn't give him a chance to escape, he took out the flintlock pistol from the holster under his coat, put his index finger in the trigger guard, and then heard a snap, and he slapped the pistol on the counter.

Arthur took Wheatstone's wrist with an expressionless face and pressed his palm against the cold barrel: "Come, Mr. Wheatstone, touch this, this will give you the courage to speak." ”

As soon as Wheatstone's sweaty hand touched the musket, his whole body trembled as if he had been electrocuted.

In just a moment, Wheatstone straightened his back, then calmly pushed his glasses, and said to Elder seriously and rigorously.

"This gentleman, this gramophone of mine, the main principle of operation 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 sound waves are engraved on a wax cylinder wrapped in tin foil using the metal needle, and when playing, it needs to be reversed......

At first, Wheatstone was still a little uncomfortable, but as the principle of the lecture deepened, he seemed to have forgotten the existence of the people around him, and began to gush about the structure of the phonograph, as well as the problems that arose in the development of this product and what improvements he planned to make in the future.

But the more Elder listened, the more confused he became, this scientific insulator knew neither acoustics nor mechanics, but as a British gentleman who was determined to capture the heart of the aristocratic lady through science, Elder still raised his hand and asked questions in the spirit of 'ambition is not old, ignorance is not stupid'.

"Mr. Wheatstone, may I ask ......?"

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

The gentle-looking gentleman subconsciously picked up the musket on the counter, put it on Elder Rd's chin, glared and roared: "Don't ask questions now, if you talk more, I'll shoot you!" ”

Elder was so shocked that he sweated down, and he showed a distressed expression to Arthur on the side, but all he got was the other party's helpless hat salute.

Seeing this, Elder had to take a deep breath, show a trademark smile, and use his melancholy eyebrows and eyes to send a message to Wheatstone -, you continue.

Wheatstone was relieved, and I don't know how long it took for him to finally introduce the principles of acoustics and the structure of the phonograph.

As soon as his mouth closed, the whole person lay on the counter as if he had collapsed, gasping for air.

Arthur leaned against the edge of the counter, smiled and clapped, and affirmed, "Mr. Wheatstone, aren't you quite good?" You see, it's not that hard to give a speech either. What kind of feelings did you just experience during the presentation? ”

Wheatstone closed his eyes, clutching his pounding heart, and his mind was a little dazed: "I...... I'm just a little scared...... And then, all of a sudden, I hated speeches, but you had to force me to do it, so I was angry...... Afterwards...... After that, I talked so much about it. ”

Arthur nodded slightly, "Congratulations!" You've captured the essence of your speech. A successful speech requires emotions, fear is an emotion that can be used, and anger is of course an emotion that can be used. For the audience, all you have to do is get your emotions out there. Infect yourself first, only in this way, can the audience feel you. ”

With that, Arthur said to Elder beside him, who was wiping his sweat with a handkerchief with a face of rejoicing after a catastrophe, "Did you just feel Mr. Wheatstone's fear?" ”

Elder glared when he heard this, "Nonsense! Who can not be afraid of being held at gunpoint? ”

"And do you feel Mr. Wheatstone's anger?"

Elder banged his fist on the counter and emphasized, "Can you not be angry when you are held to a gun for no reason?" ”

Arthur smiled and shook Wheatstone's hand: "Congratulations, Mr. Wheatstone, although the gramophone still has many defects, at least you yourself have completed the special training in speech. ”

"Yes...... Is it? Wheatstone turned to ask, "Can ...... I may be able to face a handful of audiences, but on the size of the Royal Society Lecture Hall......"

Arthur shook his finger slightly when he heard this: "Mr. Wheatstone, have you forgotten what I said?" When you're scared, touch this thing. ”

He pushes the flintlock pistol in front of the case towards Wheatstone.

Wheatstone looked at the gun in a daze and scratched his head, "Mr. Hastings, what do you mean?" ”

Arthur said: "Although I think the current version of the phonograph is just like you said, there are still many flaws for the time being, such as the wear and tear of the tin foil wax disc, and the need to record vocals as close as possible, otherwise the sound emitted is not much louder than that of mosquitoes."

Regardless, these deficiencies also point the way for future improvements, and I believe that with your wisdom, you will be able to solve them step by step. So, for the sake of this great new invention, I'm lending you this gun for the time being.

If you dare to be afraid of a Royal Society speech, or if they have caught you again, then you can touch this gun. Although there are no bullets in this gun, this will definitely give you enough courage.

Or take a step back, even if it doesn't give you courage, at least it can make others feel afraid, don't you think? ”

Although Wheatstone was shy and shy, there was no problem with his intelligence, and he instantly knew what Arthur meant by his words.

The bitter gourd face just now was gone, and Wheatstone's face was full of sunshine that London might not see once in a year.

He said enthusiastically, "Come, Mr. Hastings, I almost forgot to tell you. Although the phonograph is not very effective at recording human voices at present, if it is to record a piano piece, there is no problem at all.

Thanks to the mechanical transmission and sound amplitude problems you mentioned to me earlier, I was able to create a piano that could be connected to a phonograph stylus in my spare time, so that all the pieces that played on that piano could be recorded on the phonograph turntable.

Don't know if you can play the piano? You see, if you have time today, why don't you try it out and play a song? It doesn't take much time to carve a turntable, and when you're done, see if you can ...... That's it...... Just be magnanimous and let me go.

I beg you, don't take me to the banquet on Sunday, right? Of course, the final choice is yours, but if you choose not to bring me, in addition to the gramophone and turntable, I can also give away an exclusive violin. ”

Arthur pinched his chin, looked at Wheatstone with interest, and asked, "Is this a bribe?" ”

"Bribery? No, no, no! What do you think? Wheatstone hurriedly waved his hand and denied: "Why did you forget!" It's friendship. It's already a gift for you to give me a pistol, isn't it reasonable for me to give you a violin? ”

Arthur thought for a moment, and then said with a smile: "Okay, Charles, take me to see the piano that can record first, and I'll consider the rest." ”

When Wheatstone heard this, his hanging heart finally fell to the ground, and he hurriedly made way to the back room, and said with a smile: "Arthur, please come here." ”

(End of chapter)