ronounced Everett.

"It's got everything in it except a declaration of war on Switzerland,"
said Cam ruefully.

"Quiet--or he'll hear about that, and want it too," said Ev.

* * * * *

The Day of the Rally dawned bright and smoggy, but the weather boys
promised a clear, cool evening. Naturally, the major 3-D nets were all
set to 'cast the "birth in the Bowl" of a potentially historic campaign.
Satellites would bounce the signal over oceans and continents,
throughout Euramerica, as well carrying the presentation as to allies
and unaligned nations from Tokyo to Karachi. The crusading aspect of
Sowles' candidacy had been tom-tommed so well that pundits were already
predicting that Sowles might easily go on to the Governorship of North
America two years hence--if, indeed, his Soldiers did not sweep to
control of the U. S. of E. Parliament then. That, of course, would
install the Grim Reaper in the Presidential Palace.... Cam shuddered and
thrust the thought from his mind. But wild dreams aside, there was no
doubt that two hemispheres' attention was riveted on the big-time debut
of the West Coast's Angel of Vengeance.

En route to the Bowl, the "Soldier" theme was already manifest. Every
few feet, a "Brother-Private" in a new, usually ill-fitting uniform was
directing traffic or hawking MAB-confected wares. "Father-General"
Sowles appeared to have lifted more than one leaf from the Salvation
Army's book.

Cam himself had been verbally commissioned Brother Lieutenant-Colonel
when the revised oration had been submitted to Sowles. The Reaper ate it
up this trip. "You'd have thought it came down from Sinai on tablets,"
said Ev after Sowles left to begin practicing the Speech.

"He'll make it sound that way," Cam had remarked. "Above all, Our Leader
is a great orator."

"Translation: bloody demagogue," Ev had replied.

Now their chauffeured air-suspension limo was tooling them up through
the thickening crowds to the hill-cradled amphitheater.

Curt had come along to help. "What's going to happen to the overflow?"
he asked anxiously, peering at the turgid sea of faces outside.

"Special buses will take them to closed circuit 3-D houses," said Cam.

"Fantastic," said Ev.

Inside, there were just about the same number of last-minute panics and
snafus as at most 3-D spectaculars. Power for the innumerable huge
coaxial snakes was several times inadequate, which problem no one, of
course,