come ahead--but I
don't advise it."

The two men turned around. Neither of them was exactly a small man, but
the two of them together didn't outweigh Samson Bending by more than
fifty pounds.

"What's the idea of the gun, Mr. Bending?" the taller of the two asked.
He seemed to be the spokesman for the team.

"I'll ask the questions," Bending said. "But first, I want to tell you
that, in the first place, you can get in trouble for impersonating a
Federal officer, and, in the second, I don't like being followed. So you
just trot right back to the boys at Power Utilities and tell them that
if they want to play rough, I am perfectly willing to do likewise. That
if they come after me again, I'm going to do some very unpleasant
things. Understand?"

"I think we understand," said the spokesman, still relatively unruffled.
"But I don't think _you_ do. Would you care to look at our credentials,
Mr. Bending?"

"Credentials?" Sam looked startled. Had he made a mistake?

"That's right. May I take my billfold out?"

Bending took his gun out again. "Go ahead. But slowly."

The billfold came out slowly. Bending took it. The identification card
and the small gold badge said very plainly that the man was a Special
Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"I ... I'm sorry," Bending said weakly. "I thought you were someone else.
Some men were following me this afternoon, and--"

"That was us, Mr. Bending. Sorry."

"May I verify this?" Bending asked.

"Certainly. Go right ahead."

Bending phoned the local office of the FBI and verified the identities
of the two men. When he cut off, he asked dazedly: "What was it you
wanted?"

"Would you mind coming with us--downtown? We'd like to have you see some
people."

"Am I under arrest?"

"No." The agent smiled a little. "I suppose, if we had to, we could get
you for speeding and reckless driving; that was pretty fancy dodging you
did. But we're not supposed to be traffic cops."

Sam smiled feebly. "What's this all about?"

"I haven't the faintest notion, Mr. Bending. Honestly. We were told to
stick with you until we got word to pick you up. We got that word just
shortly after you ... hm-m-m ... after you left us. Fortunately, we
found you at home. It might have been difficult ..."

"Can we go in my car?" Bending asked. "I'd rather not leave it unguarded
just now."

"Certainly. I'll go with you, and Steve can follow." He paused. "But I'm
afraid you'll have to take