«That's right,» said Davies, who was undoing the clasps of his black box. «Put it right there on the table.»
The bell-hop, waiting for him to sign the check, watched Davies fold down the front side of the box, which carried part of the top with it. Thus opened, it displayed an interior lined with black velvet, against which gleamed an odd-looking skeletal arrangement in chromium-plated metal. «Now look at that!» said the bell-hop, much intrigued. «Wouldn't be surprised if that ain't an invention you got there.»
«Interesting, eh?» said Davies. «Catches the eye?»
«Sure does,» said the bell-hop. «There ain't nothing much more interesting than an invention.» He peered reverently at the odd-looking apparatus in the box. «Now what sort of invention would you say that might be?»
«That,» said Davies proudly, «is the Steel Cat.»
«Steel Cat?» cried the bell-hop. «No kidding?»
He shook his head, a plain man baffled by the wonders of science. «So that's the Steel Cat! Well now, what do you know?»
«Good name, you think?» asked Davies.
«Boy, that's a title!» replied the bell-hop. «Mister, how come I ain't never heard of this here Steel Cat?»
«That's the only one in the world,» said Davies. «So far.»
«I come from Ohio,» said the bell-hop. «And I got folks in Ohio. And they're going to hear from me how I got to see this one and only Steel Cat.»
«Glad you like it,» said Davies. «Wait a minute. Fond of animals? I'll show you something.»
As he spoke, he opened a small compartment that was built into one end of the box. Inside was a round nest of toilet tissues. Davies put his fingers against his nest. «Come on, Georgie,» he said. «Peep! Peep! Come on, Georgie!»
A small, ordinary mouse, fat as a butter-ball, thrust his quick head out of the nest, turned his berry-black eyes in all directions, and ran along Davies' finger, and up his sleeve to his collar, where he craned up to touch his nose to the lobe of Davies' ear.
«Well, sir!» cried the bell-hop in delight. «If that ain't a proper tame, friendly mouse you got there!»
«He knows me,» said Davies. «In fact, this mouse knows pretty near everything.»
«I betcha!» said the bell-hop with conviction.
«He's what you might call a demonstration mouse,» said Davies. «He shows off the Steel Cat. See the idea? You hang the bait on this hook. Mr. Mouse marches up this strip in the middle. He reaches for the bait. His weight tips the beam, and he drops into this jar. Of course, I fill it with water.»
«And that's his name — Georgie?» asked the bell-hop, his eyes still on the mouse.
«That's what I call him,» said Davies.
«You know what?» said the bell-hop thoughtfully. «If I had that mouse, mister, I reckon I'd call him Simpson.»
«D'you know how I came to meet up with this mouse?» said Davies. «I was in Poughkeepsie — that's where I come from — and one night last winter I ran my bath, and somehow I sat on, reading the paper, and forgot all about it. And I felt something sort of urging me to go into the bathroom. So I went in, and there was the bath I'd forgotten all about. And there was Master Georgie in it, just about going down for the third time.»
«Hey! Hey!» cried the bell-hop in urgent distress. «No third time for President Simpson!»
«Oh, no!» said Davies. «Life-guard to the rescue! I picked him out, dried him, and I put him in a box.»
«Can you beat that?» cried the bell-hop. «Say, would it be all right for me to give him just a little bit of the cheese?»
«No. That's just demonstration cheese,» said Davies. «Mice aren't so fond of cheese as most people think. He has his proper meal after the show. A balanced diet. Well, as I was saying, in a couple of days he was just as friendly as could be.»
«Sure thing,» said the bell-hop. «He knows who saved him.»
«You know, a thing like that,» said Davies, «it starts a fellow thinking. And what I thought of — I thought of the Steel Cat.»
«You thought of that cat from seeing that mouse in that bath?» cried the bell-hop, overwhelmed by the processes of the scientific mind.
«I did,» said Davies. «I owe it all to Georgie. Drew it up on paper. Borrowed some money. Got a blue-print made; then this model here. And now we're going around together, demonstrating. Cleveland, Akron, Toledo — everywhere. Nowhere.»
«Just about sweeping the country,» said the bell-hop. «That's a real good-luck mouse, that is. He certainly ought to be called Simpson.»
«Well, I'll tell you,» said Davies. «It needs one really big concern to give the others a lead. Otherwise, they hang back. That's why we're in Chicago. Do you know who's coming here this afternoon? Mr. Hartpick of Lee and Waldron. They don't only manufacture; they own the outlets. Six hundred and fifty stores, all over the country! No middle-man, if you see what I mean. If they push it, oh, boy!»
«Oh, boy!» echoed the bell-hop with enthusiasm.
«He'll be here pretty soon, »said Davies. «Three o'clock. By appointment. And Georgie'll show him the works.»
«He don't never balk?» inquired the bell-hop. «He ain't afraid of being drowned?»
«Not Georgie,» said Davies. «He trusts me.»
«Ah, that's it!» said the bell-hop. «He trusts you.»
«Of course I make the water luke-warm for him,» said Davies. «All the same, it takes some character in a mouse to take the dip every time like that. Never mind — if he puts this deal over, we get him a little collar made.»
«Mister,» cried the bell-hop, «I want to see that mouse in that collar. You ought to get his photo taken. You could give it to anybody. They could send it back home to their families. Yes, sir, their folks 'ud sure be tickled to death to get a photo of that mouse in that collar.»
«Maybe I will,» said Davies, smiling.
«You do that thing, mister,» said the bell-hop. «Well, I got to be getting. Goodbye, Georgie!» He went out, but at once re-opened the door. «All the same,» he said, «if I had that mouse I sure would call him Simpson».
Davies, left alone, set out his apparatus to advantage, washed, even shaved, and powdered his face with talcum. When he had nothing more to do, he took out his billfold, and laid six dollar bills one by one on the top of the bureau, counting them out as if he had hoped to find there were seven. He added thirty-five cents from one pocket, and a nickel from another. «We've got to put it over this time,» said he to the mouse, who was watching him brightly from the top of the box. «Never get down-hearted, Georgie! That gang of short-sighted, narrow-minded, small-town buyers, they just don't mean a thing. This fellow's the guy that counts. And he's our last chance. So do your stuff well, pal, and we'll be on top of the world yet.»
Suddenly the telephone rang. Davies snatched it up. «Mr. Hartpick to see you,» said the desk-clerk.
«Send Mr. Hartpick up right away,» said Davies.
He stowed away the money, put Georgie back in his nest, and dried his moist palms on his handkerchief. He remembered, just as the tap came on the door, to banish the anxious expression from his face and put on a genial smile.
Mr. Hartpick was a square and heavy man, with fingers twice as thick as ordinary fingers, and the lower joints of them were covered with wiry, reddish hair.
«Mr. Hartpick,» said Davies. «I certainly appreciate your coming up here like this.»
«Long as I'm not wasting my time,» returned Mr. Hartpick. «Let's see the goods. I got a rough idea from your letter.»
Davies had set the box on the table. Now getting behind it, he attempted a persuasive, hearty, salesmanlike tone. «Mr. Hartpick, you know the old adage about the better mouse-trap. You've been good enough to beat a path to my door, and …»