The Cone by H. G. Wells. Short summary

5 seconds

Gorrocks, head of the blast furnaces, caught Routh’s friend with his wife. He pretended not to notice anything. He took Routh to inspect the plant and pushed him down the furnace tube.

1 minute

Raut was talking about love with the wife of his friend, the Gorrocks steel mill manager. Suddenly they both noticed that her husband was in the room. They did not know if he had seen or heard much.

But Gorrocks pretended not to notice anything. He took Routh on a tour of his plant. He was plagued by doubts and fears. Gorrocks was very strong and heavy, whereas Routt was slender.

But the plant manager seemed to think only of his machines. He proudly showed the blast furnaces and lamented that special cones had to cover their tubes to keep the flames out.

On the tracks, Routt nearly got hit by a train. He thought Gorrocks had shoved him there himself, but at the last moment he pulled him out. He calmed down.

But at the cone of the blast furnace, the husband grabbed his wife’s lover and threw him down the chimney. The unfortunate man clung to the chain, but was burned by the high heat.