Behind the Backlog 



company of unresponsive radiators. 

 You can't get a word or a "rise" of any 

 kind out of any one of them. I have 

 tried it and know. All you can expect 

 is mere heat. True, that is no bad thing 

 to have around when, as happened only 

 last January, you are snowbound for 

 days while deep drifts are being opened 

 up to traffic; but you can study a 

 radiator just as long as you like and I 

 will wager you will receive not one sin- 

 gle inspiration from it, will see not one 

 picture of any kind, nor hear the sound 

 of any voice. That is the fundamen- 

 tal difference between dead hot metal 

 and living fire upon the hearth. But if 

 you are only patient you have always 

 this assurance blest the sun-fires over- 

 head will surely come at the appointed 

 hour and the outer door be opened. 



Meantime, mysterious forms of the 

 life everlasting, underneath the snow 

 and ice at Dumbiedykes, are also 

 waiting and watching, just as anxiously 

 as we ourselves around the steam coils, 



[17] 



