He gave the piece of paper to John.
‘Thank you,’ said John.
He went towardsthe door.
‘Mr Duncan?’
‘Yes?’
John looked back, surprised.
‘Where do these waste products go, whenthe factory has finished with them?
Intothe river?’
‘Well, yes, of course, said John.
‘But it’s allright, you know,’ he added quickly.
‘It’s verycarefully checked, all the time.
It’s a bigriver, and we only produce a few hundredlitres of the waste products a day.
Andwe’re only two kilometres from the sea,after all.’
‘Good,’ said the doctor.
‘I wouldn’t likeanyone to drink those waste products,that’s all.’
‘They won’t, Doctor,’ said John.
‘All thedrinking water comes out of the river fivekilometres upstream, you know that.
Who’s going to drink salt water from theriver mouth, for heaven’s sake?
Chemistsfrom London have checked it, too, youknow, and our company lawyers know allabout it.
So it’s not dangerous and we’renot doing anything wrong.
Don’ t worryabout it.’
He went out of the door, and after half anhour he had forgotten the conversation.
.
He was a very busy man now.
All day hehad to test different types of paints, andmake sure they were safe.
He was alsobusy buying a big, comfortable house forhis family, with a large field beside it,where Christine could keep a horse.
Thehouse was half a kilometre from the sea,and its gardens went down to the river.
There was an empty boathouse there.
‘Can we have a boat, Dad?’
Andrew asked.
‘I mean, not now, of course, but one day-when you’ve finished paying for the house,perhaps?’
John laughed.
His children had been poorfor so long.
But now he could buy themanything they wanted.
‘You can have a boat now, if you want to,my son,’ he said happily.
‘if I can afford abig house like this, I can certainly afford asmall boat.
We’ll go fishing every week,shall we?
And I’ll teach you both to sail inthe evenings.
I’ve always wanted to dothat, you know.’
He could not believe how lucky he was.
