U.S.A_ - John Dos Passos [467]
"How do you like it in Detroit?""Very interesting," said Taki. "Mr. Ford permits to visit Highland Park.""Gosh, you don't lose any time. . . . Nothing like that assembly-line in your country, is there?" Taki grinned and nodded.
"Very interesting," he said with more emphasis.
-291-Charley took off his coat and shoes and lay down on the couch in the sittingroom to take a nap but it seemed he'd just closed his eyes when Taki was grinning and bowing from the door.
"Very sorry, sir, Mr. Benton, longdistance.""Check," said Charley. Taki had his slippers there for him to stick his feet into and had discreetly laid his bathrobe on a chair beside the couch. At the phone Charley noticed that it was already dusk and that the streetlights were just coming on.
"Hel o, Nat.""Hay, Charley, how are you making out?""Great," said Charley. "Say, I just cal ed up to let you know you and Andy Merritt were going to be elected vicepresidents at the next meeting of Tern stockholders."
"How do you know?" Nat laughed into the phone. "Some intel igence service," said Charley. "Wel , service is what we're here for," said Nat. "And, Charley, there's a little pool down here. . . . I'm taking a dip myself and I thought you might like to come in. . . . I can't tel you the details over the phone but I wrote you this afternoon."
"I haven't got any cash.""You could put up about ten grand of stock to cover. The stock won't be tied up long."
"Check," said Charley. "Shoot the moon . . . this is my lucky year." The plant was great. Charley drove out there in a new Buick sedan he bought himself right off the dealer's floor the next morning. The dealer seemed to know al about him and wouldn't even take a downpayment. "It'l be a pleasure to have your account, Mr. Anderson," he said. Old Bledsoe seemed to be on the lookout for him and showed him around. Everything was lit with skylights. There wasn't a belt in the place. Every machine had its own motor. " Farrel thinks I'm an old stickinthemud be-cause I don't talk high finance al the time, but God damn it, if there's a more uptodate plant than this anywhere, I'l eat a goddamned dynamo.""Gee, I thought we were
-292-in pretty good shape out at Long Island City. . . . But this beats the Dutch.""That's exactly what it's intended to do," growled Bledsoe.
Last Bledsoe introduced Charley to the engineering
force and then showed him into the office off the drafting-room that was to be his. They closed the groundglass door and sat down facing each other in the silvery light from the skylight. Bledsoe pul ed out a stogie and offered one to Charley. "Ever smoke these? . . . They clear the head."
Charley said he'd try anything once. They lit the stogies and Bledsoe began to talk between savage puffs of stinging blue smoke. "Now look here, Anderson, I hope you've come out here to work with us and not to juggle your damned stock. . . . I know you're a war hero and al that and are slated for windowdressing, but it looks to me like you might have somepun in your head too. . . . I'm say-ing this once and I'l never say it again. . . . If you're workin' with us, you're workin' with us and if you're not you'd better stick around your broker's office where you belong."
"But, Mr. Bledsoe, this is the chance I've been lookin'
for," stammered Charley. "Hel , I'm a mechanic, that's al . I know that."
"Wel , I hope so. . . . If you are, and not a god-damned bondsalesman, you know that our motor's lousy and the ships they put it in are lousy. We're ten years be-hind the rest of the world in flyin' and we've got to catch up. Once we get the designs we've got the production ap-paratus to flatten 'em al out. Now I want you to go home and get drunk or go wenchin' or whatever you do when you're worried and think about this damn business.""I'm through with that stuff," said Charley. "I had enough of that in New York." Bledsoe got to his feet with a jerk, letting the ash from his stogie fal on his alpaca vest.
"Wel , you better get
-293-married then.""I been thinkin' of that. . . . But