Alice was not interested. "What of it? I suppose probably
anybody could make it if they wanted to."

"I SAID you didn't know anything about it. Nobody else could
make it. Your father knows a formula for making it."

"What of that?"

"It's a secret formula. It isn't even down on paper. It's worth
any amount of money."

"'Any amount?'" Alice said, remaining incredulous. "Why hasn't
papa sold it then?"

"Just because he's too stubborn to do anything with it at all!"

"How did papa get it?"

"He got it before you were born, just after we were married. I
didn't think much about it then: it wasn't till you were growing
up and I saw how much we needed money that I----"

"Yes, but how did papa get it?" Alice began to feel a little more
curious about this possible buried treasure. "Did he invent it?"

"Partly," Mrs. Adams said, looking somewhat preoccupied. "He
and another man invented it."

"Then maybe the other man----"