Argosy, Vol. 123, No. 1 — page 46: what you’re looking at

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

36 easier. Mr. Hope listened casually—impa- tiently, Jimmy thought. But he did not notice the gleam of interest in the secre- tary’s eyes so at variance with his disin- terested, almost sarcastic manner. Finally Mr. Hope interrupted him. “Your idea is ingenious, young man, and certainly it is novel.” He laughed. “TI don’t mind saying, even if it were feasible, it perhaps would be a good thing for us.” _Jimmy flushed at the secretary’s sneering tone. ‘‘ You—you don’t think the idea’s any good, do you?” he asked aggressively. Mr. Hope’s manner suddenly changed. “You say you propose to burn this coal in the ground just where it lies?” “Yes, sir.” Jimmy hated himself for the impulse that made him answer so def- erentially. ‘“ How would you control the fire?” Jimmy told him in detail as well as he could how he would supply the air neces- sary to combustion. Mr. Hope smiled his nasty smile. But with a wave of his hand to dismiss the subject he said: ‘Grant that. How far from the flames you will produce underground will the fur- naces of the’ factory be?” Jimmy thought a moment. ‘ Why, may- be five hundred or a thousand feet.” ‘And you propose to transport the heat that distance and then apply it to cruci- bles for the fusion of glass?” ‘Yes, sir,” Jimmy answered promptly, although he had only a vague idea what Mr. Hope meant by these technicalities. “What temperature do you suppose you could attain?” “Why, I—I don’t know,” said Jimmy. ‘““Could you get a temperature of say sixteen hundred degrees centigrade?” ‘“[—I—” Jimmy suddenly remembered how he had once boiled eggs over a hole of the burning mines. ‘‘ What’s the tem- perature of boiling water?” he asked abruptly. Jimmy was holding his own, not by his ability -to argue, but by his astounding Ingenuousness. The secretary gasped a lit- tle at such a question coming at such a time. _ “One hundred degrees centigrade,” he managed to reply. THE ARGOSY. One hundred degrees! And Mr. Hope had mentioned casually a temperature six- teen times as great! Jimmy’s heart sank as he realized how impossible it was. He realized, too, how little he knew about the whole proposition, for the secretary had recovered from his surprise and was saying quietly: “You asked me if I thought your idea was any good. I do not.” “ But you'll tell it to Mr. Wentworth?” Jimmy put in quickly. “Yes, I'll tell it to Mr. Wentworth— and let you know.” Mr. Hope rose to ter- minate the interview. Jimmy rose also. He realized now fully for the first time that there were a thou- sand things about the plan that he had never even thought of, much less under- stood. Mr. Hope would explain the idea to the president, of course, but the way he would tell it made Jimmy feel that Mr. Wentworth wouldn’t think any more of it than his secretary did. Jimmy’s confidence in himself and in the idea was unshaken. But he saw clearly that it would take_a long time to get it into shape—for him to understand it, anyway— and he wouldn’t want any one else to go - ahead with it unless he did understand it. Jimmy saw also that he would have to know a good deal about the business of whatever company it was he was going to try and make adopt the idea. There was no use going to any other company— the Wentworth was as good as he could find. And all this time, while he was learn- ing all these things, he would have to live. The idea occurred to, him then that per- haps he could get a job right here in this very organization. Then he could learn the glass business, and work out his idea | at night. And when he was all ready and had all his facts down pat he could tackle Mr. Hope and Mr. Wentworth again. He could never find anybody better than Mr. Wentworth, he was sure of that. All this flashed through Jimmy’s mind in an instant. Mr. Ope. was holding out his hand. “* Good day, Mr. aS Thank you for coming in.’ Jimmy shook ee “Mr. Hope, can I cComicoooks C@