t when they considered it
finished. It had never been really finished, of course. Continuous
additions and modifications were being made. But they had been very
proud of it.

Baker wondered now, however, if they had not been very shortsighted in
their application of the Index. He sensed, stirring in the back of his
mind, not fully defined, possibilities that had never appeared to him
before.

His speculations were interrupted by Doris. She spoke on the interphone,
still in the sweetly sympathetic tone she had adopted for her greetings
that morning. Baker suspected this would last at least a full week.

* * * * *

"Dr. Wily is on the phone. He would like to know if you'd mind his
coming in this afternoon. Shall I make an appointment or would you
rather postpone these interviews for a few days? Dr. Wily would
understand, of course."

"Tell him to come on up whenever he's ready," said Baker. "I'm not doing
much today."

President George H. Wily, Ph. D., D.Sc., of Great Eastern University.
Wily was one of his best customers.

Baker guessed that he had given Wily somewhere around twelve or thirteen
million dollars over the past decade. He didn't know exactly what Wily
had done with all of it, but one didn't question Great Eastern's use of
its funds. Certainly only the most benevolent use would be made of the
money.

Baker reflected on his associations with Wily. His satisfaction had been
unmeasurable in those exquisite moments when he had had the pleasure of
handing Wily a check for two or three million dollars at a time. In
turn, Wily had invited him to the great, commemorative banquets of Great
Eastern. He had presented Baker to the Alumni and extolled the
magnificent work Baker was doing in the advancement of the cause of
Science. It had been a very pleasant association for both of them.

The door opened and Doris ushered Wily into the room. He came forward
with outstretched hands. "My dear Baker! Your secretary said you had no
objection to my coming up immediately, so I took advantage of it. I
didn't hear about your terrible accident until yesterday. It's so good
to know that you were not more seriously hurt."

"Thanks," said Baker. "It wasn't very bad. Come and sit down."

Wily was a rather large, beetle-shaped man. He affected a small, graying
beard that sometimes had tobacco ashes in it.

"Terrible loss to the cause of Science if your accident had been more
serious," Wily