ns of the sights without understanding a word of them.

There were flowers in his suite, the carpets were deeper, the bathtub
was bigger, the towels piled higher, the breakfast more abundantly rich
than anything Lee could remember in the 38 years of his life. "So this
is America in 1960," he thought. "It must have advanced by leaps and by
bounds over these past ten years."

He felt embarrassed because he had almost forgotten the uses of all
those comforts, and at the same time deeply moved over the way they
embraced him, him, the lost son, the voluntary exile who once had turned
his back on them in despair and disgust. But why was all this? He had
done nothing to deserve this kind of hospitality. Entomologists as a
rule were not transported by magic carpets into Arabian Nights for
modest achievements such as the discovery of a new species. All the
things which had happened within the last 24 hours were riddles wrapped
up in enigmas. Fatigued as he was he couldn't lie down, he was
desperately resolved to get at the bottom of this thing.

There came a buzz from the telephone. A soft and melodious contralto
voice announced that its carrier was Dr. Howard K. Scriven's secretary
and would Dr. Lee be good enough to come over to the Braintrust Building
to meet Dr. Scriven at 9:30 A.M.? Lee said that he would.

* * * * *

The distance across the Plaza was short enough, but as Lee entered the
hall of the huge concrete pyramid he was reminded of Washington's
Pentagon in wartime, for his progress was halted right from the start
and at more than one point. He had to line up at the receptionist's, he
was being checked over the phone, a pass was handed to him, and
somebody, obviously a plain-clothes man, took him to the express
elevator which shot him up to the 40th floor.

There, another plain-clothes man conducted Lee through a long carpeted
corridor and up one flight of stairs to a steel door which slid open
automatically at their approach. Sunlight was flooding through its frame
as Lee followed the guard and the door closed noiselessly behind them.

The man from Down-Under took a deep breath. He had not expected this for
it was not a stepping in, but rather a stepping out from a vast tomb
into the light of day. This was the top of a huge pyramid, and was in an
entirely different kind of world.

The terrace was laid with flagstones and landscaped like a luxurious
country club. In its middle t