The Common Man

 It would, of course, take a trio of Ivory Tower scientists to conceive of tracking down that statistical entity, the Common Man, and testing out an idea on him. And only the Ivory Tower type would predict that egregiously wrongly!

by Guy McCord

Illustrated by Schelling

[Illustration]

Frederick Braun, M. D. , Ph. D. , various other Ds, pushed his slightlycrooked horn-rims back on his nose and looked up at the two-story woodenhouse. There was a small lawn before it, moderately cared for, and onetree. There was the usual porch furniture, and the house was going toneed painting in another six months or so, but not quite yet. There wasa three-year-old hover car parked at the curb of a make that anywhereelse in the world but America would have been thought ostentatious inview of the seeming economic status of the householder. 

Frederick Braun looked down at the paper in his hand, then up at thehouse again. He said to his two companions, "By Caesar, I will admit itis the most average-looking dwelling I have ever seen. "

Patricia O'Gara said impatiently, "Well, do we or don't we?" Her hairshould have been in a pony tail, or bouncing on her shoulders, or atleast in the new Etruscan revival style, not drawn back in its efficientbun. 

Ross Wooley was unhappy. He scratched his fingers back through hisreddish crew cut. "This is going to sound silly. "

Patricia said testily, "We've been through all that, Rossie, goodheavens. "

"Nothing ventured, nothing . .. " Braun let the sentence dribble away ashe stuffed the paper into a coat pocket, which had obviously been usedas a waste receptacle for many a year, and led the way up the cementwalk, his younger companions immediately behind. 

He put his finger on the doorbell and cocked his head to one side. Therewas no sound from the depths of the house. Dr. Braun muttered, "Bell outof order. "

"It would be, " Ross chuckled sourly. "Remember? Average. Here, let me. "He rapped briskly on the wooden door jamb. They stood for a moment thenhe knocked again, louder, saying almost as though hopefully, "Maybethere's nobody home. "

"All right, all right, take it easy, " a voice growled even as the dooropened. 

He was somewhere in his thirties, easygoing of face, brownish of hair, bluish of eye and moderately good-looking. His posture wasn't the bestand he had a slight tummy but he was a goodish masculine specimen byMid-Western standards. He stared out at them, defensive now that it wasobvious they were strangers. Were they selling something, or in whatother manner were they attempting to intrude on his well being? His eyeswent from the older man's thin face, to the football hero heft of theyounger, then to Patricia O'Gara. His eyes went up and down her figureand became approving in spite of the straight business suit sheaffected. 

He said, "What could I do for you?"

"Mr. Crowley?" Ross said. 

"That's right. "

"I'm Ross Wooley and my friends are Patricia O'Gara and Dr. FrederickBraun. We'd like to talk to you. "

"There's nobody sick here. "

Patricia said impatiently, "Of course not. Dr. Braun isn't a practicingmedical doctor. We are research biochemists. "

"We're scientists, " Ross told him, putting it on what he assumed was theman's level. "There's something on which you could help us. "

Crowley took his eyes from the girl and scowled at Ross. "Me?Scientists? I'm just a country boy, I don't know anything aboutscience. " There was a grudging self-deprecation in his tone. 

Patricia took over, a miracle smile overwhelming her air of briskness. "We'd appreciate the opportunity to discuss it with you. "

Dr. Braun added the clincher. "And it might be remunerative. "

Crowley opened the door wider. "Well, just so it don't cost me nothing. "He stepped back for them. "Don't mind the place. Kind of mussed up. Factis, the wife left me about a week ago and I haven't got around togetting somebody to come in and kind of clean things up. "

He wasn't exaggerating. Patricia O'Gara had no pretensions to thehousewife's art herself, but she sniffed when she saw the condition ofthe living room. There was a dirty shirt drooped over the sofa back andbeside the chair which faced the TV set were half a dozen empty beercans. The ashtrays hadn't been emptied for at least days and the floorhad obviously not been swept since the domestic tragedy which had sentMrs. Crowley packing. 

