"I'm not a scientist, Ted, but it isn't common sense that an experiment
which you can do on a small scale should fail on a large scale. You have
overlooked something."
"Shall I stay and explain my notes to you?"
"No, go upstairs and talk to Helen."
* * * * *
I came down to dinner very glum. Helen had done her best to buck me up;
this time, however, even she had failed to restore my confidence. To my
surprise, my father was all smiles, hinting the while at mysterious
delights to come. I thought he was trying to cheer me up--an annoying
thing to have any one do when one has resolved to be miserable.
"How would you and Helen like to have a little trip all by yourselves at
Christmas--say to Winchester? It will do Helen good, if you are careful
not to let her get tired." This he had saved up for dessert. Helen and I
stared at each other, not entirely certain he wasn't having a joke at
our expense.
"I'm serious, children," he added. "Your mother and I--with Frances, of
course--are going down to Hayling Island. I want to get in some golf."
"I thought we were hard up," I growled, not rid of my suspicions.
"Well, we've enough for that, I think, Ted. The plant will be running
full blast in January."
I sat up. "What have found out from my notes? Don't deceive yourself,
father."
He laughed uproariously. "Thanks for the advice. But, Ted, I'm an old
newspaper man, and I spent a good many years finding out things I was
not supposed to know about. When I went over your notes I observed
something I think you have missed."
My face burned. If true, of course it meant I was a damned incompetent
person to trust with a responsible job. I felt Helen's hand on my knee.
"It isn't your fault, Ted--don't look so melodramatic. Now listen to me.
You have tested and analyzed all your raw materials--and have bought
different lots of them from various sources?"
"Yes--I have been all over the market for them."
"But you have bought your most important reagent--a commercial
acid--from only one particular firm. Did you analyze that acid?"
"No."
"I thought not. There was no record of it in your books."
The sensation of feeling an utter fool is not comfortable. It was the
even pressure of Helen's hand on my knee that kept me from an outburst.
The instant my father had asked me the question about the acid, I knew
he had found the only untested link. But why in the name of all that is
intelligent had I missed it? Simply because I had been working on the
set idea that the raw materials furnished contained somewhere an
impurity, and I had taken the reagent on faith.
"Well," my father called out gaily, "is the old man right?"
"You are right, and I have been wrong."
"Damn it, Ted, don't be so ridiculous with that long jaw. It's all in
the family. Take a week off with Helen and come back fresh to your job.
You went a bit stale, that's all."
"My going stale has cost you a lot of money," I muttered.
"Experience always costs money, Ted. I don't grudge paying for it, if
one really learns from it. You told me something about the process of
elimination once. The next time you eliminate, go all the way."
"The consulting chemists we called in didn't find the trouble."
"No, they were experts, like you."