Атлант расправил плечи

           Thesparklingwhitecraft,shapedlikeabullet,keptstaggeringclumsilyacrossthewater,itswakealongrecordofshivering,itsmotorchokingwithhiccoughs,whiletheinstructor,seatedbesidehim,keptseizingthewheeloutofJim’shands.Fornoapparentreason,JimraisedhisheadsuddenlyandyelledatFrancisco,"Doyouthinkyoucandoitanybetter?""Icandoit.""Tryit!"

           Whentheboatcamebackanditstwooccupantssteppedout,Franciscoslippedbehindthewheel."Waitamoment,"hesaidtotheinstructor,whoremainedonthelanding."Letmetakealookatthis."Then,beforetheinstructorhadtimetomove,theboatshotouttothemiddleoftheriver,asiffiredfromagun.Itwasstreakingawaybeforetheygraspedwhattheywereseeing.Asitwentshrinkingintothedistanceandsunlight,Dagny’spictureofitwasthreestraightlines:itswake,thelongshriekofitsmotor,andtheaimofthedriveratitswheel.

           Shenoticedthestrangeexpressionofherfather’sfaceashelookedatthevanishingspeedboat.Hesaidnothing;hejuststoodlooking.Sherememberedthatshehadseenhimlookthatwayoncebefore.ItwaswhenheinspectedacomplexsystemofpulleyswhichFrancisco,agedtwelve,haderectedtomakeanelevatortothetopofarock;hewasteachingDagnyandEddietodivefromtherockintotheHudson.Francisco’snotesofcalculationwerestillscatteredaboutontheground;herfatherpickedthemup,lookedatthem,thenasked,"Francisco,howmanyyearsofalgebrahaveyouhad?""Twoyears."