Argosy, Vol. 123, No. 1 — page 39: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE BIG IDEA. “T’ve got it, Anne!” he cried excitedly. “Tve got it—the big idea. Why, it’s as clear as daylight, once you think of it. I’ve got it; I’ve got it!” He threw his arms around the girl, kissing her and hug- ging her to him with all the strength of his vigorous young arms. “ It’s the big idea, Anne—what I’ve always been trying to get. And now I’ve got it!” Anne struggled from his embrace. “What, Jimmy?” she asked eagerly. “What is it?” Jimmy’s face was flushed; his eyes spar- kled. “ Why—why, just that, Anne! I’m go- ing to build a factory over where the coal is and burn the coal in the ground without bothering to mine it at all, and just pipe the heat up to the boilers. Don’t you see, Anne? Nobody ever thought of that be- fore. They mine the coal now—dig it out and bring it up to the top and take it away on railroads to factories to be burned. And all you’ve got to do is leave it where it is, and put the factory overhead. Look at the work you save, Anne! Look how easy and simple it is. ‘And nobody ever thought of it before. But J/’ve thought of it now, Anne. And I’m going to do it, no matter what anybody says—or how hard I have to work—or how long it takes. I’m going to do it because it’s a big idea—and nobody else thought of it, only me!” | CHAPTER II. THE FIRST SETBACK. T was some minutes before Jimmy’s ex- citement had abated enough for him to tell Anne his plan; or indeed to be able to formulate in his own mind just what this wonderful new idea that had so suddenly come to him would mean. He could un- derstand now how James Watt must have felt as he planned the first steam-engine— a sort of exaltation which Jimmy could feel now in his own heart plainly. The idea had come to him abruptly, al- most full-born, as Jimmy had read such big ideas often do come. He had seized upon it at once with the feeling that it was his 29 big idea, believing in it blindly, without stopping to reason ‘it out. Now with Anne sitting adoringly beside him, imploring him to explain it to her, he felt suddenly self-conscious and embar- rassed. The real reason was that he had no knowledge of the subject, no technical information upon which to base an opinion of whether the idea was feasible or not. But Jimmy did not know that. He only knew, now that he thought it over, that what he had already said was almost all he could say—all that was in his mind, in fact. . “Tell me about it, Jimmy,” Anne en- treated. ‘‘ How would it work?” Anne looked up to Jimmy as to a vastly superior intellect. But she had herself an acquisi- tive mind—untrained, immature, but nat- urally keenly alert. Now that the first thrill of Jimmy’s announcement had passed, she was interested in the subject not only because of Jimmy, but because of the idea itself. And so, just a little with the air of one who demanded to be convinced, Anne wanted to know how it would work. ‘““Why—why, you see, Anne, it’s like this,” Jimmy explained. ‘ The way they do it now is to mine the coal—and you know all the expense and time and hell that is—then when it is mined it has to be shipped away hundreds of miles to the fac- tories to be used. Now, if you don’t do any of that, but just burn it in the ground » where it is, you save all that. seer” ‘There ain’t any factories over coal- mines,” said Anne. ‘No, but there could be just as easy as not. It don’t make so much difference Don’t you where a factory is, so long as it’s got a rail- - road. That’s the idea—I’m going to build a factory where the coal is instead of taking the coal to where the factory is.” “How you going to burn the coal in the ground?” Anne wanted to know. Jimmy thought a moment. ‘Why, just—just burn it,” he answered finally. ‘‘ You see, Anne,” he hastened to add, “‘ the heat will come up in pipes to the factory boilers at the top—just like the heat comes up.” Jimmy pointed to the smoking crevice at their feet. cComiclboool< (C@