Thus matters drifted along into the second week and the third, Anna Forge trying to do the work of four former girls and Edith doing about one-half of one girl. Nathan ran the paper-cutter. Johnathan spent most of his time down in the office, punching out “important correspondence” on an old blind typewriter with his two forefingers. The adenoidal boy spent his time out on the back platform clandestinely smoking cigarettes. By the end of the first month so many orders had been cancelled and the remainder were in such a hopeless state of chaos that Nathan, with old Caleb’s training and the imagination of the artist, saw that something had to be done and done quickly. As usual, there was no one to do it but himself. “Pa,” he observed one noontime, “I’ve got a proposition to make that will save us money.” “Go back to your work!” snapped Johnathan. “If we don’t get a gross of Number Sevens to the knitting mill by five o’clock we lose their business.” “That’s exactly why I want to make you a proposition. I’d like you to turn over that room upstairs to me absolutely and let me organize and systematize the production end as I please——” “Turn over the business to you? Have you gone crazy or do you think I have?” “—for a specified price per box over the cost of materials and profit. Let me spend the money as I choose so long as I turn you out the boxes and have them on schedule time on the shipping platform?” “Do you mean to infer you know more about running a business than your father, who’s wiser and older and therefore must——” “I’m not arguing that I want to run the business! I only want to run the production. We’ve got an order for fifty thousand Number Tens for the process works. We’re far behind, already. You’re getting eight cents a piece for those boxes. The stock costs three and you’re figuring half a cent profit. That leaves four and a half cents to cover labor and all factory expense. Will you give me three and a half cents for producing every box, regardless of how I spend the money? You stay down here and run the office and have no care but supplying the materials, getting the orders and collecting the money?” “No!” snapped Johnathan, “I will not! Get back to your work.” One week later the order for the process works was cancelled. The process works announced they were putting in their own box department. They had no time to waste while Johnathan ran a factory as he ran his family. Moreover, the knitting mills also delivered an ultimatum. Johnathan called his son to his “office.” “Nathaniel,” he declared, in a large voice, “I’ve been thinking over what you suggested Friday. I don’t know but I’m disposed to give it a trial. For one week, say—to see if you could assume such a big responsibility. I doubt it. But I’ve got so much work and worry here in the office, with this correspondence and all——” “A week! I couldn’t work out anything permanently effective inside of three months.” “Three months? What would take three months?”