Now that the three strangers were within his castle, Crowley's instinctsfor hospitality asserted themselves. He said, "Make yourselfcomfortable. Here, wait'll I get these things out of the way. Anybodylike a drink? I got some beer in the box, or, " he smirked at Patricia, "I got some port wine you might like, not this bellywash you buy by thegallon. "

They declined the refreshments, it wasn't quite noon. 

Crowley wrestled the chair which had been before the TV set around sothat he could sit facing them, and then sat himself down. He didn't getthis and his face showed it. 

Frederick Braun came to the point. "Mr. Crowley, " he said, "did it everoccur to you that somewhere amidst our nearly one hundred millionAmerican males there is the average man?"

Crowley looked at him. 

Braun cleared his throat and with his thumb and forefinger pushed hisglasses more firmly on the bridge of his nose. "I suppose that isn'texactly the technical way in which to put it. "

Ross Wooley shifted his football shoulders and leaned forward earnestly. "No, Doctor, that's exactly the way to put it. " He said to Crowley, veryseriously, "We've done this most efficiently. We've gone throughabsolute piles of statistics. We've. .. . "

"Done what?" Crowley all but wailed. "Take it easy, will you? What areyou all talking about?"

Patricia said impatiently, "Mr. Crowley, you are the average American. The man on the street. The Common Man. "

He frowned at her. "What'd'ya mean, common? I'm as good as anybodyelse. "

"That's exactly what we mean, " Ross said placatingly. "You are exactlyas good as anybody else, Mr. Crowley. You're the average man. "

"I don't know what the devil you're talking about. Pardon my language, Miss. "

"Not at all, " Patricia sighed. "Dr. Braun, why don't you take over? Weseem to all be speaking at once. "

 * * *

The little doctor began to enumerate on his fingers. "The center ofpopulation has shifted to this vicinity, so the average American liveshere in the Middle West. Population is also shifting from rural tourban, so the average man lives in a city of approximately this size. Determining average age, height, weight is simple with government dataas complete as they are. Also racial background. You, Mr. Crowley, arepredominately English, German and Irish, but have traces of two or threeother nationalities. "

Crowley was staring at him. "How in the devil did you know that?"

Ross said wearily, "We've gone to a lot of trouble. "

Dr. Braun hustled on. "You've had the average amount of education, didn't quite finish high school. You make average wages working in afactory as a clerk. You spent some time in the army but never sawcombat. You drink moderately, are married and have one child, which isaverage for your age. Your I. Q. Is exactly average and you vote Democratexcept occasionally when you switch over to Republican. "

"Now wait a minute, " Crowley protested. "You mean I'm the only man inthis whole country that's like me? I mean, you mean I'm the average guy, right in the middle?"

Patricia O'Gara said impatiently. "You are the nearest thing to it, Mr. Crowley. Actually, possibly one of a hundred persons would have servedour purpose. "

"O. K. , " Crowley interrupted, holding up a hand. "That gets us to thepoint. What's this here purpose? What's the big idea prying, like, intomy affairs till you learned all this about me? And what's this stuffabout me getting something out of it? Right now I'm between jobs. "

The doctor pushed his battered horn-rims back on his nose with hisforefinger. "Yes, of course, " he said reasonably. "Now we get to thepoint. Mr. Crowley, how would you like to be invisible?"

The three of them looked at him. It seemed to be his turn. 

Crowley got up and walked into the kitchen. He came back in a momentwith an opened can of beer from which he was gulping even as he walked. He took the can away from his mouth and said carefully, "You mean like aghost?"

"No, of course not, " Braun said in irritation. "By Caesar, man, have youno imagination? Can't you see it was only a matter of time beforesomeone, possibly working away on an entirely different subject ofresearch, stumbled upon a practical method of achieving invisibility?"

"Now, wait a minute, " Crowley said, his voice belligerent. "I'm only acountry boy, maybe, without any egghead background, but I'm just as goodas the next man and just as smart. I don't think I like your altitude. "

"Attitude, " Ross Wooley muttered unhappily. He shot a glance at PatriciaO'Gara but she ignored him. 

