ty does make fools of us all, and the native hue of caution
is crimsoned o'er by the bright red of morbid fascination._

* * * * *

Stanton went through the door of the automat restaurant and walked over to
the vending wall. The dining room was only about three-quarters full of
people; there were plenty of seats available. He fed coins into the proper
slots, took his sandwich and milk over to a seat in one corner and made
himself comfortable.

He flipped open the newspaper and looked at the front page.

And, for a moment, his brain seemed to freeze.

The story itself was straightforward enough:

BENCHAIM KIDNAPERS
NABBED!
STAN MARTIN DOES IT
AGAIN!

Ceres, June 3 (Interplanetary News Service)--The three men
and three women who allegedly kidnapped ten-year-old Shmuel
BenChaim were brought to justice today through the
single-handed efforts of Stanley Martin, famed investigator
for Lloyd's of London. The boy, held prisoner for more than
ten months on a small asteroid, was reported in very good
health.

According to Lt. John Vale, of the Planetoid Police, the
kidnap gang could not have been taken by direct assault on
their hideout because of fear that the boy might be killed.
"The operation required a carefully-planned, one-man
infiltration of their hideout," he said. "Mr. Martin was the
man for the job."

Labeled "the most outrageous kidnapping in history", the
affair was conceived as a long-term method of gaining
control of Heavy Metals Incorporated, controlled by Moishe
BenChaim, the boy's father. The details....

* * * * *

But Bart Stanton wasn't interested in the details. After only a glance
through the first part of the article, his eyes returned to the picture
alongside the article. The line of print beneath it identified the man in
the picture as Stanley Martin.

But a voice in Bart Stanton's brain said: _Not Stan Martin! The name is
Mart Stanton!_

And Bartholomew felt a roar of confusion in his mind, because he didn't
know who Mart Stanton was, and because the face in the picture was his
own.

XI

He was walking again.

He didn't quite remember how he had left the automat, and he didn't even
try to remember.

He was trying to remember other things--farther back--before he had--

Before he had what?