ly, "That's what I came to ask you about."

The Professor was puzzled. "I'm afraid you came to the wrong place, Mr.
Woolford. I haven't seen Ernest for quite a time. Why?"

"Some of his researches seem to have taken him rather far afield.
Actually, I know practically nothing about him. I wonder if you could fill
me in a bit."

Peter Voss looked at the ash on the end of his cigar. "I really don't know
the man that well. He lives across the park. Why don't--"

"He's disappeared," Larry said.

The Professor blinked. "I see," he said. "And in view of the fact that you
are a security officer, I assume under strange circumstances." Larry
Woolford said nothing and the Professor sank back into his chair and
pursed his lips. "I can't really tell you much. I became interested in
Self two or three years ago when gathering materials for a paper on the
inadequate manner in which our country rewards its inventors."

Larry said, "I've heard about his suit against the government."

The Professor became more animated. "Ha!" he snorted. "One example among
many. Self is not alone. Our culture is such that the genius is smothered.
The great contributors to our society are ignored, or worse."

Larry Woolford was feeling his way. Now he said mildly, "I was under the
impression that American free enterprise gave the individual the best
opportunity to prove himself and that if he had it on the ball he'd get to
the top."

"Were you really?" the Professor said snappishly. "And did you know that
Edison died a comparatively poor man with an estate somewhere in the
vicinity of a hundred thousand dollars? An amount that might sound like a
good deal to you or me, but, when you consider his contributions,
shockingly little. Did you know that Eli Whitney realized little, if
anything, from the cotton gin? Or that McCormick didn't invent the reaper
but gained it in a dubious court victory? Or take Robert Goddard, one of
the best examples of modern times. He developed the basics of rocket
technology--gyroscopic stabilizers, fuel pumps, self-cooling motors,
landing devices. He died in 1945 leaving behind twenty-two volumes of
records that proved priceless. What did he get out of his researches?
Nothing. It was fifteen years later that his widow won her suit against
the government for patent infringements!"

[Illustration.]

Larry held up a hand. "Really," he said. "My interest is in Ernest Self."

The Professor rel