"Oh, we had almost forgotten him," said Bedford.
"The inventor," said Mabel, producing two volumes from under her arm, "is Mr. Richard Lovell Edgeworth, the father of Maria Edgeworth."
"What did he invent?" asked many of the company.
"He invented the telegraph."
"Well, I never knew that before."
"I thought Morse invented the telegraph."
"Didn't Dr. Franklin invent the telegraph?"
"I thought Edison—"
Other remarks were also made, showing a certain amount of incredulity.
"You mistake," said Bedford, placidly; "you are all of you under a misapprehension. I think that you all of you allude to the electric telegraph,—an invention of a later date than that of Mr. Edgeworth, and one of more value, as far as practical affairs are concerned. No; Mr. Edgeworth invented, or thinks he invented, the telegraph as it was used in the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth, sometimes named the Semaphore. It wasn't a difficult invention, and I don't believe it ever came to any very practical use as constructed by Edgeworth, though French telegraphs were very useful."