Sales are on
the up. You might double that. I would hold an option of taking over the
business on ninety days' notice."
"It sounds all right," Thompson admitted. "I'll look into it."
"I want quick action," Tommy declared. "Say, to-morrow you arrange for
some certified accountant to go over my books and make out a balance
sheet. I'll pay his fee. I'm anxious to be free to work on the ship
end."
"All right. I'll do that. We can arrange the details later if I decide
to take you up," Thompson said.
Tommy stretched his arms and yawned.
"By jove," said he, "I'm going to be the busiest thing on wheels for
awhile. It's no joke running a big show."
"I didn't know you were a shipbuilder," Thompson commented.
"I'm not," Tommy admitted, stifling another yawn. "But I can hire
'em--both brains and labor. The main thing is I've got the contracts.
That's the chief item in this war business. The rest is chiefly a matter
of business judgment. It's something of a jump, I'll admit, but I can
negotiate it, all right."
"As a matter of fact," he continued presently, and with a highly
self-satisfied note in his voice, "apart from the executive work it's
what the Americans call a lead-pipe cinch.
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