Patricia turned on the charm. Her face opened into smile and she saidsoothingly, "Don't misunderstand, Mr. Crowley. May I call you Don? I'msure we're going to be associates. You see, Don, we need yourassistance. "

This was more like it. Crowley sat down again and finished the can ofbeer. "O. K. , it won't hurt to listen. What's the pitch?"

The older man cleared his throat. "We'll cover it quickly so that we canget to the immediate practical aspects. Are you interested inbiodynamics . .. Umah . .. No, of course not. Let me see. Are you at allfamiliar with the laws pertaining to refraction of . .. Umah, no. " Hecleared his throat again, unhappily. "Have you ever seen a medusa, Mr. Crowley? The gelatinous umbrella-shaped free swimming form of marineinvertebrate related to the coral polyp and the sea anemone?"

Ross Wooley scratched his crew cut and grimaced. "Jellyfish, Doctor, jellyfish. But I think the Portuguese Man-of-War might be a betterexample. "

"Oh, jellyfish, " Crowley said. "Sure, I've seen jellyfish. I got an auntlives near Baltimore. We used to go down there and swim in ChesapeakeBay. Sting the devil out of you. What about it?"

Patricia leaned forward, still smiling graciously. "I really don't see agreat deal of point going into theory, gentlemen. " She looked at Rossand Dr. Braun, then back at Crowley. "Don, I think that what the doctorwas leading up to was an attempt to describe in layman's language thetheory of the process onto which we've stumbled. He was using thejellyfish as an example of a life form all but invisible. But I'm sureyou aren't interested in technical terminology, are you? A good deal ofgobbledygook, really, don't you think?"

"Yeah, that's what I say. Let's get to the point. You mean you thinkit's possible to make a guy invisible. Nobody could see him, eh?"

"It's not a matter of thinking, " Ross said sourly. "We've done it. "

Crowley stared at him. "Done it? You mean, you, personal? You gotinvisible?"

"Yes. All three of us. Once each. "

"And you come back all right, eh? So anybody can see you again. "

The doctor said reasonably, "Here we are, quite visible. The effect ofthe usual dosage lasts for approximately twelve hours. "

They let him assimilate it for a few minutes. Some of the ramificationswere coming home to him. Finally he got up and went into the back againfor another can of beer. By this time Ross Wooley was wishing he wouldrenew his offer, but the other had forgotten his duties as a host. 

He took the can away from his mouth and said, "You want to make meinvisible. You want me to, like, kind of experiment on. " His eyesthinned. "Why pick me?"

The doctor said carefully, "Because you're the common man, the averageman, Mr. Crowley. Before we release this development, we would like tohave some idea of the scope of the effects. "

[Illustration]

The beer went down chuck-a-luck. Crowley put the can aside and lickedhis bottom lip, then rubbed it with a fingertip. He said slowly, "Nowtake it easy while I think about this. " He blinked. "Why you could justwalk into a bank and. .. . "

The three were watching him, empty-faced. 

"Exactly, " Dr. Braun said. 

 * * * * *

Frederick Braun stared gloomily from the hotel suite's window at thestreet below. He peered absently at his thin wrist, looked blank for amoment, then realized all over again that his watch was being cleaned. He stared down at the street once more, his wrinkled face unhappy. 

The door opened behind him and Patricia O'Gara came in briskly and said, "No sign of the guinea pig yet, eh?"

"No. "

"Where's Rossie?"

The doctor cleared his throat. "There was an item on the newscast. Ahumor bit. It seems that the head waiter of the Gourmet. .. . Have youever eaten at the Gourmet, Patricia?"

"Do I look like a millionaire?"

"At any rate, a half pound of the best Caspian caviar disappeared, spoonful at a time, right before his eyes. "

Patricia looked at him. "Good heavens. "

"Yes. Well, Ross has gone to pay the tab. "

Patricia looked at her watch. "The effects will be wearing off shortly. Crowley will probably be back at any time. We warned him about returningto visibility in the middle of some street, completely nude. " She sankinto a seat and looked up at the doctor. "I suppose you admit I wasright. " Her voice was crisp. 

