IN THE YEAR 2889

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Jackson's invention, now collects this energy, and lets or sells it. His
visit to the works took more time than he had anticipated. It was four
o'clock when he returned home, just in time for the daily audience which
he grants to callers.

One readily understands how a man situated as Smith is must be beset
with requests of all kinds. Now it is an inventor needing capital; again
it is some visionary who comes to advocate a brilliant scheme which must
surely yield millions of profit. A choice has to be made between these
projects, rejecting the worthless, examining the questionable ones,
accepting the meritorious. To this work Mr. Smith devotes every day two
full hours.

The callers were fewer to-day than usual--only twelve of them. Of these,
eight had only impracticable schemes to propose. In fact, one of them
wanted to revive painting, an art fallen into desuetude owing to the
progress made in color-photography. Another, a physician, boasted that