"Has anything changed in London lately?"

"Hmm...... London is still the same London, nothing has changed. However, there was a lot of news from the Royal Society. ”

"News from the Royal Society?" Arthur lit his pipe and asked, "Could it be that Mr. Faraday didn't get the Copley Medal?" ”

"Of course not." Tennyson smiled and said, "Mr. Faraday was unanimously elected. ”

Arthur quipped, "Alfred, this isn't news. If Mr. Faraday loses, it's news. You may not know what Mr. Faraday's "On the Laws of Electromagnetic Induction" means to the scientific community, like the Battle of Waterloo at the Duke of Wellington. So, after he pulled out the paper, it was only a matter of time before Mr. Faraday received the Copley Medal, the highest honor of the Royal Society. Thankfully, the Royal Society's Academic Committee did not disappoint, and they finally got the multiple-choice question right. ”

As soon as Arthur finished speaking, Dumas opened the curtain and pointed to a strange machine connected to insulated copper wires and asked, "Is this a new invention?" The wires attached to it are too long, starting from the second floor of the editorial office and leading all the way to the westernmost part of Fleet Street. ”

"Ahh That's what you say! ”

Tennyson got up and explained, "Actually, I don't know what this thing is for. When Wheatstone came to the newsroom to set up the machine, he just told me that he was going to use it to measure the speed of electric current. But because the speed of the current was so fast, he had to stretch the wires longer and longer, and as far as I know, he had placed the other end of the machine in a small house four kilometers away. ”

Hearing this, Arthur couldn't help but complain: "Couldn't he just do this experiment in the Royal Society?" With the experimental sites located in two places so far away, how did he plan to count the spread time? ”

Tennyson smiled and replied, "I asked him that question at the beginning. But Mr. Wheatstone told me that he had set up one such facility at the Royal Society. However, due to the cramped laboratory of the Royal Society, he was concerned that stacking wires on top of each other would cause electromagnetic induction, which could lead to errors in the experiment. That's why he paid out of his own pocket to set up a new device in outdoor conditions. As for the question of counting the propagation time, before the start of each experiment, he would come and check the table with me in advance, and we would agree on a power-on time, and when the time came, I would help him power it up at the end. ”

Dumas looked through the window at the endless wire, and the fat French man, who occasionally cared about the latest scientific advances, couldn't help but ask, "But I remember that the current is not instantaneous?" There is electricity on this side, and there is an immediate reaction there. ”

Tennyson nodded, "The final measurement of Mr. Benefitstone is basically in line with the concept that the current velocity is instantaneous. I would have advised him to give up, but Mr. Wheatstone never gave up. Recently, I've heard that he's starting to think about a whole new way to measure the velocity of electric currents. ”

"A new approach?" Alexandre Dumas asked curiously, "What is he going to do?" ”

Tennyson shook his head and said, "He introduced me, but I didn't understand it too much. Anyway, it should have something to do with the duration of the rotating mirror and the electric spark. ”

Alexandre Dumas was curious about the experiment, but Arthur's focus was on the machine.

He pointed to the instrument and said, "Since our Mr. Wheatstone has decided that this thing is useless, let's send someone to dismantle it another day." Engaging in such a thing really affects the beauty of the exterior wall of the editorial office. ”

When Tennyson heard this, he hurriedly stopped: "This thing can't be dismantled." ”

"Why?"

Tennyson stepped forward and pointed to the instrument panel with two small magnetic needles on the instrument, and said to Arthur, "What do you think this is?" ”

Arthur leaned down to take a closer look, only to find that the diamond-shaped dashboard in front of him had been carefully marked with 26 small holes, and each small hole was intimately marked with 26 letters from A to Z.

Seeing this thing, even if Arthur had never used it, it didn't affect him from guessing the true function of this instrument.

Arthur frowned: "Cable telegraph? ”

Alexandre Dumas exclaimed, "Mr. Wheatstone had mentioned this to me before. I didn't expect him to get it out? ”

Tennyson smiled shyly: "During this time, I used this machine to chat with Mr. Wheatstone to relieve my boredom, although the translation work is more troublesome." But for people like me and Mr. Wheatstone, there's no invention like this machine that can talk without having to meet. ”

Arthur pinched his chin and stared at the rudimentary telegraph for a long time, and then he suddenly asked, "Can I use this thing to talk to Charles now?" ”

Tennyson looked up at the sky outside the window: "It should be fine." Normally, Mr. Wheatstone was already working in his private laboratory. ”

Arthur nodded slightly: "Okay, please help me send him a message, just say that you seem to have discovered a new way to measure the speed of the current, let him come to Fleet Street immediately." ”

When Tennyson heard this, he couldn't help but show a hint of embarrassment: "But Arthur...... Isn't that a lie? ”

"It's fine." Arthur leaned back in the velvet chair in front of the editor-in-chief's desk, clasped his hands on the back of his head, and said, "When he comes, you will say that I sent this message." ”

"But......" Tennyson pulled out a thin pamphlet from a drawer, "and you don't know our codebook, and if the message was really sent by you, he would definitely have seen through it at a glance." ”

"And the codebook?"

