“Well, then, six ounces of Hochheimer.”
“Hock, the worst of German drinks! Nicholas, ask the nurse to double the portions for Captain Mahan, and send him up a bottle of port.”
Chapter 58. Cerium
The old man lay back and rested, closing his eyes. Sir Clifford rose and showed Marvin to his lordship’s dressing room. When the guest emerged spruced up a bit, and was standing at the window surveying the dappled sward beneath the oaks, the physician joined him.
“I’ll go to luncheon. If anything alarming occurs, touch the button at his right.”
“Is anything alarming likely to occur?”
“I presume not, though we must expect a rupture very soon. Give him your arm to the dressing room, and permit no sudden exertion.”
An hour later, when the sick-room luncheon was nearly over, the baron asked a question.
“Is your father intending to reforest?”
“He is intending to sell to Asher Ferry, who manufactures reapers, binders, drills, harrows, threshers, eveners, rakes, grain separators, and tractors, and therefore needs a good deal of wood. Mr. Ferry will of course reforest wherever the soil permits, and will probably mine the copper and the iron. Father surmises that he wishes to produce his own iron and carry it in his own steamers. That is why I have bought a coaling station for him, and have tried to buy him some silica so that he can make his own ferrosilicon.”