“Why didn’t you market this device yourself, Jack?” asked Frank. “You worked it out toward the end of the year at Yale. If you had patented it, and put it on the market, you could have made a fortune.”
“Perhaps I could have made a fortune, as you say, Frank. But the truth of the matter is that when Dad mentioned the possibility of his expedition, every other thought fled out of my mind. And it was just as well, for to have put this on the market would have meant repeated conferences with manufacturers, trips to Washington, and one thing and another. I would have had to give up making this expedition, and I couldn’t bring myself to do that.”
Frank nodded.
“Imagine doing that,” he said. “I’d sooner kiss the fortune goodbye. Besides, what a chance here to make a fortune, if we find the Enchanted City! And that will be a lot more romantic way of making it than by a business move.”
Mr. Hampton, who had approached in time to hear the conclusion of this conversation, shook his head, but smiled, nevertheless.
“Won’t you fellows ever grow up?” he asked.
Jack grinned.
“You’re a fine one to talk to us like that, Dad,” he said. “Look at your own case. Here you are, an engineer of international reputation, exacting princely fees for your services. Yet you go and sacrifice what probably will amount to a whole year of your time, in order to make this expedition.”
Mr. Hampton returned Jack’s broad grin with interest.
“I am properly rebuked, Jack,” he said. “Well, what’s more fun than doing what you like to do, once in a while? When I was a boy I had to work pretty hard, for my people were poor. I worked my own way through college. All the time, I dreamed of adventurous and romantic expeditions, but I had no chance to make them. My nose must always be between the covers of a textbook at night. My thoughts must be on business during the day.