ear of the old
medievalist, the day before.

"Good Lord, man; don't you read the papers at all?" another of the
trustees asked.

"No! And I don't read inside-dope magazines, or science fiction. I
read carefully substantiated facts. And I know when I'm talking to a
sane and reasonable man. It isn't a common experience, around here."

Dacre passed a hand over his face. "Doctor Whitburn," he said, "I must
admit that I came to this meeting strongly prejudiced against you, and
I'll further admit that your own behavior here has done very little to
dispel that prejudice. But I'm beginning to get some idea of what you
have to contend with, here at Blanley, and I find that I must make a
lot of allowances. I had no idea.... Simply no idea at all."

"Look, you're getting a completely distorted picture of this, Mr.
Dacre," Fitch broke in. "It's precisely as I believed; Doctor Chalmers
is an unusually gifted precognitive percipient. You've seen,
gentlemen, how his complicated chain of precognitions about the death
of Khalid has been proven veridical; I'd stake my life that every one
of these precognitions will be similarly verified. And I'll stake my
professional reputation that the man is perfectly sane. Of course,
abnormal psychology and psychopathology aren't my subjects, but...."

"They're not my subjects, either," Whitburn retorted, "but I know a
lunatic by his ravings."

"Doctor Fitch is taking an entirely proper attitude," Pottgeiter said,
"in pointing out that abnormal psychology is a specialized branch,
outside his own field. I wouldn't dream, myself, of trying to offer a
decisive opinion on some point of Roman, or Babylonian, history. Well,
if the question of Doctor Chalmers' sanity is at issue here, let's
consult somebody who specializes in insanity. I don't believe that
anybody here is qualified even to express an opinion on that subject,
Doctor Whitburn least of all."

Whitburn turned on him angrily. "Oh, shut up, you doddering old fool!"
he shouted. "Look; there's another of them!" he told the trustees.
"Another deadhead on the faculty that this Tenure Law keeps me from
getting rid of. He's as bad as Chalmers, himself. You just heard that
string of nonsense he was spouting. Why, his courses have been noted
among the students for years as snap courses in which nobody ever has
to do any work...."

Chalmers was on his feet again, thoroughly angry. Abuse of himself he
could take; talking that way about gentle, l