of a necessary coarseness; even
then, in spite of all their care, the skeins have to be sorted and
sometimes re-reeled to perfect the thread and make it acceptable to
American buyers. Our weavers over here would not begin to be so
particular; and in fact they often rate as _fair_ stuff that the Americans
consider _poor_, and refuse to take. You can readily see that all this
preparation of the material can be done for less price in Europe, where
workmen do not expect such high wages."

"What a lot of trouble the caterpillar makes people before his silk is
ready for the loom!" exclaimed Pierre laughing.

"I guess you'll think so when you see all we have to do to it," agreed
Henri. "I hope you won't mind the smell of the factory. It is horribly
stifling, and makes some of the men sick at first. It is the oil and
water in the silk. Silk must be damp for winding and spinning, otherwise
it breaks. It is never, even at best, thoroughly dry, for it has the
faculty of absorbing and holding moisture. Some time you'll learn more
about how they have to allow for the moisture in silk when they weigh
and ship it. Raw silk will often take up as much as thirty per cent. of
its weight in moisture without any one suspecting it. Therefore, in
order to be fair to the buyer who purchases his material by weight, they
have in all great silk centres what they call silk-conditioning houses,
where they test the goods to find out how much water is in it. This is
done by an apparatus known as a _desiccator_, which tells what the silk
would weigh if dry. To this estimate they add a definite percentage,
ordinarily about eleven per cent., to total what the raw silk would
weigh with a normal percentage of moisture. Every purchaser must expect
to pay for some moisture in his material--that is, pay more for it than
the silk itself actually weighs."

Pierre regarded Henri mischievously.

"There seems to be so much to learn that I do not believe I shall get
through this mill to-day. Maybe I'll have to spend the night here."

"I wish you could!" cried Henri. "Why didn't you plan to come home with
me and stay until to-morrow?"

"I couldn't be away over night, Henri," answered Pierre, "although it is
kind of you to ask me; there is so much that I have to do at home."

"Let us make haste then," Henri cried. "You have not seen anything yet,
and the morning is passing."

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XII

THE HOME-COMING

"There are about a doz