The other turned on her. "And just why do you say that?"

"This caviar bit. Our friend, Donald Crowley, has obviously walked intothe Gourmet restaurant, having heard it was the most expensive in NewYork, and ate as much as he could stuff down of the most expensive itemon the menu. "

The elderly little doctor pushed his battered horn-rims farther back onhis nose. "Tell me, Patricia, when you made the experiment, did you doanything . .. Umah . .. Anything at all, that saved you some money?"

Uncharacteristically, she suddenly giggled. "I had the time of my liferiding on a bus without paying the fare. "

Braun snorted. "Then Donald Crowley, in eating his caviar, didsubstantially the same thing. It's probably been a life's ambition ofhis to eat in an ultra-swank restaurant and then walk out withoutpaying. To be frank, " the doctor cleared his throat apologetically, "it's always been one of mine. "

Patricia conceded him a chuckle, but then said impatiently, "It's onething my saving fifteen cents on a bus ride, and his eating twenty-fivedollars worth of caviar. "

"Merely a matter of degree, my dear. "

Patricia said in irritation, "Why in the world did we have to bring himto New York where he could pull such childish tricks? We could haveperformed the experiment right there in Far Cry, Nebraska. "

Dr. Braun abruptly ceased the pacing he had begun and found a chair. Heabsently stuck a hand into a coat pocket, pulled out a crumbled piece ofpaper, stared at it for a moment, as though he had never seen it before, grunted, and returned it to the pocket. He looked at Patricia O'Gara. "We felt that on completely unknown territory he would feel lessconstrained, don't you remember? In his home town, his conscience wouldbe more apt to restrict him. "

Something suddenly came to her. She looked at her older companionsuspiciously. "That newscast. Was there anything else on it? Don't lookinnocent, you know what I mean. "

"Well, there was one item. "

"Out with it, " she demanded. 

"The Hotel Belefonte threatens to sue that French movie star, Brigettewhatever-her-name is. "

"Brigette Loren, " Patricia said, staring. "What's that got to do withDonald Crowley?"

The good doctor was embarrassed. "It seems that she came running out ofher suite, umah, semi-dressed and screaming that the hotel was haunted. "

"Good heavens, " Patricia said with sudden vision. "That's one aspect Ihadn't thought of. "

"Evidently Crowley did. "

Patricia O'Gara said definitely, "My point's been proven. Our averageman is a slob. Give him the opportunity to exercise unlimited freedomwithout danger of consequence and he becomes an undisciplined anddangerous lout. "

 * * *

Ross Wooley had come in, scowling, just in time to catch most of that. He tossed his hat onto a table and fished in his pockets for pipe andtobacco. "Nuts, Pat, " he said. "In fact, just the opposite's beenproven. Don's just on a fun binge. Like a kid in a candy shop. He hasn'tdone anything serious. Went into a fancy restaurant and ate someexpensive food. Sneaked into the hotel room of the world's most famoussex-symbol and got a close-up look. " He grinned suddenly. "I wish I hadthought of that. "

"Ha!" Patricia snorted. "Our engagement is off, you Peeping Tom. "

"Children, children, " Braun chuckled. "I'll admit, though, I think Rossis correct. Don's done little we three didn't when first given the robeof invisibility. We experimented, largely playfully, even childishly. "

Patricia bit out, "This experiment is ridiculous, anyway, and I don'tknow why I ever agreed to it. Scientific? Nonsense. Where are ourcontrols? For it to make any sense we'd have to work with scores ofsubjects. Suppose we do agree that the manner in which Don Crowley hasreacted is quite harmless. Does that mean we can release this discoveryto the world? Certainly not. "

Ross said sullenly, "But you agreed that we'd go by the results ofthis. .. . "

"I agreed to no such thing, Rossie Wooley, you overgrown lug. All Iagreed to do was consider the results. I was, and am, of the opinionthat if the person our politicians so lovingly call the Common Man wasreleased of the restrictions inhibiting him, he'd go hog wild anddestroy both society and himself. What is to prevent murder, robbery, rape and a score of other crimes, given invisibility for anyone who hasa couple of dollars with which to go into a drugstore and purchase ourserum?"

