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

MS Oh eughtStnc1 IElcOus Ilofc dsSiou-
ousiy even than uaon his blue prints.
end On Tuesday night. with but one
Gay more to go upon. he gave dinner
to all of them, notwithstanding the
fact that his bank roll had developed
a friehtful emaciaticn. For q long time
after that little party. blueprintins in
the gobinson-Ray office was a lost
art In final desperation, ne decided
upon step that would either gain
him much ground or throw him hope
lessly off the trail.
When they had dined and settled
hack into their chairs he told them
who he was. He utterly destroyed their
illusions regarding him and barred his
heart to those stoop-shouldered. shabby
young men from Threadneedle street
He came right down to the $3.50 and the
girl. and then told them what this JOB
meant to him and to her and to the
four 500 bills in Chicago. III, u. s. A.
The fellows listened silently. Ne
body laughed. Perhaps II was the sort
of thing they had dreamed of doing
some dav themselves. Perhaps there
were other girls In other tiny furnished
flats. other hearts wrapped Up in theirs.
They were good mathematicians. II
seemed. for thew did not have to ask
how the 500 was doing. or inquire re-
gardinR the health Of the other $50.
One Of them. a near-sighted fellow with
thick lenses arose. asserting gravely
that he had taken the floor for the pur-
pose of correcting a popular fallacy-
He said Englishmen and Yankees were
not cousins. they were brothers, and
their interests ever had been and ever
would be Identical He said England
wanted to do business with America.
and as for this particular contract.
not only did the British nation as q
whole desire the American represents
tive to secure 1t. but the chaps who
bent over the boards at No. 81 Thread
needle street were plugging for him
tooth and nail. The other hollow
chested men yelped their approval,
whereupon Mitchell apologized for what
had happened in 1776. acknowledged
himself ashamed Of the 1872 affair. and
sympathized with them over their pres
ent trouble with the Beers. They voted
him the hest hest and the best cyanide
tank builder known to science-and
then everybody tried to tell him some
thing at once.
They told him among other things
that every bid but his had been in for
two weeks: that they were in the vault
under the care Of Mr.. Pitts. the head
draughtsman. And they promised to
advise him II any new bids went IN or
IL any changes occurred. Most fmpor-
tant of all. they told him that in Eng
land all structural steel shapes instead
known as angles" and they told him
where to find the official reports giving
the price Of these for every day in the
year.
The word angles was the missing
key: those official market reports
formed the lack In which to At II.
Mitchell had taken his fifth big step;
there was but one more
When his guests had finally gone
home. swearing fealty and declaring
this the best dinner they had ever
had, he fastened back to his room. back
In the desert Of blueprints and to tie
interminable columns of figures that
danced more frenziedly than ever.
He slept two hours before daylight
and then was up and at 1t again. Thii
was the last day. Using the data M
had gathered the night before, ne soor
had the price of English and Scottish
steel at the time the last bids wer'
closed. Given one thing more. namei!
|. the cost of fabrication in these foreiS1
shops. and ne would have reduced thu
hazard to a certainty; he couit reaa
the prices contained in those scale,
bids as surely as II they lay open be
fore him. But his time had narrowes
He iunched with John Pitts. the heat
draughteman going back 70 PICK VI
the boomerangs he had LETT the Weei
before. ,.a,.
he asked carelessly.
II have-lucky for you." said Pitts
| You made a mistake
Indeed! How SO? i
why it's 80 per cent, too low;
W wouic a. % those tigures.
well Won see / didn't include tn
sub-structure. I didn't have time 70 ~
ure that" Mitchell prayed that MI
| pitts walked into the trap.
even so, it's 30 per cent OUT 'n'
wav made allowance for that
The boomerang had worked!
| once they had separated, Mtcnei
broke for his hotel like a hunted man
| He had made no mistake IN ms III
| fgures. Even now he feIt sure ~
could land the great krugersoorpi Jou
hut he must be absolutely certain. am
he must make as much pront as pos
sibIe for without good pront' Ini
e. on OOO lob might ruin MS nrm.
| ~, order to verify Pitts stateneu
and reduce this proposition to maine
u,atical certainty, he must learn IN
..overhead'' charge in Engisn MUS
that IL the fixed charges which, aooeS
to shop costs and prices OF hateriai
are intended to cover Office expenses
cost of operation, and cohunseneiess
| Without this, he would have TO 80 ]
hiind and take a chance; with II. n
Gould estimate very closely the amounts
~ the other bids. FIRST. however, N
must have his own figures checkeo up
| Tor even under normal conditions,
| one makes u numerical error In work o
This sort. he is more than apt 10 repea
| II time and again, and Mitcheh knew
h;,,tsa,f 10 be deadly tired. almost CT
the verge of collapse. He found MIN
saIf doing off whenever he sat down
The raucous noises of the city no lonse
Jared or startled him. His surround
ings were becoming unreal ana gro
tesnue. as il seen through the spell o
absinthe. A.,
Imnortant checking work? He coulC
moi 90 to Threadneedle street ID
thought of the Carnegie representative
and telephoned him, explaining his Eeet
onI,- TO be told that no one in the OF
6Ce was capable of assisting him. In
| stood he was referred to an Englisl
| an,r;paer who was familiar with thi
very lob. He was warned, however.