The gloom disappeared from Challis's countenance as the shadow of a cloud at that moment flitted from the surface of the lake. He thrust forth his hand, and there being no onlookers, Stranleigh grasped it.
"Shake!" cried Challis. "I'll never say 'ill-luck' again! I wish she had come with us."
"Oh, not for that reason. I'd like her to enjoy this scenery."
"Yes, and the deuce of it is, she practically owns the scene. Look at that house across the lake."
"A mansion it is. That's where my wife came from. Think of my selfishness in taking her from such a home to wretched rooms in a cottage, and abject poverty."
"I prefer not to think of your selfishness, but rather of her nobility in going. It revives in a cynical man like myself his former belief in the genuine goodness of the world."
"It all came about in this way," continued Challis. "I graduated at a technical college--engineering. I began work at the bottom of the ladder, and started in to do my best, being ambitious. This was appreciated, and I got on."
"In a line which at that time was somewhat experimental. The firm for which I worked might be called a mechanical-medical association, or perhaps 'surgical' would be a better term. We had no plant, no factory; nothing but offices. We were advisers. I was sent here and there all over the country, to mills that were not in a good state of health; dividends falling off, business declining, competition too severe, and what-not. I looked over the works, talked with managers and men, formed conclusions, then sent a report to my firm containing details, and such suggestions as I had to offer. My firm communicated with the proprietor of the works accordingly, and collected its bill."
"That should be an interesting occupation," said Stranleigh, whose attention was enlisted.
"It was. One day, I was sent up here to inspect the factory of Stanmore Anson, a large stone structure which you could see from here were it not concealed by that hill to the right. It has been in the Anson family for three generations, and had earned a lot of money in its time, but is now as old-fashioned as Noah's Ark. It was cruelly wasteful of human energy and mechanical power. It should have had a set of turbines, instead of the ancient, moss-grown, overshot waterwheels. The machinery was out of date, and ill-placed. The material in course of manufacture had to go upstairs and downstairs, all over the building, handled and re-handled, backward and forward, instead of passing straight through the factory, entering as raw material, and coming out the finished product. I reported to my firm that the establishment needed a complete overhauling; that it ought to have new machinery, but that if it was compulsory to keep the old machines at work, they should be entirely rearranged in accordance with the sketch I submitted, so that unnecessary handling of the product might be avoided. I set down the minimum expense that must be incurred, and also submitted an estimate covering the cost of turbines and new machinery, which I admit was large in the bulk, but really the most economical thing to do."