Her fiancé sighed deeply, jamming tobacco fiercely into the bowl of hisbriar. He growled, "Look, you seem to think that the only thing thatrestricts man is the fear of being punished. There are other things, youknow. "

"Good heavens, " she said sarcastically. "Name _one_. "

"There is the ethical code in which he was raised, based on religion orotherwise. There is the fact that man is fundamentally good, to use atrite term, given the opportunity. "

"My education has evidently been neglected, " Patricia said, stillargumentatively. "I've never seen evidence to support your claim. "

"I'm not saying individuals don't react negatively, given opportunity tobe antisocial, " he all but snarled. "I'm just saying people in general, common, little people, trend toward decency, desire the right thing. "

"Individuals my . .. My neck, " Patricia snapped back. "Did you ever hearof Rome and the games? Here a whole people, millions of them, were giventhe opportunity to indulge in sadistic spectacles to their heart'sdesire. How many of them stayed home from the games?" She laughed inridicule. 

Ross flushed. "Some of them did, confound it. "

Dr. Braun had been taking in their debate, uncomfortably. As though inspite of himself, he said now, "Very few, I am afraid. "

"Religious ethic, " Patricia pursued, relentlessly. "The greatest of thecommandments is Thou Shalt Not Kill, but comes along a war in whichkilling becomes not only permissible but an absolute virtue and all ourgood Christians, Jews, Mohammedans and even Buddhists, who supposedlyare not even allowed to kill mosquitoes, wade in with sheer happiness. "

"War releases abnormal passions, " Ross said grudgingly. 

"You don't need a war. Look at the Germans, supposedly one of our mosthighly civilized people. When the Nazi government released allrestraints on persecution of the Jews, gypsies and others, you know whathappened. This began in peace time, not in war. "

Dr. Braun shifted in his chair. He said, his voice low, "We needn't lookbeyond our own borders. The manner in which our people conductedthemselves against the Amerinds from the very beginning of the whiteoccupation of North America was quite shocking. "

Ross said to him, "I thought you were on my side. The Indian wars were along time ago. We're more advanced now. "

Dr. Braun said softly, "My father fought against Geronimo in Arizona. Itwasn't so long ago as all that. "

Ross Wooley felt the argument going against him and lashed back. "We'vebeen over and over this, what's your point?"

Patricia said doggedly, "The same point I tried to make from thebeginning. This discovery must not be generally released. We'll simplyhave to suppress it. "

 * * * * *

The door opened behind them. They turned. Nothing was there. Ross, scowling, lumbered to his feet to walk over and close it. 

"Hey, take it easy, " a voice laughed. "Don't walk right into a guy. "

Ross stopped, startled. 

Dr. Braun and Patricia stood up and stared, too. 

Crowley laughed. "You all look like you're seeing a ghost. "

Ross rumbled a grudging chuckle. "It'd be all right if we _saw_ theghost, it's not seeing you that's disconcerting. "

The air began to shimmer, somewhat like heat on the desert's face. 

Crowley said, "Hey, the stuff's wearing off. Where're my clothes?"

"Where you left them. There in that bedroom, " Ross said. "We'll wait foryou. " He went back and rejoined his associates. The door to the bedroomopened, there was a shimmering, more obvious now, and then the doorclosed behind it. 

"He rejoined us just in time, " Dr. Braun murmured. "Another ten minutesand he would have . .. Umah . .. _materialized_ down on the street. "

Ross hadn't finished the discussion. He said, his face in all but pout, "What you don't realize, Pat, is the world has gone beyond the pointwhere scientific discoveries can be suppressed. If we try to keep thelid on this today, the Russians or Chinese, or somebody, will hit on ittomorrow. "

Patricia said impatiently, "Good heavens, let's don't bring the Cold Warinto it. "

Ross opened his mouth to snap something back at her, closed it again andshrugged his bulky shoulders angrily. 

In a matter of less than ten minutes the bedroom door reopened and thistime a grinning Crowley emerged, fully dressed. He said, "Man, that wasa devil of an experience!"

