s
friendly to the administration, informing him that a duplicate pouch
had been received by its members, and that the news was spreading like
wildfire.

Finally the President exploded. "What are we going to DO? We have
less than two weeks to answer the Russians, and it will take nearly
that long to send and receive one more message from Hayes."

"Quite right," said Plant, the unspoken leader of the three. "Luther,
if you'll come with me to my office, we'll begin work on our reply to
General Hayes. I'm afraid it's time to take strong measures against
him."

"That son of a bitch!" fumed Stone, hurling a vase at the wall. "That
son of a BITCH."

"That won't help this time," said Bacon. "Believe me."

"Gentlemen," said Plant seriously. "I suggest we get to work. Try to
calm yourself, Edgar. We'll meet here again in an hour's time."

When the two men returned to the Oval Office with the drafted document,
they found Stone in an attitude of despair. He listened blankly as
Bacon read the finished product, signed it where and when he was asked.

"Just words," he said listlessly. "Like all the words I've been
spouting for twenty years, they don't mean a thing. Hayes does his
talking with a gun, and soon Denisov will do the same. What now,
Jordan? What of the Joint Chiefs---will they betray us, too?"

"I don't know," said Plant levelly. "But as to your first question,
I'd say we have to send our communication to the Secretary, then
prepare a full statement to the press. We've got to get this thing out
in the open. We've got to tell the truth, then let the people decide."

"Of course you're right." Stone paused, then said simply. "Should I
resign, Jordan? You're much more qualified to handle this---"

Plant stood up and waved his hands in desperate denial. For though his
life's whole ambition could there be suddenly realized, he saw in the
sharp clarity of his mind, heightened and given truer perspective by
the crisis which hung thick all around them, that it would be wrong,
and possibly disastrous, to assume the Presidency now. And though much
that was good in him lay fallen by the way, discarded and forgotten
among the endless compromises needed to keep him on the road to his one
desire, he too had a line he would not cross.

TOO MANY FAIRY TALES AS A CHILD, he told himself. But once made, his
decision was final. He could not sell all that he was, for any price.

"No, Edgar. Don't resign. T