But if the experiment was a failure, he would go back to his workbench and try some different plan." The second pupil who became a factor--a very considerable factor--in Bell's career was a fifteen-year-old girl named Mabel Hubbard, who had lost her hearing, and consequently her speech, through an attack of scarlet-fever when a baby.

She was a gentle and lovable girl, and Bell, in his ardent and headlong way, lost his heart to her completely; and four years later, he had the happiness of making her his wife.

Mabel Hubbard did much to encourage Bell.

She followed each step of his progress with the keenest interest.

She wrote his letters and copied his patents.