Атлант расправил плечи

           Tellme,wasthatmotorextremelyvaluable?"

           "MorevaluablethananyestimateIcouldgiveyou."

           "It’sstrange,because,yousee,Ithoughtofitonce,someyearsafterwe’dleftWisconsin,andIaskedmyhusbandwhathadbecomeofthatinventionhe’dsaidwassogreat,whatwouldbedonewithit.

           Helookedatmeveryoddlyandanswered,‘Nothing.’"

           "Why?"

           "Hewouldn’ttellme."

           "CanyourememberanyoneatallwhoworkedatTwentiethCentury?Anyonewhoknewthatyoungengineer?Anyfriendofhis?"

           "No,I...Wait!Wait,IthinkIcangiveyoualead.Icantellyouwheretofindonefriendofhis.Idon’tevenknowthatfriend’sname,either,butIknowhisaddress.It’sanoddstory.I’dbetterexplainhowithappened.Oneevening—abouttwoyearsafterwe’dcomehere—myhusbandwasgoingoutandIneededourcarthatnight,soheaskedmetopickhimupafterdinnerattherestaurantoftherailroadstation.Hedidnottellmewithwhomhewashavingdinner.WhenIdroveuptothestation,Isawhimstandingoutsidetherestaurantwithtwomen.Oneofthemwasyoungandtall.Theotherwaselderly;helookedverydistinguished.Iwouldstillrecognizethosemenanywhere;theyhadthekindoffacesonedoesn’tforget.Myhusbandsawmeandleftthem.Theywalkedawaytowardthestationplatform;therewasatraincoming.