They saw him to a chair and had him talk it all through. He was candidenough, bubbling over with it all. 

In the some eleven and a half hours he'd been on his own, he had coveredquite an area of Manhattan. 

Evidently the first hour had been spent in becoming used to thestartling situation. He couldn't even see himself, which, to hissurprise affected walking and even use of his hands. You had to get usedto it. Then there was the fact that he was nude and _felt_ nude andhence uncomfortable walking about in mixed pedestrian traffic. But thatphase passed. Early in the game he found that there was small percentagein getting into crowds. It led to all sorts of complications, includingthe starting of minor rows, one person thinking another was pushing whenit was simply a matter of Crowley trying to get out from underfoot. 

Then he went through a period of the wonder of it all. Being able towalk _anywhere_ and observe people who had no suspicion that they werebeing observed. It was during that phase that he had sought out thehotel in which he had read the chesty French movie actress BrigetteLoren was in residence. Evidently, he'd hit the nail right on the head. Brigette was at her toilette when he arrived on scene. In telling aboutthis, Crowley leered amusedly at Patricia from the side of his eyes. Sheignored him. 

Then he'd gone through a period when the full realization of hisimmunity had hit him. 

At this point he turned to Braun, "Hey, Doc, you ever eaten any caviar?You know, that Russian stuff. Supposed to be the most expensive food inthe world. "

The doctor cleared his throat. "Small amounts in hors d'oeuvres atcocktail parties. "

"Well, maybe I'm just a country boy but the stuff tastes like fish eggsto me. Anyway, to get back to the story. .. . "

He'd gone into Tiffany's and into some of the other swank shops. Andthen into a bank or two, and stared at the treasures of Manhattan. 

At this point he looked at Ross. "You know, just being invisible don'tmean all that. How you going to pick up a wad of thousand dollar billsand just walk out the front door with them? Everybody'd see the doughjust kind of floating through the air. "

"I came to the same conclusion myself, when I experimented, " Ross saidwryly. 

He had ridden on the subways . .. Free. He had eaten various food invarious swank restaurants. He had even had drinks in name bars, samplingeverything from Metaxa to vintage champagne. He was of the opinion thateven though he remained invisible for the rest of his years, he'd stillstick to bourbon and beer. 

[Illustration]

He had gone down to Wall Street and into the offices of the topbrokerage firms and into the sanctum sanctorums of the wealthiest ofmucky-mucks but had been too impatient to stick around long enough topossibly hear something that might be profitable. He admitted, grudgingly, that he wouldn't have known what to listen for anyway. Frustrated there, he had gone back uptown and finally located thehangout of one of the more renown sports promoters who was rumored tohave gangster connections and was currently under bail due to a boxingscandal. He had stayed about that worthy's office for an hour, gleaningnothing more than several dirty jokes he'd never heard before. 

All this activity had wearied him so he went to the Waldorf, located anempty suite in the tower and climbed into bed for a nap after coollyphoning room service to give him a call in two hours. That had almostled to disaster. Evidently, someone on room service had found the suiteto be supposedly empty and had sent a boy up to investigate. However, when he had heard the door open, Crowley had merely rolled out of thebed and left, leaving a startled bellhop behind staring at rumpledbedclothes which had seemed to stir of their own accord. 

 * * *

The rest of the day was little different from the first hours. He hadgone about gawking in places he couldn't have had he been visible. Intothe dressing room of the Roxie, into the bars of swank private clubs, into the offices of the F. B. I. He would have liked to have walked in ona poker game with some real high rollers playing, such as Nick theGreek, but he didn't have the time nor know-how to go about finding one. 

Crowley wound it all up with a gesture of both hands, palms upward. "Igotta admit, it was fun, but what the devil good is it?"

They looked at him questioningly. 

