第30章

Wehadasortofendlessbandofbottlesslidingalonganinclinedglasstroughmadeslipperywithrunningwater。Atoneendagirlheldthemuptothelight，putasideanythatwereimperfectandplacedtheothersinthetrough；thefillingwasautomatic；attheotherendagirlslippedinthecorkanddroveithomewithalittlemallet。Eachtank，thelittleoneforthevivifyingingredientsandthebigonefordistilledwater，hadalevelindicator，andinsideIhadafloatarrangementthatstoppedtheslidewhenevereitherhadsunktoolow。Anothergirlstoodreadywithmymachinetolabelthecorkedbottlesandhandthemtothethreepackers，whoslippedthemintotheirouterpapersandputthem，withapadofcorrugatedpaperbetweeneachpair，intoalittlegroovefromwhichtheycouldbemadetoslideneatlyintopositioninourstandardpacking-case。Itsoundswild，Iknow，butIbelieveIwasthefirstmaninthecityofLondontopackpatentmedicinesthroughthesideofthepacking-case，todiscovertherewasabetterwayinthanbythelid。Ourcasespackedthemselves，practically；hadonlytobeputintopositiononalittlewheeledtrayandwhenfullpulledtotheliftthatdroppedthemtothemendownstairs，whopaddedupthefreespaceandnailedontopandside。Ourgirls，moreover，packedwithcorrugatedpaperandmatchbook-woodboxpartitionswheneverybodyelsewasusingexpensiveyoungmentopackthroughthetopoftheboxwithstraw，manybreakagesandmuchwasteandconfusion。

AsIlookbackatthemnow，thoseenergeticyearsseemallcompactedtoayearorso；fromthedaysofourfirsthazardousbeginninginFarringdonStreetwithbarelyathousandpounds’

worthofstufforcreditalltold——andthatgotbysomethingperilouslylikesnatching——tothedayswhenmyunclewenttothepubliconbehalfofhimselfandme(one-tenthshare)andoursilentpartners，thedrugwholesalersandtheprintingpeopleandtheownerofthatgroupofmagazinesandnewspapers，toaskwithhonestconfidenceforL150，000。Thosesilentpartnerswereremarkablysorry，Iknow，thattheyhadnottakenlargersharesandgivenuslongercreditwhenthesubscriptionscamepouringin。Myunclehadaclearhalftoplaywith(includingtheone-tenthunderstoodtobemine)。

L150，000——thinkofit！——forthegoodwillinastringofliesandatradeinbottlesofmitigatedwater！Doyourealisethemadnessoftheworldthatsanctionssuchathing？Perhapsyoudon’t。Attimesuseandwontcertainlyblindedme。IfithadnotbeenforEwart，Idon’tthinkIshouldhavehadaninklingofthewonderfulnessofthisdevelopmentofmyfortunes；Ishouldhavegrownaccustomedtoit，falleninwithallitsdelusionsascompletelyasmyunclepresentlydid。Hewasimmenselyproudoftheflotation。“They’veneverbeengivensuchvalue。”hesaid，“foradozenyears。”ButEwart，withhisgesticulatinghairyhandsandbonywrists，hissingle-handedchorustoallthisasitplayeditselfoveragaininmymemory，andhekeptmyfundamentalabsurdityilluminatedformeduringallthisastonishingtime。

“It’sjustonallfourswiththerestofthings。”heremarked；

“onlymoreso。Youneedn’tthinkyou’reanythingoutoftheway。”

Irememberonedisquisitionverydistinctly。ItwasjustafterEwarthadbeentoParisonamysteriousexpeditionto“roughin“

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