“What is your job going to be?” asked Bill, curiously.
“I don't know. But I hope—” Tommy caught himself on the verge of expressing the hope that it would be something which might enable him to bury the secret once for all.
“What do you hope, Tommy?”
“That you will land with both feet, now that you have a decent place to experiment in,” said Tommy. He couldn't say anything else to poor Bill, could he? It wasn't his secret to share with anybody, and, anyhow, he meant what he said.
Mr. Thompson did not make his appearance at the works until late in the afternoon. He told Tommy:
“You'll have to dine with me to-night, Tommy, Will you?”
“Yes, sir.” Then realizing that he merely had obeyed a superior, he added, in his personal capacity, “Delighted!”
“Has Bill done anything?”
“He consulted Mr. Williams.”
Thompson shook his head. “He is our lawyer.”