Crowley said, "I mean, how's it practical? How can you make a buck outof it, if you turn it over to the public, like? Everybody'd go aroundrobbing everybody else and you'd all wind up equal. "

Dr. Braun chuckled in deprecation. "There would be various profitableuses, Don. One priceless one would be scientific observation of wildlife. For that matter there would be valid usage in everyday life. Thereare often personal reasons for not wishing to be observed. Celebrities, for instance, wishing to avoid crowds. "

"Yeah, " Crowley laughed, "or a businessman out with his secretary. "

Dr. Braun frowned. "Of course, there are many other aspects. It wouldmean the end of such things as the Iron Curtain. And also the end ofsuch things as American immigration control. There are many, manyramifications, Don, some of which frighten us. The world would be neverquite the same. "

Crowley leaned forward confidentially. "Well, I'll tell you. I wasthinking it all out. What we got to do is turn it over to the Army andsoak them plenty for it. "

The others ignored his cutting himself a piece of the cake. 

Ross Wooley merely grunted bitterly. 

Patricia said impatiently, "We've thought most of these things through, Don. However, Dr. Braun happens to be quite a follower of Lord Russell. "

Crowley looked at her blankly. 

"He's a pacifist, " she explained. 

Braun pushed his glasses back more firmly on his nose and said, gently, "The military already have enough gadgets to destroy quite literallyeverything and I trust one set of them no more than the other. If_both_ sides had our discovery, then, very well, each would go aboutattempting to find some manner of penetrating the invisibility, ortaking various measures to protect their top secrets. But to give it tojust one would be such an advantage that the other would have to embarkimmediately upon a desperate attack before the advantage could be fullyrealized. If we turn this over to the Pentagon, for exclusive use, theSoviets would have to begin a preventative war as soon as they learnedof its existence. "

"You a red?" Crowley said, scowling. 

The doctor shrugged hopelessly. "No, " he said. 

Crowley turned to the other two. "If you think it's the patriotic thingto do, why don't one of you sell it to the government?"

Patricia said testily, "You don't understand, Don. Even if we were sothoroughly in disagreement that we would act unilaterally, we couldn't. You see, this is a three-way discovery. No one of us knows the completeprocess. "

His face twisted. "Look, maybe some of this egghead stuff doesn't getthrough to me but I'm not stupid, see? You got the stuff, haven't you?You gave me that shot this morning. "

Braun took over, saying reasonably, "Don, this discovery was hit upon byaccident. The three of us are employed in the laboratories of a medicalresearch organization. I am the department head. Patricia and Ross weredoing some routine work on a minor problem when they separately stumbledupon some rather startling effects, practically at the same time. Each, separately, brought their discoveries to me, and, working you might sayintuitively, I added some conclusions of my own, and . .. Well, I repeat, the discovery was stumbled upon. "

Crowley assimilated that. "None of you knows how to do it, make thoseinjections like, by himself?"

"That is correct. Each knows just one phase of the process. Each mustcombine with the other two. "

Patricia said impatiently, "And thus far we wish to keep it that way. Rossie believes the discovery should be simultaneously revealed on aworld-wide basis, and let man adapt to it as best he can. I think itshould be suppressed until man has grown up a little--if he ever does. The doctor vacillates between the two positions. What he would trulylike to see, is the method kept only for the use of qualifiedscientists, but even our good doctor realizes what a dream that is. "

Crowley took them all in, one at a time. "Well, what the devil are yougoing to do?"

"That's a good question, " Ross said unhappily. 

"This experiment was a farce, " Patricia said irritably. "After all ourtrouble locating Don, our _Common Man_, we have found out nothing thatwe didn't know before. His reactions were evidently largely similar toour own and. .. . " She broke it off and frowned thoughtfully. The otherthree looked at her questioningly. 

Patricia said, "You know, we simply haven't seen this thing through asyet. "

"What do you mean, Pat?" Ross growled. 

She turned to him. "We haven't given Don the chance to prove which oneof us is right. One day is insufficient. Half the things he wished todo, such as sneaking around picking up stock tips in Wall Street andinside information on sporting events. .. . "

"Hey, take it easy, " Crowley protested. "I was just, like, curious. "

Ross said heatedly, "That's not fair. I'll admit, I, too, thought ofexactly the same possibilities. But _thinking_ about them and goingthrough with them are different things. Haven't you ever thought aboutwhat you'd do if given the chance to be world-wide supreme dictator?But, truly, if the job was offered, would you take it?"

