Then, as he was again silent, Walter said, “Well, TALK about it; I'm listening.”
“It's this,” Adams began, heavily. “It's about me going into this glue business. Your mother's told you, hasn't she?”
“She said you were goin' to leave the old place down-town and start a glue factory. That's all I know about it; I got my own affairs to 'tend to.”
“Well, this is your affair,” his father said, frowning. “You can't stay with Lamb and Company.”
Walter looked a little startled. “What you mean, I can't? Why not?”
“You've got to help me,” Adams explained slowly; and he frowned more deeply, as if the interview were growing increasingly laborious for him. “It's going to be a big pull to get this business on its feet.”
“Yes!” Walter exclaimed with a sharp skepticism. “I should say it was!” He stared at his father incredulously. “Look here; aren't you just a little bit sudden, the way you're goin' about things? You've let mother shove you a little too fast, haven't you? Do you know anything about what it means to set up a new business these days?”
“Yes, I know all about it,” Adams said. “About this business, I do.”
“How do you?”
“Because I made a long study of it. I'm not afraid of going about it the wrong way; but it's a hard job and you'll have to put in all whatever sense and strength you've got.”