time, aimlessly scratching-, with his finger nails, on various
parts of the office desk which stood before him.
Finally he raised suddenly up and, as though ashamed
of his lolling- posture, exclaimed:
“Well, I don’t know that I can do any good loafing here!
This affair is plain enough now. It is all my fault! My
judicious guess was just about five per cent, too high! (1
rrnist have got those ores mixed.) They have burdened the
furnace on my analysis and now there’ll be no end of trou
ble, of course!”
“It serves me right! I hadn’t any business to make that
guess! But—” he continued after a moment’s thought, “I
doubt if there’s one fellow in ten that would have done dif
ferently under the circumstances.”
He was now becoming more resigned to his critical situ
ation and presently rose and walked to the door of the lab-
oratory,
“I can prepare for Jeff in good earnest now,” thought
he. “When he conies I’ll simply make a clean breast of the
affair and take the consequences. Of course I could lie out
of it by sticking to my first anatysis, but I’ve lied once, ox
just as g-ood as lied, and that’s enough for a while, I reckon. ”
He gazed out the door toward the furnaces. No figures
were in sight, except a small colored boy hurrying along,
carrying a dinner pail. Presently, however, Johnson noticed
two men coine out of the furnace engine-room. Although
they were some distance off the Chemist l-ecognized in a
moment the lank form of Cray and the stout figui-e of
another man, well known as Garrett, the furnace-man.
They were coming toward the laboratory.
“Jeff won’t pass me this time,” thought Johnson, turn
ing into his office to prepare for what he knew well was to
be an important interview, especially for him.
He was perfectly calm, however, and felt ready for
whatever might come. Taking up a book he seated himself
The Chemist’s Guess.