Page:Karel Čapek - The Absolute at Large (1927).djvu/15

 paper along its former creases, and behold, the detestable leaped forth on the very edge. Keeping his finger firmly on the spot, he swiftly spread the paper out once more, and found Mr. Bondy swore under his breath. It was nothing but a very modest, very commonplace small advertisement:

"So that's all it was!" thought G. H. Bondy. "Some sort of patent braces; just a cheap swindle or some crazy fellow's pet plaything. And here I've wasted five minutes on it! I'm getting scatterbrained myself. What a wretched state of affairs! And not a hint of improvement anywhere!"

He settled himself in a rocking-chair to savour in more comfort the full bitterness of this wretched state of affairs. True, the M.E.C. had ten factories and 34,000 employees. The M.E.C. was the leading producer of iron. The M.E.C. had no competitor as regards boilers. The M.E.C. grates were world-famous. But after thirty years' hard work, gracious Heavens, surely one would have got bigger results elsewhere

G. H. Bondy sat up with a jerk. "R. Marek, Engineer; R. Marek, Engineer. Half a minute: