First, I used serial port monitoring software to ensure that the
antique serial mouse I found is working -- it is.
Then, I create [comport], assign port 0 (COM1), 1200 baud, 7 bits,
with no problem. When I try to assign 1 stop bit, it tells me that it
could not assign it. However, that's not the real source of my
confusion.
The real thing that's confusing me is that I guess I was imagining
[comport] to have 9 outlets (one for each pin) or something. It
appears to have only one outlet, and I can't get that outlet to do anything, no
matter how much I wiggle the mouse.