ergency is
the jungle."

* * * * *

He expounded the situation of the city as he understood it. He labored
painstakingly to make his meaning clear while Denham blew meditative
smoke rings and Smithers listened quietly. But when Tommy had
finished, Smithers said in a vast calm:

"Say, Mr. Reames, y'know I asked you to get somebody to take me
through some o' these engine rooms. That's kinda my specialty. An'
these folks are good, no question! There's engines--even steam
engines--we couldn't build on Earth. But, my Gawd, they're dumb! There
ain't a piece of automatic machinery on the place. There's one man to
every motor, handlin' the controls or the throttle. They got stuff we
couldn't come near, but they never thought of a steam governor."

Tommy turned kindling eyes upon him. "Go on!"

"Hell," said Smithers, "gimme some tools an' I'll go through one shop
an' cut the workin' force in half, just slammin' governors, reducin'
valves, an' automatic cut-offs on the machines I understand!"

Tommy jumped to his feet. He paced up and down, then halted and began
to spout at Aten and the Keeper of Foodstuffs. He gesticulated,
fumbling for words, and hunted absurdly for the ones he wanted among
his written lists, and finally was drawing excitedly on Aten's
black-metal tablet. Smithers got up and looked over his shoulder.

"That ain't it, Mr. Reames," he said slowly. "Maybe I...."

* * * * *

Tommy pressed the stud that erased the page. Smithers took the tablet
and began to draw painstakingly. Aten, watching, exclaimed suddenly.
Smithers was drawing an actual machine, actually used in the Golden
City, and he was making a working sketch of a governor so that it
would operate without supervision while the steam pressure continued.
Aten began to talk excitedly. The Keeper of Foodstuffs took the tablet
and examined it. He looked blank, then amazed, and as the utterly
foreign idea of a machine which controlled itself struck home, his
hands shook and color deepened in his cheeks.

He gave an order to Aten, who dashed away. In ten minutes other men
began to arrive. They bent over the drawing. Excited comments,
discussions and disputes began. A dawning enthusiasm manifested
itself. Two of them approached Smithers respectfully, with shining
eyes. They drew their tablets from their belts, rather skilfully drew
the governor he had indicated in larger scale, and by gestur