Me and Mr. Bell by Philip Roy Read Free Book Online Page B

reminded me of Mr. McLeary trying to light his, just before he dropped it down the well.
    Mr. Bell was taller and twice as wide as the young men. He couldn’t stand close to the table like they did because his belly was too big. They leaned over the table when they wanted to touch something on the model. He just stood back and listened carefully as Mr. McCurdy explained why the flying machine needed such thin wings. It was the only way it could turn easily in the air, and it was easier to build. And they could make a whole bunch of them, he said excitedly, just like Henry Ford’s automobiles or Thomas Edison’s phonograph. When he said Thomas Edison, Mr. Bell frowned. “Or the telephone,” Mr. McCurdy continued.
    Mr. Bell raised just one eyebrow. He stared hard at the model but didn’t say anything yet.
    â€œIt’s similar to what the Wright brothers have on their plane,” said Mr. McCurdy.
    Mr. Bell took the pipe from his mouth. “Yes, but we haven’t seen it fly.” Then he looked at Mr. Baldwin. “What do you think, Casey?”
    Mr. Baldwin shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I’d love to see it built full size. It’s pretty slick.”
    Then Mr. Bell looked at me. “And what do you think, Eddie?”
    I was so surprised that he asked me. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to agree with Mr. Bell, but Mr. McCurdy looked so hopeful that I wanted to agree with him, too. “I don’t know, either. I guess I think that if I were up in the air in a machine, I’d like to know that I could come back down safely. But I think it looks pretty slick, too.”
    Mr. Bell had a big smile on his face. “Looks like it’s two against two, Dougie.”
    Mr. McCurdy sighed. He reached over, picked up the model and brought it closer to Mr. Bell. With one hand he made the movement of the wind flowing toward the flying machine. “The air comes like this. It strikes the wings here, and the lift is quick and easy, like this.” He raised the model up. “Then, when you want to turn, you just bank, like this, and around you come.”
    Now Mr. Bell looked more serious. “The tetrahedral cell, Dougie. That’s the way to make the wings strong, yet keep them light.”
    Mr. McCurdy sighed again. This time, I got the feeling he was biting his tongue.
    â€œThe cell is too busy a design for flight, Sir,” said Mr. Baldwin. “It’s got terrific strength for any application on land, and endless possibilities, but it’s cumbersome in the air, I think.”
    Mr. McCurdy nodded his head to agree. I was surprised to hear them disagree with Mr. Bell. I didn’t think that anyone would. Mr. Bell raised his eyebrows again and looked at me, but I couldn’t say anything because I didn’t know what a tetrahedral cell was. So I shrugged.
    â€œLooks like I’m outvoted,” said Mr. Bell. He kept staring at the model.
    â€œLet me build it,” said Mr. McCurdy, “then you’ll see.”
    Mr. Bell nodded. “Yes, yes, build it, of course. Let’s see what it looks like.”
    Now Mr. McCurdy was smiling.
    â€œYou build it, Doug, and I’ll fly it,” said Mr. Baldwin.
    Mr. McCurdy made a face just like one of my friends would. It was friendly, but it meant no. Mr. Bell moved to the other side of the laboratory, and I followed him. He started to flip through some of his notepads, looking for something. It was getting dark outside the windows. It was time for me to go home. Mr. Bell tilted his head toward Mr. McCurdy, who was still standing beside the model with Mr. Baldwin. “Dougie first came here when he was a boy, Eddie, just like you. Look at him now. He’s an inventor in his own right.” Mr. Bell stared at me beneath his bushy white eyebrows.
    â€œTell me, Eddie. Have you decided which has been more useful to you, your successes or your failures?”
    I was