sudden emergency and Scriven a little the worse for liquor under the
pressure of it.... Would he ever have learned _what_ was going on before
it was too _late_?"

* * * * *

The silence was becoming awkward. It was broken by Oona's carefully
composed voice.

"When is it going to happen--this invasion thing?"

The simple question seemed to startle Scriven who had been looking into
his glass as if in reverie.

"_When?_ Why, didn't I tell you the worst of it? _Tonight!_"

"_Tonight?_"

"Sure," Scriven cast a malicious glance up to the antique ship's
chronometer which hung over the bar. "This very minute the honorable
members are boarding their plane in Washington. They're going to descend
upon us in sixty minutes flat."

"But that's impossible!" Oona said. "The Brain isn't a roadhouse. They
can't do that to us in the middle of the night."

Scriven chuckled over his glass. Obviously he had regained his humor.
"Sometimes, Oona, you're like a little child. You forget that this is
meant to be a wonderful surprise. You forget that it comes armed with
passes from the War Department and fully informed as to The Brain's
midnight intermission-time. You forget that by those logical processes,
peculiar to kings, dictators, and peoples' representatives, they will
expect every courtesy extended to them in the midst of the unexpected
surprise. Hotel reservations, careful guidance through The Brain, an
inspired little speech by the Braintrust Director, fresh as a daisy as
he ought to be at 3 a.m. Not to forget the refreshments of course. Why
else do you think I've buttonholed you two out of the air? I literally
put my life in your hands. Save me from this--if you can!"

Despite the obvious dramatic act he had put on in voice and gesture,
there was a sincere pleading in Scriven's dark brown eyes.

"I will be glad to help as best I can," Lee said. "I'll make an awful
job of it, I'm sure, but I'll try and do the conducting and the
lecturing."

Scriven wiped his forehead with a big silk handkerchief. The leonine
face beamed. "Lee, that will be a tremendous help. You see, they will
feel flattered being conducted by somebody with a big name. They want an
'objective' view and you are not one of our regular employees, you're a
guest scientist from Australia. That makes you just about ideal. But,
Lee, much as it is against my interest, I ought to warn you: Do you
realize the utter impossibility of th