ry status to be
listed on your IBM cards. It doesn't matter that you failed to find this
man, because Dwindle succeeded. And, it doesn't matter whether I ever
see you again!"

"Yes, sir," Jones said, and picked up his hat and left.

"Now, back to the business at hand, Dwindle. You say these prospects
don't know the reasons behind the test?"

"That is correct, sir. I feared there might be some temptation for the
prospects to not do their best, if they knew that success might result
in their being removed from the face of the Earth."

"Wise. Then I suggest we approach Mr. Smith on the idea, cautiously, to
determine his sentiments. If he doesn't want to go, of course, we've got
to draft him."

* * * * *

Freddy cracked the peanut, put half in his mouth and tossed the other
half to the sparrows.

"I might be going away for a while, Willy," he said, ending a rather
long silence.

"You ain't gettin' a job, are ya Freddy?"

"Watch yer language," Oscar scolded.

"Naw, not really a job. At least not the kind you think of. Sort of an
all-expense-paid vacation, with a change of scenery."

"Ya ain't had a run-in with the bulls, have ya?" the stricken Willy
asked.

"Me? You know me better, Willy. Nothing like that. And I'm not even sure
the thing will pan out, but you know all those newspaper stories about
messages from another planet?"

"Yeh! Yeh! Ya read it to me!" Willy jabbered excitedly.

"And that test I took that you sent in and the fellas talked to me
about?"

"Yeh! Say, I hope that didn't make you trouble, Freddy, 'cuz me 'n'
Oscar was just kinda jokin', see, and--"

"It's O.K., Willy. Well, one of the fellas I talked to was General
Marcher, who's been mentioned in the newspaper stories in connection
with ... here, Willy, take these," he interrupted himself when he saw
the two men approaching. "See that new guy at the bench over yonder?
Give him these peanuts. I think he'd like to feed my sparrows while I'm
gone. Name's Jones, and he'll probably be around for a spell."

Freddy stood up to greet the two arrivals.

"Hello, general," he said, tipping his battered cap. "It's about the
trip to Ganymede, I suppose?"

Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from _Analog Science Fact and Science
Fiction_ February 1962. Extensive research did not uncover any
evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.
Minor spelling and typogr