The Raymer enterprise., 1917-11-01

broken clothes had been exchanged for
working khaki. with lace-boots and leg
gings, and the campaign hat Of the en-
nneers. Though he had been less than
q month on the job, be was already be.
ginning to tan and tougher under the
healthy outdoor work-to roughen. ~
well. his late fellow members Of the
Lawrenceville Cotillon club might have
said. since he had fought three pitched
battles with az many Of the camp bull.
lies, and had In each Of them proved
himself . man Of his hands who could
not only take punishment. but could
hammer an opponent swiftly and neat.
~ into any desired state Of subsection.
Come In here and sit down; want
to talk to you" was the way Williams
began II; and after Smith had found
a chair the chief went on: "Say, Smith.
you're too good q man for anything I've
got for you here. Haven't you realised
thatf"
Smith pulled a memorandum book
from his hip pocket and ran his eye
over the private record be had been
keeping.
"rve shown you how to effect a few
little savings which total up something
like Is per cent Of your cost Of produce
ton and operation" he said. Don't
you think I'm earning my wagesT
That's all right; I've been keeping
tab. too. and know what you're do
Ing. But you are not beginning to earn
what you ought to. either for yourself
or the company" put In the chief
shrewdly. And then: Loosen up.
Smith. and tell me something about
yourself. Who are you. and where do
you come from. and what sort Of job
have you been holding DOWN."
Smiths reply was as surprising as II
was seemingly irrelevant
III you're not too busy, Mr.. Williams.
guess you'd better make out my time
check he said quietly.
II suppose by that you mean that
you'll quit before you will consent to
open up on your recordi" he assumed.
You've guessed It," said the man
who had sealed the book Of his past.
Again Williams took a little time. II
was dlscouraging to have his own and
the colonel's prefgurings US to Smiths
probable state and standing SO prompt
ly verified.
Il suppose you know the plain infer
ence you're leaving. when you soy q
thing like thatf"
Smith made the sign Of assent. ut
leaves you entirely at liberty to finish
out the story to suit yourself" he ad-
mitted. adding: "The back numbers
my back numbers-are my own. Mr..
Williams. I've kept a Gle Of them. as
everybody does, but don't have to
produce 1t on request"
"Of course, there's nothing compul-
sorry about your producing 1t. But un-
less you are what they call In this
country crooked crook, you are
standing In your own light. You have
such a staving good head for figures
and finances that II seems pity for
you to b. wasting 1t here on an under
graduates Job In cost-cutting. Any
young fellow Just out Of technical
school could do what you're doing In
the way Of pairing down expenses"
The cost-cutter's smile was mildly
incredulous.
Nobody seemed to be doing II be-
fore ! came" he offered.
mo" Williams allowed, that's the
fact. To tell the plain truth. we've had
bigger things to wrestle with; and we
have them yet. for that matter-enough
Of them to go all around the Job twice
and tie In bowknot."
"Finances1" queried Smith, feeling
some of the back-number instincts STIR
ring within him.
The chief engineer nodded; then he
looked up with twinkle In his closely
set gray eyes. ''If you'll tell me why
you tried to kill Burdell the other day,
maybe I'll open up the record-our
recorder YOU"
This time the cost-cutter's smile was
good naturedly derisive, and II ignored
the reference to Burdell.
you don't have to open up your
recorder me; It's the talk Of the
camp. You people are undercapital-
ized--to boil 1t down into one word.
Isn't that about the way 1t sizes upr"
THAT is the way It has turned out |;
though we had capital enough to begin
with. We've been bled to death BY
damage suits"
Smith shook his head. "Why haven't
you hired q 6rst-class attorney. Mr..
Willlamsr
We've had the best we could ind.
but the other fellows have beaten u
to It. every time. But the legal end Of
1t hasn't been the whole thing or the
biggest part Of II. What we are need
Ing most IL q man who knows q little
something about corporation fights and
high finance" And at this the engi.
neer forgot the Smith disabilities, real
or inferential, and went on to explain
In detail the peculiar helplessness Of
the Timanyoni company a. the antag.
onist of the as yet unnamed land and