ON THE WRONG TRAIL.
For a moment Mr. Jordan made no reply. But he stared at his employer
with eyes so full of horror that his sincerity was very evident.
“I sell the secret to others!” he exclaimed, at last. “Why, it would
ruin me. Do you accuse me of being a fool, sir, as well as a scoundrel?”
“All scoundrels are fools,” returned Mr. Williams, dryly. “But, if you
have not sold the secret to the Englishmen, please explain to me where
and how they got it.”
Again the hunted, fearful look crossed the man’s face, and again he
made an evident struggle to appear calm.
“I cannot explain it, sir. But it need not affect our business to any
serious extent. There is enough demand for our steel in America to
keep our furnaces busy, without going abroad for orders.”
He spoke mechanically, as if the problem was not new to him and he had
often considered the matter in much the same way as he now clearly
expressed it. Yet the set, expressionless tones were habitual to him,
as they are to all who are unaccustomed to speak at any length.
“That is not the point,” said Mr. Williams, sternly. “We are
confronted, for the first time, with competition, and by a firm active
enough to oppose us in foreign markets. What will be the end of it?
What will happen when they attempt to compete with us in our home
markets?”
“They must pay duty, and we can always meet their price,” said Mr.
Jordan, his voice sounding a bit defiant.
“The royalties I am obliged to pay you, on my product, more than offset
the duties,” retorted the manufacturer. “Indeed, your demands force me
to exact so high a price that our customers are already complaining.
The secret is a secret no longer, it seems. Then why should I continue
to pay your royalties?”
“If you choose to discontinue our arrangement, sir, I can dispose of
the process to others. The firm of Thomson Brothers & Hayden stands
ready----”
“Bah!” exclaimed Mr. Williams, slamming the desk with his fist in
momentary scorn. “You know very well I cannot abandon my present
product. It would render this expensive plant of no further value.”
Mr. Jordan bowed, with deference.
“I am willing to fulfill our contract in the future, as in the past, on
the exact terms it stipulates. I have no doubt the mills will continue
to prosper. Anything more, sir?”
He half turned, as if to go.
“Yes,” snapped the proprietor, who began to realize he had accomplished
nothing by this interview.
Mr. Jordan waited, and for a time his employer remained silent, staring
curiously at the impenetrable face of his secretary. Then he asked:
“How did you come to own this process, anyway? Why does it not belong
to the heirs of the man who discovered it?”
Mr. Jordan poised his gaunt form more erectly than ever, and his
glittering spectacles were directed full upon the other’s face.
“I believe I have already explained that. John Carden transferred to me
his right to the discovery in consideration of money which he owed me
and could not pay.”
“You loaned him money?”
“Yes.”
“Where did you get it?”
“Sir, that is not your affair.”
“You never earned a dollar more than a bare living until I began to pay
you royalties on the process. On the other hand, I have evidence that
Carden loaned _you_ money.”
The man shrank back.
“You are becoming offensive, Mr. Williams, in your remarks, and I beg
to remind you we are not alone,” he said, not without dignity.
“I am interested in this matter myself, sir,” said Dr. Meigs, now
speaking for the first time. “You know that I am a friend of the Carden
family, even as I have always been your friend, Mr. Jordan. Therefore
it would please me to be able to disentangle this mystery and have all
doubts removed from my mind. You have told me, as you have told Mr.
Williams, that John Carden owed you ten thousand dollars when he went
away. Naturally we are curious to know how so great a sum came into the
possession of a poor bank clerk, such as you then were. And also I have
wondered what John Carden ever did with that money.”
Again the secretary wiped his brow, but, ignoring for the present Mr.
Williams, he turned toward the doctor to reply.
“You have no right to ask me such questions, Doctor Meigs; but it may
be that from your standpoint there is some justice in your suspicions.
I am, therefore, quite willing to answer you. John Carden spent all his
own money, and afterward mine, in expensive experiments. The money I
obtained by a lucky speculation in a lottery, the ticket for which I
bought under an assumed name, as I did many other tickets, when I was a
poor clerk and had no hopes of otherwise acquiring wealth. It is very
natural I should hesitate to declare myself a gambler, by explaining
this openly; but never since that time have I invested one cent in
speculation of any sort. And now, as I have duties to attend to, I will
bid you good afternoon, believing that you will respect my confidence.”
As he concluded, the secretary, who never within the knowledge of man
had uttered so lengthy a speech before, bowed gravely and stalked from
the room, holding himself as rigidly upright as an Egyptian obelisk.
When he was gone the two friends exchanged glances.
“Well?” said Mr. Williams, interrogatively.
“I admit that I am puzzled,” answered the doctor. “It is quite possible
for Mr. Jordan to have won ten thousand dollars on a lottery ticket.”
“Yes; that was clever. There’s no controverting it.”
“But I do not think he sold the secret of your process to the
Englishmen.”
“Nor do I. The man’s looks convinced me I was mistaken. But they also
convinced me he has a secret he is desperately trying to hide. We’re on
a false scent, that’s all.”
“I’m inclined to agree with you.”
“And what can explain the fact that the Atlas company of Birmingham is
using the Carden process?”
“Are you sure it’s the same process?”
“Humph! Do you know anything about the way steel is made?”
“No.”
“It is a very delicate process to extract the impurities from iron and
to transform that metal into a steel that will stand severe tension
and become of so fine a temper that it will cut diamonds. Our product
also had marvelous resiliency, and can be forged without losing any of
its qualities. All this is accomplished by manipulations that are the
result of accurate scientific calculations. No one could stumble upon
such a process as Carden evolved by years of intelligent effort, and by
no other process than Carden’s could such steel ever be manufactured.”
“Well, what will you do now?”
“I don’t know. What I’d like to do is to go to Birmingham at once and
see if I can solve the mystery.”
“Why don’t you?” asked the doctor.
“I’m afraid to leave Jordan, to tell the truth. If he should attempt to
run away I must be here to stop him. His suspicions will be aroused by
this interview, and should he escape he would take the secret with him,
and I would be forced to close the works. Can’t _you_ go, doctor?”
“No, indeed. I can’t leave my patients. There are some who need me
every day of their lives--or think they do, which is the same thing.
A physician isn’t his own master, you know, and moreover this isn’t a
physician’s business. Send a confidential agent.”
“I will. Whom do you suggest?”
“Will Carden.”
Mr. Williams smiled into the doctor’s earnest face.
“If I sent Will to Europe, Jordan would at once become suspicious,”
said he.
“No one need know he has gone to Europe. We’ll keep it quiet, and as
he is known to be my partner in the mushroom business I can send him
away on our private affairs, and Mr. Jordan will have no cause to be
suspicious.”
“I will think over the suggestion before deciding. But I’m glad you
mentioned Will. He’s a fine, intelligent young fellow, and the trip
would do him a lot of good.”
“Indeed it would. Good afternoon, Mr. Williams.”
“I am grateful to you for giving me this hour,” said the manufacturer,
rising to shake his friend’s hand, “for although we have not
accomplished much it has relieved me of some of my suspicious of Mr.
Jordan. I am still positive he deceived me about the formula, and there
is no doubt he is a cold-blooded miser, who would stick at nothing
to make money. Also, he has a secret. But, after all, few men are
thoroughly understood, and in the end Jordan may prove to be less of a
scoundrel than we have considered him.”
With this the interview terminated, and Doctor Meigs went away to call
upon his parents. But for a time there was an unusually thoughtful
expression upon his kindly face.