along that the stuff was there, but
could not say anything officially till the analyses were completed. We
can lay this ore down at the workers for two dollars a ton. And now,"
he added in a voice that suddenly changed into sharp and rising tones,
"do I get my blast furnace?"

The effect on the group was extraordinary. They had sat motionless,
oblivious to fatigue and mosquitoes, while Clark spoke. Their brains
were flooded with the knowledge that this meant ultimate permanence to
the works. It meant rails and plates and all iron and steel products,
and these were made doubly possible by the enormous reserve of power
still available in the rapids at St. Marys. They glanced into the
woods as though there were still mysterious treasures waiting to be
revealed at a wave of the hand of this magician.

Presently Wimperley straightened up. He had been going through a
strange searching of soul while his gaze wandered from the glistening
rock at his feet to Clark's keen face. He began to perceive clearly
for the first time the prodigious potentiality of this man who was
equally masterful in Philadelphia and the back woods. He saw to what
wide scope this enterprise could expand if only this restless and
prophetic spirit might be wisely steered by men of colder brains and
more deliberate resolution. But Clark, after all, was the creator.

"Yes," he said half aloud, "you get your blast furnace."

The Philadelphians took to the homeward trail with backward glances and
something of regret lest the archaean foundations of that mountain of
ore might shift over night. There was no sense of fatigue now. Birch
skipped over logs in wayward abandon and laughed like a schoolboy when
Clark picked a heavy gold watch chain that dangled from an overhanging
bush. Riggs' thin legs were being scratched by the sharp samples with
which he had stuffed his trouser pockets, but he felt them not, and
Stoughton's choler had given way to a profound contemplation out of
which he periodically breathed the conviction that he would be damned.
Wimperley was already organizing a new company--an iron
corporation--and hazarding shrewd guesses as to the effect this
discovery would have on the outstanding stock. The result, he
concluded, would be most inspiring.

They lunched on the tug, an admirable meal, while the vessel vibrated
gently and through the open portholes came the swish of bubbling water
and a flood of sunlight. Then Riggs made a l