, eh?"

"One failure doesn't prove anything," Ward said, trying not to be angry.

"_One_ failure? How often do they have to make us hit the slides for the
safety of the Mob Quad before you adopt a sensible theory?"

"Let's not go through all that again. Restraint, Rubber hoses and
Radiological shock--I've heard all about the 3 Rs."

"At least they work!"

"Oh, yes, they work fine. Except that they never learn to read and they
can't sign their names with anything but an X."

"It was progressive education that destroyed reading," McCarthy said
heatedly. "And they don't _need_ to sign their names--that's what
universal fingerprinting is for."

"Please, gentlemen," Dr. Allenby interrupted gently. "This kind of
squabbling is unbecoming to members of the faculty. Besides," he smiled
with faded irony, "considering the circumstances, it's hardly a proper
time."

He pointed to the windows over the Quad where an occasional figure could
be seen behind the glass. Lucky it was unbreakable, Ward thought,
hearing the wild hysterical yelling from inside.

"Mob Quad," Allenby said bitterly. "I thought I was naming it as a joke.
The original Mob Quad was at Merton College, Oxford. One of the old
defunct universities. _They_ had a Mob Quad to shelter students and
professors from the town mobs. Professors _and_ students,
gentlemen--they were a united front in those days. I suppose no one
could have predicted our present circumstances."

"That's all history," McCarthy said impatiently. "Bunk. This is _now_,
and I say the thing to do--"

"We know." Allenby waved him to silence. "But your way has been tried
long enough. How long is it since Los Angeles Day, when the U.N.
buildings were bombed and burned by the original 3R Party in order to
get rid of Unesco? Two hundred forty-three years next June, isn't it?
And your Party had had all that time to get education back on what it
calls a sane program. Now _nobody_ is educated."

"It takes time to undo the damage of progressive education," McCarthy
said. "Besides, a lot of that junk--reading, writing--as I've often told
Ward--"

"All right," Ward broke in. "But two and a half centuries is long
enough. Someone must try a new tack or the country is doomed. There
isn't much time. The Outspace invaders--"

"The Outspace invaders are simply Russians," McCarthy said flatly.

"That's a convenient view if you're an ostrich. Or, if you want to keep
the Pretend War going, until the Outsp