t be torn by human hands. That was all I needed. Now
I knew that anyone could duplicate the Tearproof Paper, and I had at
least one, good, substantial working example for my patent application.
The knowledge gave me greater confidence in the alternate materials and
procedures that Callahan and I had dreamed up. I prepared a final draft
containing twenty-three pages of detailed specification and eleven
examples and topped it all off with forty-six claims. It was a
magnificent application, considering what I had to start with. I handed
it to Mr. Spardleton and sat down to hear what he had to say about it.

I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he read it, and I had the
pleasure of seeing his cigar slowly swing outward until the glowing end
was almost beneath one of his ears. This, I knew, was his Amazed
Position, and it was rare indeed that I or anyone else ever saw it. Mr.
Spardleton was a man who does not amaze easily.

He finished and looked up at me and said, "I assume this is the same
invention you told me about last month?" When I nodded he continued,
"And I further assume that you have no experimental data in addition to
that you described last month?" Again I nodded, and he said, "All of
this is paperwork with the exception of Example I?" I nodded again, and
he put the draft down in front of him and stared at it.

I began to grow uncomfortable in the silence. Then he said, so softly
that I could hardly hear him, "I remember, many, many years ago,
answering the phone, Cliff Norbright--great chemist--telling me he had
smelled phenol when he heated ethylene chlorohydrin in the presence of
holmium-treated silica gel in a test tube. I wrote the greatest patent
application of the age based on that evidence. Just like this one." He
laid a hand on it, and shook his head, and smiled.

"There is no crude guesswork on this product," I said. "The work has
been duplicated, and I've seen many specimens of this paper. I tell you,
sir, there never has been anything like it. Why, even Callahan ..."

"Yes, tell me about Dr. Callahan. He is usually a pretty conservative
fellow. How does he feel about this completely untried product?"

I sat up straighter. "This is not an untried product, Mr. Spardleton. It
has been made and duplicated. It has all the properties that the
application says it has. And Dr. Callahan has just as much faith in it
as I have."

Mr. Spardleton looked at me, and smiled, and slowly handed over the