“Yes, I remember him,” said Mr. Kemble, with a new interest.
Tommy was on the verge of saying that Stuyvesant Willetts's nephew Rivington was his chum; but all he said was:
“His nephew was in my class. I am with the Tecumseh Motor Company in Dayton. And so is Byrnes here. Do you know Mr. Thompson?” asked Tommy.
“Yes,” said Mr. Kemble.
“Then,” said Tommy, determinedly, “I am about to pay you the biggest compliment you'll ever get from a human being. Mr. Kemble, you remind me of Mr. Thompson!”
“Yes,” said Kemble, “we are so different.”
“Not so different as you think,” contradicted Tommy. “Do you take our case?”
“Yes.”
“You see, I was right,” laughed Tommy, and held out his hand. After a barely perceptible hesitation Mr. Kemble took it. “Thank you, sir. Come on, Bill, Mr. Kemble has all we've got.” They returned to Dayton excited rather than elated. Bill contended there was no need of additional proof, and that there was no sense in making the experiments that Professor Jenkins had suggested. Six months with an equipment they did not have put it out of the question. Tommy, not knowing exactly what to say, told Bill that the experiments would fix exactly what happened and how and why, and that they must be made. But Bill in his mind was equipping a car with his kerosene-carburetor, planning certain modifications in the position of the tank, and trying to install a generator that would do for the self-starter as well as for the ionization of the kerosene. He thought he saw how he could do all these things; therefore his amiability returned.
And Tommy began to think that the seventeen thousand dollars might be paid off much sooner than he had expected. But in the next breath he decided that a wise man has no right to look for miracles. Therefore, he would not build castles in the air. Certainly not! But he couldn't help thinking of his father's joy—not his own, but his father's—when the seventeen thousand dollars should be paid back.