Wehadasortofendlessbandofbottlesslidingalonganinclinedglasstroughmadeslipperywithrunningwater。Atoneendagirlheldthemuptothelight，putasideanythatwereimperfectandplacedtheothersinthetrough；thefillingwasautomatic；attheotherendagirlslippedinthecorkanddroveithomewithalittlemallet。Eachtank，thelittleoneforthevivifyingingredientsandthebigonefordistilledwater，hadalevelindicator，andinsideIhadafloatarrangementthatstoppedtheslidewhenevereitherhadsunktoolow。Anothergirlstoodreadywithmymachinetolabelthecorkedbottlesandhandthemtothethreepackers，whoslippedthemintotheirouterpapersandputthem，withapadofcorrugatedpaperbetweeneachpair，intoalittlegroovefromwhichtheycouldbemadetoslideneatlyintopositioninourstandardpacking-case。Itsoundswild，Iknow，butIbelieveIwasthefirstmaninthecityofLondontopackpatentmedicinesthroughthesideofthepacking-case，todiscovertherewasabetterwayinthanbythelid。Ourcasespackedthemselves，practically；hadonlytobeputintopositiononalittlewheeledtrayandwhenfullpulledtotheliftthatdroppedthemtothemendownstairs，whopaddedupthefreespaceandnailedontopandside。Ourgirls，moreover，packedwithcorrugatedpaperandmatchbook-woodboxpartitionswheneverybodyelsewasusingexpensiveyoungmentopackthroughthetopoftheboxwithstraw，manybreakagesandmuchwasteandconfusion。
AsIlookbackatthemnow，thoseenergeticyearsseemallcompactedtoayearorso；fromthedaysofourfirsthazardousbeginninginFarringdonStreetwithbarelyathousandpounds’
worthofstufforcreditalltold——andthatgotbysomethingperilouslylikesnatching——tothedayswhenmyunclewenttothepubliconbehalfofhimselfandmeone-tenthshareandoursilentpartners，thedrugwholesalersandtheprintingpeopleandtheownerofthatgroupofmagazinesandnewspapers，toaskwithhonestconfidenceforL150，000。Thosesilentpartnerswereremarkablysorry，Iknow，thattheyhadnottakenlargersharesandgivenuslongercreditwhenthesubscriptionscamepouringin。Myunclehadaclearhalftoplaywithincludingtheone-tenthunderstoodtobemine。
L150，000——thinkofit！——forthegoodwillinastringofliesandatradeinbottlesofmitigatedwater！Doyourealisethemadnessoftheworldthatsanctionssuchathing？Perhapsyoudon’t。Attimesuseandwontcertainlyblindedme。IfithadnotbeenforEwart，Idon’tthinkIshouldhavehadaninklingofthewonderfulnessofthisdevelopmentofmyfortunes；Ishouldhavegrownaccustomedtoit，falleninwithallitsdelusionsascompletelyasmyunclepresentlydid。Hewasimmenselyproudoftheflotation。“They’veneverbeengivensuchvalue。”hesaid，“foradozenyears。”ButEwart，withhisgesticulatinghairyhandsandbonywrists，hissingle-handedchorustoallthisasitplayeditselfoveragaininmymemory，andhekeptmyfundamentalabsurdityilluminatedformeduringallthisastonishingtime。
“It’sjustonallfourswiththerestofthings。”heremarked；