“W’y, there’s all sorts. ’E gets an idea an’ then nothin’ can stop ’im—no matter w’ether it’s somethin’ worth botherin’ with or not. Some o’ the best men in Smith an’ Gaynor’s—that’s w’ere his father use to work—they say ’e’s got a wonderful invention faculty an’ Mr. Gaynor ’imself said it just after ’e’d been lookin’ over a clock Charlie made. It took ’im nigh to a year to finish it. Mr. Gaynor said the boy ’ad some kind o’ new an’ un’eard-of escapin’ thing I b’lieve they called it, that no one had ever seen or thought of before.” “Wouldn’t it sell?” “Not at first it wouldn’t, but w’en ’e’d ’most given it up a Mr. Patterson ’appened to come along an’ offered ’im two ’undred dollars for it an’ a patent on the new escapin’ thing, an’ Charlie took it. That might sound good enough for a clock, but it ain’t no pay w’en you comes to consider eleven months’ work, not to speak of what ’e’d ’ad to buy to make it of. But mercy! I didn’t ’ave any expectation it would sell! I don’t see what anyone in their senses would want of such a thing around the house, tickin’ that powerful you could hear it ’alf a block, an’ strikin’ different sorts o’ bells an’ chimes, an’ cuckoos singin’, an’ sun an’ moon risin’ an’ settin’, an’ ships rockin’, an’ folks comin’ in an’ out with umbrellas, an’ all. I don’t see how people can get any sleep with all them things goin’ on!” “Where is he, Mrs. Towse? Not here. I suppose?” “W’y, just now ’e’s workin’ over to Rawlingson’s Garage on Westover Street. They took ’im in there to help on repair work, an’ as soon as ’e gets to dreamin’ they dock ’is time. You see, it was the on’y way to manage. But o’ course in a big place like Smith an’ Gaynor’s they couldn’t trouble with no such things.” Mr. Cripps learned that the elder Haworth had succumbed to an attack of pneumonia some five years previously, and that his fragile little wife had outlived him only a year and a half. The Smith & Gaynor people, where the elder Haworth had been employed so long, were more than generous, supporting Mrs. Haworth and the boy as long as she lived, and after her death doing everything possible to give young Charlie a good start as a machinist, which seemed to be the only line of work he wanted to undertake. They apprenticed him through their shops, finding that he was the master of every machine in the place—as well as the drafting room and foundry—in an incredibly short time. But when it came to regular employment, nothing could be done with him. His inability to hold his mind to the work in hand after it had been swept by one of his inventive brain storms was absolute. After many efforts to overcome this difficulty they finally had to give it up and let the young man go. Following that he picked up stray jobs here and there, handing over whatever he earned to Mrs. Towse, who mothered him along, even buying his clothing for him when she judged that it was necessary.