was just trying to decide whether to choke
Murchison with my bare hand and throw his lifeless body out of the car
window, or tell him a few things I had been wanting to say ever since he
began knocking my tube set, when this Remington Solander, who was
sitting behind us, leaned forward and tapped me on the shoulder. I
turned quickly and saw his long sheeplike face close to mine. He was
chewing cardamon seed and breathing the odor into my face.

[Illustration: Outraged citizens were removing their dead.]

"My friend," he said, "come back and sit with me; I want to ask you a
few questions about radio."

Well, I couldn't resist that, could I? No radio fan could. I did not
care much for the looks of this Remington Solander man, but for a few
weeks my friends had seemed to be steering away from me when I drew
near, although I am sure I never said anything to bore them. All I ever
talked about was my radio set and some new hook-ups I was trying, but I
had noticed that men who formerly had seemed to be fond of my company
now gave startled looks when I neared them. Some even climbed over the
nearest fence and ran madly across vacant lots, looking over their
shoulders with frightened glances as they ran. For a week I had not been
able to get any man of my acquaintance to listen to one word from me,
except Murchison, and he is an utter idiot, as I think I have made
clear. So I left Murchison and sat with Remington Solander.

* * * * *

In one way I was proud to be invited to sit with Remington Solander,
because he was far and away the richest man in our town. When he died,
his estate proved to amount to three million dollars. I had seen him
often, and I knew who he was, but he was a stand-offish old fellow and
did not mix, so I had never met him. He was a tall man and thin,
somewhat flabby and he was pale in an unhealthy sort of way. But, after
all, he was a millionaire and a member of one of the "old families" of
Westcote, so I took the seat alongside of him with considerable
satisfaction.

"I gather," he said as soon as I was seated, "that you are interested in
radio."

I told him I was.

"And I'm just building a new set, using a new hook-up that I heard of a
week ago," I said. "I think it is going to be a wonder. Now, here is the
idea: instead of using a grid----"

"Yes, yes!" the old aristocrat said hastily. "But never mind that now. I
know very little of such things. I have an elect