I reformed
the factory or not, and here you see where good luck and the reverse
mingled. When I arrived at Mr. Anson's factory, the old man was in New
York, for the purpose, as I learned, of raising a loan, or of selling
the property, neither of which projects was he able to carry out."

"That was his misfortune, rather than his fault, wasn't it?"

"In a way, yes; still, the Trust had offered him a reasonable figure for
his factory. He not only refused, but he fought the Trust tooth and
nail, thinking that with low taxation, and country wages, he could meet
the competition, which, of course, with the factory in its present
state, he could not do. The fact that he was up against the Trust became
well known, so that he could neither borrow nor sell. While in New York,
he called several times on Langdon, Bliss, and Co., the firm that
employed me. When my report came in and was read to him, I understand he
fell into a tremendous rage, and characterised our company as a body of
swindlers. Mr. Langdon ordered him out of the office.

"That was the first spoke in my wheel. Mr. Langdon was a capable man,
always courteous and very calm when dealing with his fellows, so I am
sure that my father-in-law must have been exceedingly violent when he
provoked Langdon to vocal wrath. I judge that Langdon, when he recovered
from his outbreak, regretted it extremely, and was inclined to blame me
for rather muddling the affair of Anson's mill. I may say that I had
been placed in rather a difficult position. The proprietor was absent,
and had not taken his foreman into his confidence, therefore this
foreman put difficulties in the way of investigation. The employees were
suspicious, not knowing what this research by a stranger meant, so I
went to Anson's house, hoping to find there someone with sufficient
authority to enable me to get the information I must have.

"I met Mrs. Anson, a kindly woman, but realised in a moment that no
authority had been delegated to her. She appeared afraid to suggest
anything, but called in her only daughter to assist at our conference.
The girl at once said she would accompany me to the mill, and did so. I
shall never forget with what infinite tact and persuasiveness she won
over the foreman, and it was quite evident that the workmen all knew and
liked her, for her very presence appeared to dissipate distrust. I saw
Miss Anson home, and it seemed, as my investigations progressed, many
conferences became mor