Fiske introduced him as a representative of the equipment syndicate. Venn smiled at Alden, ignored Daniel, and told everyone that the revised contract required the machine to demonstrate its full rated travel before sundown. Daniel knew the frame could not do that safely with its temporary supports. Its beam had been replaced, but the release train still lacked two bronze bushings. They could be made in the forge, though not without taking the day to fit them.
“Then use the portable press,” Venn suggested. He pointed to the machine on his wagon. “It performs the same function more efficiently.”
Daniel studied its gears. The press was small enough to fit on a bench and heavy enough to injure a person whose hand slipped near its open jaws. It was not designed to move the wide bank of louvers; it would require a long belt under tension. The belt had no guard. When Daniel said so, Venn answered without looking at him.
“Your master may decide.”
Alden shifted his weight. He wanted the loan settled before winter. He also remembered the sound of the counterweight falling through his drying house. “Can we test it?” he asked.
“Certainly. It is the latest design.”
“Who has used it?” Daniel asked.
Venn’s smile sharpened. “I do not take technical instruction from a man under supervision.”
“I did not give you instruction. I asked a question.”
The mechanic accompanying Fiske, a quiet gray-haired woman named Nell Barker, stepped down from the wagon and examined the press. She was a free craftswoman who maintained mill gears in three counties and had little patience for claims about machinery she could inspect herself. She touched the exposed belt wheel, then looked at the lever linkage.
“The guard is missing,” she said.
“It can be added,” Venn replied.
“Before anybody stands next to it,” Nell answered.
Venn tried to laugh the concern away, but Fiske held up a hand. He had almost died in the first demonstration and no longer found a polished machine reassuring by itself.
They moved into the yard to examine the original frame. Daniel showed Nell the new oak beam and the remaining unfinished joints. She asked why the release lever was mounted outside rather than inside the building. He explained that workers needed a way to stop the carriage without entering the heated chamber. Nell nodded, then crouched beside the old iron bracket, now laid on the ground.
“This was not only meant to fail,” she said. “Whoever made it expected the falling end to swing toward the gallery. The groove here would guide the cable across the face of the post.”
Daniel watched Venn’s expression as Nell spoke. His face did not change, but his hand stopped moving toward his watch. That was enough to make Daniel pay attention.
