The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1914-07-25

You did that ALONE, since Monoay
morning."
ct did I haven't slept much. I'm
pretty tired
There was an entirely new. note IN
Mr.. Pecbleby's voice when he asked:
Are you too tired to tell my engineers
what you told me just now? snoulo
like them to hear you"
"Trot them in" For the first time
since leaving this Office three days be-
fore, Mitchell smiled. He was get
ting into his stride at last After all.
there might be a chance.
There ensued convention OF
draughtsmen and engineers in the
front office during which AN unknown
American youth deliveredSan address
on Cyanide Tanks. How to Build
Them; Where to Buy Them.
It was the old story of a man who
loved his work and who had learned IL
thoroughly. Mitchell typified the the
DRY of specialization; what he knew
he knew utterly, completely. and they
recognized It. When he had finished.
Mr.. Peebleby announced that the bids
would not be opened that day.
The American had made his first
point. He had gained time In which
to handle himself, and the Robinson
Ray Syndicate had recognized a new
factor in the field. When the two men
we're alone again. the Englishman said.
IT think / will have you formulate a
new bid along the lines you have laid
down"
Very WELL
You understand. our time is up. three
DAYS from now?'
Mitchell laughed. Its ten-days' job
for two men,"
I'VE can't wait"
Then give me until Tuesday; I'm
used to a Neutrality-suspicious. shift now.
Meanwhile I'd like to leave these fig
ures here for your chief draughtsman
to examine. OF course. they are not to
be considered binding.
Isn't that a bit-er-foolish?" in
ouired PeebIeby You are leaving a
WEAPON behind you"
Yes. but not the sort OF a weapon
you suspect" thought Mitchell. This
is a BOOMERANG" Aloud, he answered
lightly.
"oh that's all right :
When his request was granted he
made a mental note. Step number
twor"
Again he filled q cab with those
drawings. Again he went back to the
Metropole and to those maddening coll
umns of figures, back to the monotony
of tasteless meals served at his elbow.
But there were other things besides
his own bid to think of now. He must
find the other firms that were bidding
on the lob. He must find the prices
thew had bid. The first required some
ingenuity. the second was a Titan's
task.
Salesmanship. In its highest develop
ment is an exact science, and given the
data he desired. Louis Mitchell knew
he could read the figures sealed UP in
those other bids to a nicely. but to get
that data required much concentrated
effort and much time. 1t was time
he needed above all things. Time to
refigure these myriad drawings, time
to determine when the other bids went
| in. time to learn trade conditions at the
competitive plants. time to sleep. There
were not sufficient hours In the day for
all these things. so he cut out the least
gram for himself. BY night he worked
| in his room. by dav he crulsed for in
formation. He slept at odd moments
around the dawn. He began to feel the
strain before long. Never physically
drawn about the nostrils. Sometimes
the food would not STAY down. He was
( forced to drive his tagging spirits with
| q lash. The thought of the girl did
most for him. He chung to her with
daily. were like some God-given cordial
that infused fresh blood into his brain,
new strength in his tagging limbs.
| With definite object in view, he
made daily trips to Threadneedle
street. Invariably he walked In unan-
nounced, invariably he made a new
| friend before he came out. Peebleby
| seemed to like HMM fact, asked his
| opinion on certain forms of structure,
and voluntarily granted the young man
| two days Of grace-two days! The reck-
oning was postponed until Thursday
| oxygen to a dying man.
Mitchell asked permission to talk to
the draughtsmen, and received II. Then
he dictated his opinion and in this way
met the stenographer. When he had
finished, he tipped her gold SOW
ereign. stolen from the sadly melted
500
Mitchelrs dictation done, the director
general yielded to a better impulse and
over to Paris and view the exposition,
| saying: You can do your figuring
there just as well as here. and / don't
want your trip from Chicago to be al
together wasted
His companion refused smilingly. 81
can't take that exposition back with
mel think I'll camp with these con-
tracts.
In the small hours of that night he
made q discovery that electrified him
and put another round Of the ladder
beneath him. He found that the mos
commonly used section in his spectfica'
ton, a Pinch 1-beam, was listed a:
Weighing fifty-four pounds per foot
whereas the standardized American sec
ton which possessed the same carry
ing. strength weighed four pounds less
Here was an advantage of per cent
In cost and freight. He was progress.
ing well, but as yet he had learned
nothing about his competitors.
The next morning he dictated another
letter to Peebleby's stenographer. anC
filched another sovereign from ms sac
little bank roll Afterward he fell into
conversation with the girl and painted
! a picture OF Yankeeland intended e
keep her awake nights. They goss,peo
idly she of her social obligations, M
OF the cyanide tank business, for M
could think of nothing else Adroitly hi
led her out. They grew confidential
She admitted her admiration for Mr.
i Jenkins, from Edinburgh. Yes, Mr. Jen
kins' company was bidding on tht
KrugersdCrpf job He was nluch nlce'
than MI Kruse, from the Brusseis con
| Germ. And, anyhow, those Belgian
arms had no chance at this contract
Tor Belgium was pro-Boer, and she had
heard n few things around the office;
Nitctell was getting ''feedboX infor
uotion When he left he knew III