Page 235 - The Story of My Lif

on board, and she sent her own launch for us. I touched the immense cannon,

read with my fingers several of the names of the Spanish ships that were
captured at Santiago, and felt the places where she had been pierced with shells.
The Indiana was the largest and finest ship in the Harbor, and we felt very proud
of her.

After we left Halifax, we visited Dr. Bell at Cape Breton. He has a charming,

romantic house on a mountain called Beinn Bhreagh, which overlooks the Bras
d’Or Lake….

Dr. Bell told me many interesting things about his work. He had just constructed
a boat that could be propelled by a kite with the wind in its favor, and one day he
tried experiments to see if he could steer the kite against the wind. I was there

and really helped him fly the kites. On one of them I noticed that the strings
were of wire, and having had some experience in bead work, I said I thought
they would break. Dr. Bell said “No!” with great confidence, and the kite was
sent up. It began to pull and tug, and lo, the wires broke, and off went the great
red dragon, and poor Dr. Bell stood looking forlornly after it. After that he asked
me if the strings were all right and changed them at once when I answered in the
negative. Altogether we had great fun….

TO DR. EDWARD EVERETT HALE [Read by Dr. Hale at the celebration of
the centenary of Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, at Tremont Temple, Boston, Nov. 11,
1901.]

Cambridge, Nov. 10, 1901.

My teacher and I expect to be present at the meeting tomorrow in
commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of Dr. Howe’s birth; but I very
much doubt if we shall have an opportunity to speak with you; so I am writing
now to tell you how delighted I am that you are to speak at the meeting, because
I feel that you, better than any one I know will express the heartfelt gratitude of
those who owe their education, their opportunities, their happiness to him who
opened the eyes of the blind and gave the dumb lip language.