boy with bright clear eyes turned to look at him
and a younger girl with short curly hair smiled back.

John said, "Phil, this is Jimmie, and Jean, his sister. They don't
have a home-school teleclass rig yet, so they're attending with me."

"I see." Philon nodded to the children. "And how did you like your
first day at school?"

"Fine," Jean said, beaming until her eyes almost disappeared. "It was
fun. The teacher was talking about the history of atomic energy and
when I told her we had one of the first editions of the famous Smyth
report on _Atomic Energy_ she was surprised."

"A first edition of the _Smyth Report_? No wonder your teacher was
surprised." Through Philon's mind ran the recollection that first
editions of the Smyth Report brought as high as seventy thousand
dollars.

The children's excited chatter was suddenly interrupted by the front
door chimes. Stepping to the wall televiewer, Philon pressed a button
and said, "Who is it?"

A pleasant-faced man with a startled look said, "Oh--sorry. This
gadget on the door-casing surprised me. Ah--I think my children,
Jimmie and Jean, are here. I'm Bill MacDonald."

Behind him Philon heard Jean suppress a dismayed cry. "Gosh, Jimmie,
it's late. Daddy's had to come for us!"

Philon said, "And I'm Phil Miller, MacDonald. Come in. We'll be down
in a moment."

The MacDonald children and John headed for the stairs in a happy rush,
ignoring the descending escalator, two steps at a time. Philon
followed at a meditative pace, his thoughts trooping stealthily
abreast. Seventy thousand dollars. Now, if he were to....

"Beautiful home you've got here, Miller."

Philon came out of his daydreaming to see MacDonald coming into view
around the corner of a living room ell.

Philon took his extended hand. "Thanks. Glad you like it."

Jean broke in breathlessly. "Oh, Daddy, you ought to see how they
conduct classes--by school TV. You write on a glass square and it
appears immediately at the teacher's roll-board. And when you--"

Jimmie interrupted. "Aw, lemme tell 'im something too, Jean. Dad, John
used a spare TV for Jean's freshman class while we 'showed' for junior
class on his. Gosh, in history, Dad, their old newsreels go back to
World War Two. I even saw your Marine unit--"

MacDonald cut his son short. "That's enough, Jimmie. You can tell us
about it later." He herded his children toward the front door.
"Thanks, Miller, for letting the kids use the school TV. I