Everyone in the audience turned around. They looked first at Bertie and then at the two potted plants. Mr. Keely glared at Bertie for a second, but only a second. Then he smiled at Bertie. “I see no man behind those plants.”

Bertie whipped his head around and looked at the plants next to the bathroom door. He turned around to look at Mr. Keely. “I see no man either, but he was there earlier. He pulled a lever and your machine turned off.”

“I see no lever either.” Mr. Keely looked at Mr. Binns. “I would suggest to you that your son Bertie has an active imagination.”

“He is not my son and you are correct, he does have an active imagination.” Mr. Binns slapped Bertie on the shoulders. Several people in the audience laughed.

“But I did see a man pull a lever,” said Bertie.

“You can tell me all about that later. But for now, I want to hear the rest of this lecture,” said Mr. Binns.

“Did you see the man behind the plants,” whispered Bertie.

“I saw you go in the bathroom and there was a man standing next to the bathroom. But I do not know if it is the man that you were referring to,” said Dawsey.

Mr. Keely spoke a little more.

“… if there is anyone who would like to contribute to the completion of this grand and glorious engine, please come talk to me later. To everyone else, I thank you for joining me in a demonstration of this marvelous device,” said Mr. Keely. The audience applauded for a whole minute. Mr. Keely raised his hands in a salute, pointed at the machine, and saluted again.

“Okay boys, it is time for us to be leaving,” said Mr. Binns.

“Yes Mr. Binns. But before we go can I look at those two potted plants,” said Bertie.

“Well yes, we can look at the plants. I want to see what thee saw there,” said Mr. Binns.

“I want to see the plants too. I was not sure how a chime could stop that engine. It is a mystery to me,” said Dawsey.

“It is not much of a mystery to me. At least how the chime could stop the engine. What I do not understand is were the man and the lever went,” said Bertie. The three of them arrived at the potted plants.

“That is because there was no man or lever here. Thee are making things up again. That needs to stop,” said Mr. Binns.

“But I did see a man here. He pulled a lever connected to a box. Then the engine stopped spinning and the audience applauded. I saw him pull the lever right here.” Bertie pointed to the plants. “The box, the lever, and the man is gone. But look, here is a thin copper pipe that could have been connected to the box.”

“And it could be used for watering the plants. I am taking thee to Mr. Keely. I want thee to apologize,” said Mr. Binns.

“But, I saw something.”

“I want no backtalk from thee. We are going to see Mr. Keely now.”

“Yes Mr. Binns.” Bertie lowered his head and walked with Mr. Binns. The three of them walked over to Mr. Keely. He was talking…

“… thank you Mrs. Moore for coming out to see the demonstration today.”

“You are most welcome. I always enjoy watching you talk at your demonstrations,” said Mrs. Moore.

“Will you be introducing me do these beautiful young women with you?”

“Yes of course, this is Julia Moore, my niece, and this is her friend Margaret Freeman,” said Mrs. Moore.

Mr. Keely kissed Julia and Margaret’s hands. “Thank you for coming to the demonstration. I always give better lectures when such beautiful women are in the audience. Did you enjoy it?”

Julia smiled demurely. “Yes, we did.”

Mr. Keely eyed Miss Freeman. “I am so honored that you were able to make it out today. Miss Freeman are you by any chance related to Mr. Thomas Coleman?”

“Yes, he is my grandfather,” said a shocked Margaret.

“Ah, good to hear it. He was an investor. Did he tell you to come out to this demonstration?”

“Yes he did. He said that you ‘put on a show that was worth the price of admission.’ I wanted to see what he meant.”

“So, was it worth the price of admission?”

“Yes, it is quite fascinating. I enjoyed watching the brass balls and spinning wheels,” said Margaret.

“Here, you can have one of these brass ball as a reminder of the most important device of the century.”

“Thank you,” said Margaret.

“The demonstration was fantastic, as always, unfortunately we must be leaving now. We are visiting Margaret’s family at Laurel Hill Cemetery and it will take quite us some time to get there. I will be in touch with you later next week,” said Mrs. Moore.

“It was good to see you again Mrs. Moore. Have a good trip.” Mr. Keely smiled at Mrs. Moore.

Then Mr. Keely turned to face Mr. Binns. He smiled. “How can I help you?”

Mr. Binns put his hand on Bertie’s shoulder. “Bertie here has something that he would like to say to you.”

“I am sorry about pointing out that there was a man behind those two potted plants.” Bertie shifted back-and-forth on his legs.

Mr. Keely’s smile got even larger. “Think nothing of it my boy. Here, you can have one of these to remind yourself of the greatest device of the century.” Mr. Keely gave Bertie one of the brass balls from the engine. He then turned around and started talking to someone else.

Bertie, Dawsey, and Mr. Binns left the demonstration. They went upstairs and headed to the exit. They passed all of the pieces of art, but were not interested in looking at them. When they got to the exit they saw the girls and Father.

“Hello! We are glad to see you. Did thee have a good time,” said Mr. Binns.

“Yes! It was glorious! They had all sorts of lovely art. They even had some art by Mr. Eakins. His art was beautiful. I wish that I could stay here all day and look at it,” said Kate.

“Did you have a good time,” said Father.

“No, I did not. The engine was fake, but nobody believed me,” said Bertie.

“Young Bertie was making things up again. So I made him apologize to Mr. Keely. That is why he is upset,” said Mr. Binns. This was said outside as they approached the carriages.

Bertie looked at all of the carriages lined up waiting to take people home. Then he saw it.

“That is the man! He even has the box with the lever! Stop! I want to talk to you,” said Bertie.

The man just kept on walking.

“Stop! I want to talk to you!”

The man kept on walking, but a little bit faster.

Bertie panicked. Then he put his hand in his pocket. He took out the brass ball and threw it. It hit the man square in the back and he dropped the box. The box made a clanking, metallic noise when it hit the ground.

Photo courtesy of

County of Brant Public Library https://images.ourontario.ca/brant/details.asp?ID=10576