“Sit down, and I’ll tell you,”—­for the chemist, hat in hand, ventured not to seat himself unbidden in presence of these plutocrats.

Herzog, murmuring thanks for Flint’s gracious permission, deposited his derby on top of the revolving book-case, sat down tentatively on the edge of a chair and clutched his books as though they had been so many shields against the redoubted power of his masters.

“See here, Herzog,” Flint fired at him, without any preliminaries or beating around the bush, “what do you know about the practical side of extracting nitrogen from atmospheric air?  Or extracting oxygen, in liquid form?  Can it be done—­that is, on a commercial basis?”

“Why, no, sir—­yes, that is—­perhaps.  I mean—­”

“What the devil do you mean?” snapped Flint, while Waldron smiled maliciously as he smoked.  “Yes, or no?  I don’t pay you to muddle things.  I pay you to know, and to tell me!  Get that?  Now, how about it?”

“Well, sir—­hm!—­the fact is,” and the unfortunate chemist blinked through his glasses with extreme uneasiness, “the fact of the matter is that the processes involved haven’t been really perfected, as yet.  Beginnings have been made, but no large-scale work has been done, so far.  Still, the principle—­”

“Is sound?”

“Yes, sir.  I imagine—­”

“Cut that!  You aren’t paid for imagining!” interrupted the Billionaire, stabbing at him with that characteristic gesture.  “Just what do you know about it?  No technicalities, mind!  Essentials, that’s all, and in a few words!”

“Well, sir,” answered Herzog, plucking up a little courage under this pointed goading, “so far as the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen goes, more progress has been made in England and Scandinavia, than here.  They’re working on it, over there, to obtain cheap and plentiful fertilizer from the air.  Nitrogen can be obtained from the air, even now, and made into fertilizers even cheaper than the Chili saltpeter.  Oxygen is liberated as a by-product, and—­”

“Oh, it is, eh?  And could it be saved?  In liquid form for instance?”

“I think so, sir.  The Siemens & Halske interests, in Germany, are doing it already, on a limited scale.  In Norway and Austria, nitrogen has been manufactured from air, for some years.”

“On a paying, commercial basis?” demanded Flint, while Waldron, now a trifle less scornful, seemed to listen with more interest as his eyes rested on the rotund form of the scientist.

“Yes, sir, quite so,” answered Herzog.  “It’s commercially feasible, though not a very profitable business at best.  The gas is utilized in chemical combination with a substantial base, and—­”

“No matter about that, just yet,” interrupted Flint.  “We can have details later.  Do you know of any such business as yet, in the United States?”

“Well, sir, there’s a plant building at Great Falls, South Carolina, for the purpose.  It is to run by waterpower and will develop 5000 H.P.”