d his appreciation and went in.

* * * * *

The Old Man, Amalgamated's grand old salesman, was billiard bald, aging,
a little stout and a little slower now. But he was still a fine sales
manager. He sat at his huge, old fashioned oak desk as Ben walked across
the office.

"Evening, sir." No response. Louder, "Good evening, Mr. Robb. Mr. Robb,
it's Ben, sir. Ben Tilman. You memo'd me to come--" Still no sign. The
eyes, under the great, beetling brows, seemed closed.

Ben grinned and reached out across the wide desk toward the small,
plastic box hanging on the Old Man's chest. The Old Man glanced up as
Ben tapped the plastic lightly with his fingernail.

"Oh, Ben. It's you." The Old Man raised his hand to adjust the ancient
style hearing aid he affected as Ben sank into a chair. "Sorry Ben. I
just had old Brannic Z-IX in here. A fine old robot, yes, but like most
of that model, long-winded. So--" He gestured at the hearing aid.

Ben smiled. Everyone knew the Old Man used that crude old rig so he
could pointedly tune out conversations he didn't care to hear. Any time
you were talking to him and that distant look came into his half closed
eyes, you could be sure that you were cut off.

"Sorry, Ben. Well now. I simply wanted to check with you, boy.
Everything all set for tonight?"

"Well, yes, sir. Everything is set and programmed. Betty and I will play
it all evening for the suspense, let them wonder, build it up--and then,
instead of the big pitch they'll be looking for, we'll let it go easy."

"A new twist on the old change-up. Ben, boy, it's going to go. I feel
it. It's in the air, things are just ripe for a new, super-soft-sell
pitch. Selling you've got to do by feel, eh Ben? By sales genius and the
old seat of the pants. Good. After tonight I'm going all out, a
hemisphere-wide, thirty day campaign. I'll put the top sales artist of
every regional office on it. They can train on your test pattern tapes.
I believe we can turn over billions before everybody picks up the signal
and it senilesces. You give an old man a new faith in sales, Ben! You're
a _salesman_."

"Well, sir--" But the Old Man's knack with the youthful-enthusiasm
approach was contagious. For the moment Ben caught it and he felt pretty
good about the coming night's work. He and Betty together would put the
deal over. That would be something.

Sure it would...

"How do you and your wife like the place, Ben?" It wa