They had left Uncle Pete at his bench, and Helen's mind was again busy
with those unanswerable questions--so busy, in fact, that she scarcely
heard John saying, "I want to show you a lathe over here, Helen, that
is really worth seeing. It is, on the whole, the finest and most
intricate piece of machinery in the whole plant." And, he added, as
they drew near the subject of his remarks, "You may believe me, it
takes an exceptional workman to handle it. There are only three men in
our entire force who are ever permitted to touch it. They are experts
in their line and naturally are the best paid men we have."
As he finished speaking they paused beside a huge affair of black iron
and gray steel, that to Helen seemed an incomprehensible tangle of
wheels and levers.
A workman was bending over the machine, so absorbed apparently in the
complications of his valuable charge that he was unaware of their
presence.
Helen spoke close to her brother's ear, "Is he one of your three
experts?"
John nodded. "He is the chief. The other two are really
assistants--sort of understudies, you know."
At that moment the man straightened up, stood for an instant with his
eyes still on his work, then, as he was turning to another part of the
intricate mechanism, he saw them.
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