Will you do
that?"
"Yes, though I don't imagine anything like that will happen."
"Well, be on your guard, at all events," warned Lieutenant
Marbury.
As Tom had said, he had been obliged to hire a number of new
men. Some of these were machinists who had worked for him, or his
father, on previous occasions, and, when tasks were few, had been
dismissed, to go to other shops. These men, Tom felt sure, could
be relied upon.
But there were a number of others, from New York, and other
large cities, of whom Tom was not so sure.
"You have more foreigners than I ever knew you to hire before,
Tom," his father said to him one day, coming back from a tour of
the shops.
"Yes, I have quite a number," Tom admitted. "But they are all
good workmen. They stood the test."
"Yes, some of them are too good," observed the older inventor.
"I saw one of them making up a small motor the other day, and he
was winding the armature a new way. I spoke to him about it, and
he tried to prove that his way was an improvement on yours. Why,
he'd have had it short-circuited in no time if I hadn't stopped
him."
"Is that so?" asked Tom. "That is news to me.
Pages:
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104