what line?" asked Stranleigh.

"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 The machinery was out of
date, and ill-placed.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."

"I see. And the old man objected to the expense, or perhaps had not the
necessary capital to carry out your suggestion? What sort of a person
is he? Unreasonable, I suppose you consider him?"

"Strangely enough, I never met him in my life."

"And you married his daughter?"

"Had to. I was determined to take the girl away, whether