ion was astounded.

The hymn rolled on, punctuated, backgrounded by deep celestial organ
notes. The clear voice of the choir swept high to a bell-like note.

"Behold!" shrieked the evangelist. "Behold, a miracle! Angels singing
for us! Kneel! Kneel and pray!"

Nobody stood.

* * * * *

Andy McIntyre was drunk again. In the piteous glare of mid-morning, he
staggered homeward from the poker party in the back of Steve Abram's
harness shop. The light revealed him to the scorn of the entire village.

At the corner of Elm and Third he ran into a maple tree. Uncertainly he
backed away, intent on making another try. Suddenly the tree spoke to
him:

"Alcohol is the scourge of mankind. It turns men into beasts. It robs
them of their brains, it shortens their lives ..."

Andy stared, unable to believe what he heard. The tree, he had no doubt,
was talking to him personally.

The voice of the tree went on: "... takes the bread out of the mouths of
women and children. Fosters crime. Weakens the moral fiber of the
nation."

"Stop!" screamed Andy. "Stop, I tell you!"

The tree stopped talking. All he could hear was the whisper of wind
among its autumn-tinted leaves.

Suddenly running, Andy darted around the corner, headed home.

"Begad," he told himself, "when trees start talkin' to you it's time to
lay off the bottle!"

* * * * *

In another town fifty miles distant from the one in which the tree had
talked to Andy McIntyre, another miracle happened that same Sunday
morning.

Dozens of people heard the bronze statue of the soldier in the courtyard
speak. The statue did not come to life. It stood as ever, a solid piece
of golden bronze, in spots turned black and green by weather. But from
its lips came words ... words that burned themselves into the souls of
those who heard. Words that exhorted them to defend the principles for
which many men had died, to grasp and hold high the torch of democracy
and liberty.

In somber bitterness, the statue called Spencer Chambers the greatest
threat to that liberty and freedom. For, the statue said, Spencer
Chambers and Interplanetary Power were waging an economic war, a
bloodless one, but just as truly war as if there were cannons firing and
bombs exploding.

For a full five minutes the statue spoke and the crowd, growing by the
minute, stood dumbfounded.

Then silence fell over the courtyard. The statue stood