er the birthday, he came home to find her at the
desk, using the chair, captaining her house and her servant staff. And
the improvement was noticeable in her, almost from the first day. Within
a month, he could detect a remarkable change, and for the first time,
since they had been married, Mary gave a dinner for thirty people
without crying just before it started.

There were other changes.

Quay brought in efficiency report after efficiency report, and by the
end of three months, they had hit eighteen and seven-tenths percent
increase. The administrative office was no longer the dull, listless
place it had been; now it thrived and hummed like the shop below. Cutter
could see the difference with his own eyes, and he could particularly
see the differences in certain individuals.

Brown and Kennedy showed remarkable improvement, but it was really Harry
Linden who astonished Cutter. An individual check showed a sixty-percent
increase by Linden, and there was a definite change in the man's looks.
He walked differently, with a quick, virile step, and the look of his
face and eyes had become strong and alive. He began appearing early in
the morning, ahead of the starting hour, and working late, and the only
time he missed any work hours, was one afternoon, during which, Lucile
informed Cutter, he had appeared in court for his divorce trial.

Within a month, Cutter had fired Stole and Lackter and Grant, as
department heads, and replaced them with Brown, Kennedy, and Linden. He
had formulated plans for installation of the Confidets in the drafting
department and the supply department, and already the profits of
increased efficiency were beginning to show in the records. Cutter was
full of new enthusiasm and ambition, and there was only one thorn in the
entire development.

Quay had resigned.

Cutter had been startled and extremely angry, but Quay had been
unperturbed and stubborn. "I've enjoyed working with you immensely,
George, but my mind is made up. No hard feelings?"

Cutter had not even shaken his hand.

It had bothered him for days, and he checked every industrial company in
the area, to see where Quay had found a better position. He was highly
surprised, when he learned, finally, that Quay had purchased a small
boat and was earning his living by carrying fishermen out onto the Bay.
Quay had also married, four days after his resignation, and Cutter
pushed the entire thing out of his mind, checking it off to par