lacent smile, "but less rapidly than a barbarian would suppose.
Increased knowledge has brought with it increased longevity. I am myself
one hundred and ninety-two years of age. The end must come, of course,
but after all, why not?"

As I looked at him I did not from the aesthetic point of view see why
not. The creature had replaced the spectacles now, and lay at full
length on the sand, as if wearied by the standing position. He went on
speaking:

"Death in the individual is, of course, to some extent a confession of
failure. It means inability, mostly due to ignorance, to adapt oneself
to one's environment. Death of a race may be quite a different
matter--an exhaustion of utility. However that may be, it is clear that
the last of us to survive will represent the highest possible
development of human potentiality. I speculate sometimes on the question
of who the ultimate survivor will be. It may possibly be Professor
YM6403 of the Outer Office. Some think so. I believe he thinks so
himself. On the other hand, I may be the last survivor. However, there
are still some thousands of us in existence, and for the present these
disquisitions may appear to you idle."

My clothes were damp and I was chilly, hungry, and tired. His jabber
about professors and survivors had no interest for me. I ventured to
point out to him that I was at present in urgent need of rest and
refreshment.

He rose on all fours again, and did so with extreme awkwardness. "True,"
he said. "I will attend to it. We are hospitable people, though it is
seldom that a stranger visits us. I will proceed at once to conduct you
to my house."

"Your house? I fear that must be at some great distance, for there is no
house in sight."

For a moment he looked puzzled, and then light dawned again in his
short-sighted eyes.

"I see your mistake," he said. "You come from the old world, where the
old type of house is still in existence. The history of the old world is
the special study of my friend, the Professor. But of course there is
general knowledge that every educated being may be supposed to possess,
and I know the type of house you mean. I have seen pictures of it in the
museum. Now in Thule, when many centuries ago aviation became the
cheapest and most popular form of transit, it also became obviously
impossible that we should have houses above ground. Aviation is a source
of danger to such houses, and the houses themselves were dangerous to
the aviato