* *

A thus far speechless member of the audience, seated in the first row,
came to his feet. His face was serious and strained, the face of a man
who pushes himself beyond the point of efficiency in the vain effort to
accomplish more by expenditure of added hours.

He came to the front and said, "Since I'm possibly the only one here who
also has objections to the reason for calling this meeting, I might as
well have my say now." He half turned to Crawford, and continued. "Mr.
Chairman, my name is Ralph Sandell and I'm an officer in the Sahara
Afforestation Project, which, as you know, is also under the auspices of
the Reunited Nations, though not having any other connection with your
own organization."

Homer Crawford nodded. "We know of your efforts, but why do you object
to calling this meeting?" He seemed mystified.

"Because, like Bishop Manning, I think your efforts misdirected. I think
you are expending tremendous sums of money and the work of tens of
thousands of good men and women, in directions which in the long run
will hardly count."

Crawford leaned back in surprise, waiting for the other's reasoning.

Ralph Sandell obliged. "As the chairman pointed out, the problem of
population explosion is a desperate one. Even today, with all the
efforts of the Reunited Nations and of the individual countries involved
in African aid, the population of this continent is growing at a pace
that will soon outstrip the arable portion of the land. Save only
Antarctica, Africa has the smallest arable percentage of land of any of
the continents.

"The task of the Afforestation Project is to return the Sahara to the
fertile land it once was. The job is a gargantuan one, but ultimately
quite possible. Here in the south we are daming the Niger, running our
irrigation projects farther and farther north. From the Mauritania area
on the Atlantic we are pressing inland, using water purification and
solar pumps to utilize the ocean. In the mountains of Morocco, the water
available is being utilized more efficiently than ever before, and the
sands being pushed back. We are all familiar with Egypt's ever
increasingly successful efforts to exploit the Nile. In the Sahara
itself, the new solar pumps are utilizing wells to an extent never
dreamed of before. The oases are increasing in a geometric progression
both in number and in size." He was caught up in his own enthusiasm.

Crawford said, interestedly, "It's a fascinatin