Атлант расправил плечи

           Rearden,"hesaid,"andIknowthatyouarenotinapositiontotakecareofneworders,whatwithyourbiggest,oldestcustomershavingtowaittheirturn,youbeingtheonlydecent—Imean,reliable—steelmanufacturerleftinthecountry.Idon’tknowwhatreasontoofferyouastowhyyoushouldwanttomakeanexceptioninmycase.Buttherewasnothingelseformetodo,exceptclosethedoorsofmyplantforgood,andI"—therewasaslightbreakinhisvoice—"Ican’tquiteseemywaytoclosingthedoors...asyet...soIthoughtI’dspeaktoyou,evenifIdidn’thavemuchchance...still,Ihadtotryeverythingpossible."

           ThiswaslanguagethatReardencouldunderstand,"IwishIcouldhelpyouout,"hesaid,"butthisistheworstpossibletimeforme,becauseofaverylarge,veryspecialorderthathastotakeprecedenceovereverything."

           "Iknow.Butwouldyoujustgivemeahearing,Mr.Rearden?"

           "Sure."

           "Ifit’saquestionofmoney,I’llpayanythingyouask.IfIcouldmakeitworthyourwhilethatway,why,chargemeanyextrayouplease,chargemedoubletheregularprice,onlyletmehavethesteel.

           Iwouldn’tcareifIhadtoselltheharvesteratalossthisyear,justsoIcouldkeepthedoorsopen.