astic Arv is turning out."

After having some of the Tomasite sheathing, with its embedding
transducers, sent over from the plastics department, Tom cut out a suit
from a pattern and welded the seams electronically. He had just finished
wiring the control unit when Chow wheeled in a lunch cart.

"Got some _dee_licious steak-and-kidney pie today," the cook announced,
setting it out.

"Swell," Tom said absent-mindedly.

Chow frowned but left without interrupting the young inventor. Twenty
minutes later the cook poked his head into the laboratory again. Tom had
not yet touched his lunch.

"Brand my vitaminnies, start eatin', boss!"

"Sure, Chow."

By this time, however, Tom had become so absorbed in the task of
assembling some tiny monolithic blocks for the computer circuits of his
analyzer, that the lunch remained untasted. When Chow returned a third
time, Tom was startled by his bellow:

"Get your nose out o' that work, buckaroo, and _eat_!"

Realizing Tom's pie had cooled off, Chow had brought another serving,
hot from the oven. Seeing the stern look on the Texan's face, Tom burst
out laughing and obeyed meekly.

"I declare!" Chow chuckled. "One o' these days I'll have to force-feed
you if you won't pay no mind to your own nourishment!"

"Sorry, old-timer." Tom smiled. "Sometimes I do get a bit wrapped up, I
guess."

Hour after hour, Tom stayed glued to his workbench, sometimes busy with
delicate electronic gear, sometimes lost in thought as he pondered a
tricky problem in circuit design. It was long after dark when he drove
home from the experimental station, yet he was back on the job in his
laboratory early the next morning.

By lunchtime Tom had all the apparatus assembled. He was just trying on
the plastic suit, with all its accompanying paraphernalia, when Chow
made his usual appearance.

"Great sufferin' snakes!" the cook gasped. "You ain't goin' divin' in
_that_ getup, I hope! You look like a Christmas tree, boss!"

Tom nodded glumly. "Know something, Chow? That's just what I was
thinking myself."

The young inventor's suit was loaded down with the various electronic
units and festooned with wires. Even taking a few steps around the lab
convinced Tom that the design was too unwieldy.

"I'd probably either get tangled in seaweed or sink from sheer weight,"
he muttered.

Changing back to his slacks and T shirt, Tom began eating abstractedly
as Chow hovered around.

"If fishes could talk,