Alexandre Dumas took the notebook and flipped through two pages at random, and the dense characters on it made his head big, and he asked, "This machine is no longer used by anyone except you and Mr. Wheatstone, is it necessary for you to engage in this kind of encrypted call?" ”

Tennyson shook his head and said, "We are not engaged in codebooks for confidentiality, but for more convenient and efficient communication." Although there are 26 letters on this telegraph, it is too troublesome to convey letter by letter. That's why Mr. Wheatstone and I came up with a password that could talk with abbreviations. ”

At this point, Tennyson pointed to a line in the codebook and said, "For example, here, you see, AD refers to your name, and Alexandre refers to Mr. Wheatstone's name, Charles Wheatstone." ”

Arthur poured tea and asked, "So, I'm AH?" ”

Alexandre Dumas, who was staring at the codebook research, suddenly couldn't help but smile when he heard this.

The fat French man said, "That's half right." Because AH has two meanings in this codebook. ”

"Really?" Arthur took a sip from his teacup: "What's the other item?" ”

Alexandre Dumas turned the codebook around and shouted at Arthur, "Ass Hole." ”

When the Red Devil heard this, he couldn't help laughing, and he put his arm on Arthur's shoulder and said, "My dear Arthur, why do you bother to ask such a question? ”

Arthur put down the teacup and said, "It seems that Charles is really guilty. Maybe he should also come to "British" to contribute, there are not many scientists who can use puns so smoothly. ”

Tennyson was embarrassed: "Arthur, Mr. Wheatstone shouldn't have meant anything to target you, it's just a coincidence. ”

"Whatever." Arthur didn't care, "As long as he can help me set up a telegraph to the main police stations in Scotland Yard, Ass Hole will be Ass Hole." ”

When Tennyson heard this, he could only pray secretly for Wheatstone in his heart, hoping that Arthur would at least give some money in the process of setting up the telegraph.

In order to avoid embarrassment, he took the initiative to divert the topic.

"By the way, during this time, the editorial department has some other news, and there are a few about you."

"About me?" Arthur suddenly remembered what Owen had told him about Edgar Allan Poe: "Could it be that some young man who wants to write a detective took the initiative to come to the door?" ”

Tennyson replied with a smile, "You guessed it right." A supporter of yours who wants to get an autograph from you would be great if they had the opportunity to meet you. ”

Hearing this, Alexandre Dumas couldn't help frowning and said, "What is the origin of this person?" It's just a matter of autographing, why do you have to meet him? Who does he think he is? We are literary creators, not acrobatics in the circus. ”

Seeing that Dumas was dissatisfied, Tennyson hurriedly explained: "If any impudent person makes such a request, of course I will kick him out." But...... Arthur's supporter was in a special situation, and Mrs. Shelley requested it for her when she came to deliver the manuscript, so I really can't say no. ”

Arthur instantly caught the keyword, and he groaned, "Mrs. Shelley? Well...... That's really not easy to refuse. ”

Dumas also caught the keyword, and immediately fell into deep thought: "She? Well...... Rejecting a lady is indeed ungentlemanly. ”

Tennyson added: "I have heard from Mrs. Shelley that since we recommended her Frankenstein to the theatre for stage adaptation, there have been a lot more people looking to her to adapt the play lately. In addition, with the help of the editorial department, the collation and publication of Shelley's posthumous works has also been much smoother.

As a result, she can now focus her life on socializing. A while ago, after a long time away from the Blue Sox Club, she re-participated in their reading salon. If you're going to a Blue Sox event one day, you can send someone to say hello to her in advance, and she'll bring that little fan of yours. ”

"So...... Who the hell is it? Alexandre Dumas squeezed his eyebrows and pressed his head against Tennyson's shoulder: "Alfred, do you want to hide it from me?" ”

Tennyson laughed and cried: "Alexander, it's not that I don't say it, but I don't know what the situation is. Mrs. Shelley only told me that the young lady was not in good health, and that it was usually difficult for her to go out. If it weren't for that, she would never have made such an impertinent request for Arthur to see her. ”

Arthur heard Mrs. Shelley say this, and knew that most of the matter could not be shirked.

He nodded and said, "In that case, I will let her know the next time I participate in the activities of the Blue Sox Club." The next time Mrs. Shelley comes back to deliver the manuscript, please help me tell her. Also, try to make it as clear as possible to her, due to the recent busy schedule and the impact of cholera, my next time I will attend the Blue Sox Club event may not be until next year's social season begins. ”

Tennyson settled a commission and nodded with relief, "No problem, it's all human nature, I'm sure Mrs. Shelley will understand." ”

At this point, Arthur suddenly turned to another matter.

"By the way, has Mr. Bernie Harrison been in the newsroom lately?"

"Harrison?" Alexandre Dumas raised his eyebrows and asked, "Why did he come to the editorial office?" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Tennyson spoke: "Recently, a Mr. Harrison did come to the editorial office saying that he wanted to see you. If I'm not mistaken, it should have been just the other day, not long after the Liverpool shooting. As soon as he arrived at the editorial office, he spat out his bitterness at me, saying scary things like 'I really didn't kill anyone' and 'all this has nothing to do with me'.

However, I really didn't know what he was talking about, and when he saw that I couldn't figure out the situation, he told me that you made him figure it out and came to the editorial office of the British. I told him to calm down, but he couldn't. We talked like this for a long time, and at the end of the day, he realized that I really didn't know anything. So I told him to let him know as soon as you came back, and he would come to your door to clarify everything. ”

(End of chapter)