f his choosing remained. The atoms of
the other elements conveniently left the vicinity.

All of which was interesting and extremely useful. The Prof promptly got
rich selling patent rights to the device, tuned to certain frequencies
which refined heretofore unrefinable ores. His device made an
improvement over most known methods of refining, costing far less in
operation than the standard and often complicated methods previously in
use.

Money gave the old man his opportunity. He fitted out a big research lab
in California, not too far from civilization, but secluded enough for
secrecy. Then he set about to try his selective repellor on living
tissues. His suspicion, that wonderful things could be discovered if he
tuned his anti-gravitational field to the undesirable elements in the
body, was confirmed. Like lead poisoning--something no doctor can cure
if it is severe. He found that he could cure a case of lead poisoning
merely by making the lead go away from there via the field. More
wonderful things began to come out of the Stegner laboratory, and he
made a lot more money.

Which was all very well indeed, only the Prof couldn't leave well enough
alone--he had to delve and pry. He had his own theories about disease
and its cause, old age, and so on--all nuttier than a fruit cake. He was
something of a crank on various health foods and diets that left out
foods raised with chemical fertilizers. He had an organic garden, a
garden where no chemical fertilizer or poison spray was ever used. And
after all, who knew better than the Prof--who could isolate them in a
trice--how many poisons could be found accumulating in the average human
body, consumed along with perfectly harmless foods during a lifetime?

Anyway, when the Prof called in the press, myself among them, he was
really excited. "Gentlemen," he said, "I have solved the greatest
medical puzzle of all time. Before me, no medical man knew the cause of
old age. I have proved what the deterioration factor is, and I have
provided a remedy--a sure and immediate remedy! The golden age of
mankind is here! Our life span can be greatly extended!"

I looked at Jake Heinz, my cameraman. Jake winked at me, but I didn't
respond. I liked the Prof. Such a fine old gentleman, to go whacky from
so much success....

Jake took a few shots of the Prof's rabbits and guinea pigs, of the Prof
himself, and of the apparatus he had constructed which he claimed drove
out the causative