“Step in here a moment, doctor,” he said, pushing open the door to his study. So Doctor Meigs followed him in and sat down.
“I am very grateful for my child’s rescue,” began Mr. Williams, with a slight tremor in his voice. “Tell me, Doctor Meigs, what sort of boy is this Will Carden who proved himself so brave this afternoon?”
“I can’t say,” replied the doctor, a merry twinkle in his eye. “That is, with modesty. For Will is my partner.”
Mr. Williams seemed puzzled, but waited to hear more.
“You’d better see the boy yourself,” continued the doctor. “He’s proud, you’ll find; and he’s very poor.”
“Yes. His father lost all his money in experimenting with that steel process; and then he started for London and was lost at sea. Therefore the family is dependent mostly upon the industry of this boy.”
For a moment the mill owner remained lost in thought. Then he asked:
“How did Jordan get the control of John Carden’s secret process?”
“I never knew the particulars,” replied Doctor Meigs; “but Mr. Jordan has told me that he loaned Mr. Carden money to carry on his experiments.”
“Bosh! Jordan never had a dollar in his life until after I made the deal with him and started these mills. He was nothing but an humble clerk in the bank here.”
“I remember,” said the doctor, regarding the other man with a blank expression.
“But at the time I made my arrangements with Jordan he showed me a paper signed by John Carden which transferred all his interest in the secret process, together with the formula itself, to Ezra Jordan, in consideration of the sum of ten thousand dollars.”
“Ten thousand dollars!” ejaculated the doctor.
“Which Jordan never owned,” said Williams, slapping his knee emphatically. “When I enquired at the bank, the cashier told me that Jordan had never had any money except his salary, and it is certain he had not embezzled a dollar while in the employ of the bank. But it was none of my business, after all. Only, Jordan drove such a hard bargain with me for the use of his process that I’m paying him a fortune every year, in royalties, and he runs the works himself, so as to be sure I don’t rob him. The paper executed by John Carden seems genuine, and the only thing that puzzles me is why he transferred such a valuable secret, just as it was proven a success, to a man he could not possibly have borrowed money from, because the man never had it to lend.”