Argosy, Vol. 123, No. 1 — page 45: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE BIG IDEA. violets at her. waist. She carried herself with the air of a princess; and Jimmy felt suddenly abashed at being in her presence. As she came in the young lady nodded briefly to Mr. Hope, who smiled at her easily yet with considerable deference. The president greeted her with a little frown of annoyance. “T’m busy now, Estelle,” he said mildly, rising from his chair to face her. Jimmy stood up also, which he felt somehow was the right thing to do. The young lady evidently had no inten- tion of withdrawing. She looked Jimmy up and down from head to foot calmly, and then said to her father: “Very well. Il wait for you.” Then she turned away, and, drawing up a little chair near the filing-cabinet, entered into a low-toned conversation with Mr. Hope. The president sighed hopelessly. For one brief instant he seemed undecided. Then he frowned. ‘“I— Tell your business to my secre- tary,” he said abruptly to Jimmy, waving his hand in dismissal. ‘‘ He’ll take care of it for you. Oh, Mr, Hope—if you please, Will you see this young man in your office? Thank you. Good day, Mr. Rand.” Jimmy stood stock-still. He could feel himself flushing. A sudden hot resentment toward this girl—this intruder—possessed him—that she should have come into the room, at this of all times, just when he had been given his big chance. And now she had spoiled it all! | . “This way, Mr. Rand ’—the secretary was standing by his side—‘‘T'll see you now.” : Jimmy nodded confusedly. Mr. Went- worth inclined his head also, and then turned aside to speak to his daughter. And Jimmy, not having spoken a word since he entered the president’s office, turned and followed Mr. Leffingwell.Hope through the opened door. 7 | The private office of Mr. Wentworth’s secretary, into which Jimmy was now ushered, was a smaller and only slightly less magnificent replica of that of the presi- dent himself. Mr. Leffingwell H@pe took a seat at his desk, and motioned Jimmy to sit down also. 30 “Mr. Wentworth is always very busy,’ he began, in his soft, unpleasant tones. “What is it you have to say?” : Jimmy, in spite of his continued resent- ment at the way he had been treated, and his increasing awe of Mr. Leffingwell Hope, was thinking fast. He had decided before that he would not tell his plan to Mr. Hope. But if he did not, probably he would never be able to tell it to any one—in this com- pany, anyway. And the other companies he had been to had treated him even more coldly. If he did tell it to Mr. Hope, now while he had the opportunity, the secretary un- doubtedly would explain it to Mr. Went- worth. And the president would be inter- ested, of course, and then later on, he could see him again about it. Jimmy resolutely put aside his dislike and distrust of Mr. Hope and took the plunge. “It’s about the coal~you burn in your factories for fuel, Mr. Hope,” he began, And then after a brief pause, he went on with a rush: ‘“T’ve been a coal miner all my life, and I’ve been thinking a lot about coal. The coal you use in your glass factories has to be mined and hauled from the mine to you. ‘Phat’s what makes it cost you so much. -IJ—I know you burn a lot of it, and this year especially, with all the labor trouble and the shortage, it is getting to be awful expensive. And—and I’ve been thinking— why couldn’t the coal be bumed in the ground right where it is, and put the fac- tory there—instead of mining it?» The heat would come up from below, you know.” Jimmy paused, a little out of breath. It wasn’t exactly what he had wanted to say; somehow it didn’t seem to sound quite as forceful as he had thought it would. Mr. Leffingwell Hope raised his eye- brows. ‘ Perhaps you’d better say that over again,” he suggested. ‘I’m afraid I don’t understand you.” : ‘‘Why, I—you see, Mr. Hope, my idea is to build a factory over some coal de- posit, and then, instead of mining the coal, just burn it in the ground, and pipe the heat up to the factory boilers.” Once Jimmy got started he found it COmiclbooks C@