"Never mind about the expense," she had counseled, when they had discussed the situation fully. "You won't be spending as much for your entire outfit as most young fellows spend for tobacco and the movies. You'll have something valuable to show for your money, and what you buy won't harm you, even if you shouldn't find it as useful as you hope."
"But suppose there's nothing in it, after all?" Alec had said. "Suppose I buy my outfit and it doesn't do me a bit of good. What then? I can't afford to throw away seventy-five dollars for nothing. I need every cent I earn if I'm ever going to get anywhere."
"You can't buy this outfit and have it do you no good," Elsa had replied.
"I just guess I could. Suppose I bought the things and then didn't find what I am after?"
"Even so, it would do you good."
"How?"
"Alec Cunningham! Sometimes I think you're the stupidest thing I ever met. The idea of asking a question like that, when you've been working and studying like mad for months to find out all you can about the oyster business. Of course it will help you. If you find what you want, you are benefited, aren't you? And if you don't find it, you're benefited just the same."
"How?" Alec had inquired.
"Stupid. It isn't oyster fry you're after. It's truth. You'll get it, no matter whether it pleases you or not. Won't you? You'll know whether that bulletin is right or whether the old oystermen are right, won't you? And that's worth a great deal more than seventy-five dollars, isn't it? Why, Alec, if you don't go ahead and test the thing, you'll never be happy. You'll fret and fret about it, thinking you ought to be planning your work differently. And if you do go ahead, no matter what you learn, you'll be satisfied. You'll know whether to follow old practices or try new ones. Certainly it's worth a good deal to know you're right. Then you'll know you must succeed if you keep on in the same way."