"Good heavens, " Patricia said disgustedly, "remind me to break off ourengagement if I haven't already done it. I hate overpowering men. AllI'm saying is that we'll have to give Don at least a week. One day isn'tenough. "

Dr. Braun cocked his head to one side and said uncomfortably, "I'm notsure but that in a week's time our friend Don might be able. .. . Seehere, Don, do you mind going on down to the hotel's bar while we threetalk this through?"

Crowley obviously took umbrage at that, but there was nothing to bedone. Frowning peevishly, he left. 

The doctor looked from one to the other of his associates. "By Caesar, do you realize the damage friend Don could accomplish in a week's time?"

Patricia laughed at him. "That's what I keep telling the two of you. Doyou realize the damage _any_ person could do with invisibility? Not tospeak of giving it to every Tom, Dick and Harry in the world. "

Ross said, "We've started this, lets go through with it. I back Pat'ssuggestion, that we give Don sufficient serum to give him twelve hoursof invisibility a day for a full week. However, we will ration it out tohim day by day, so that if things get out of hand we can cut hissupply. "

"That's an idea, " Patricia said. "And I suspect that within half theperiod we'll all be convinced that the process will have to besuppressed. "

Ross leaned forward. "Good. I suggest we three keep this suite and getDon a room elsewhere, so he won't be inhibited by our continualpresence. Once a day we'll give him enough serum for one shot and he cantake it any time he wishes to. " He ran his beefy hand back through hisred crew cut in a gesture of satisfaction. "If he seems to get out ofhand, we'll call it all off. "

Dr. Braun cleared his throat unhappily. "I have premonitions ofdisaster, but I suppose if we've come this far we should see theexperiment through. "

Patricia said ungraciously, "At least the lout will be limited in hisaccomplishments by his lack of imagination. Imagine going into thatFrench girl's dressing room. "

"Yeah, " Ross said ludicrously trying to make his big open face lookdreamy. 

"You wretch, " Patricia laughed. "The wedding is off!"

 * * * * *

But Crowley was no lout. He was full of the folk wisdom of his people. 

_God helps those who help themselves. _

_It's each man for himself and the devil take the hindmost. _

Not to speak of. 

_Never give a sucker an even break. _

_If I didn't do it, somebody else would. _

Had he been somewhat more of a student he might also have run into thatnugget of the ancient Greek. _Morals are the invention of the weak toprotect themselves from the strong. _

Once convinced that the three eggheads were incapable of realizing thepotentialities of their discovery, he had little difficulty in arguinghimself into the stand that he should. It helped considerably to realizethat in all the world only four persons, including himself, were awareof the existence of the invisibility serum. 

He spent the first day in what Marx called in "Das Kapital" the"original accumulation of capital, " although it would seem unlikely thateven in the wildest accusations of the most confirmed Marxist, no greatfortune was ever before begun in such wise. 

It was not necessary, he found, to walk into a large bank and simplyseemingly levitate the money out the front door. In fact, that wouldhave meant disaster. However, large sums of money are to be foundelsewhere on Manhattan and for eleven hours Crowley used his nativeingenuity and American know-how, most of which had been gleaned fromwatching TV crime shows. By the end of the day he had managed toaccumulate in the neighborhood of a hundred thousand dollars and wasreasonably sure that the news would not get back to his sponsors. Thefact was, he had cleaned out the treasuries of several numbers racketsand those of two bookies. 

It was important, he well realized, that he be well under way before thethree eggheads decided to lower the boom. 

The second day he spent making his preliminary contacts, an operationthat was helped by his activities of the day before. He was beginningalready to get the feel of the underworld element with which he haddecided he was going to have to work, at least in the early stages ofhis operations. 

Any leader, be he military, political or financial, knows that truegreatness lies in the ability to choose assistants. Be you a Napoleonwith his marshals, a Roosevelt with his brain trust, a J. P. Morgan withhis partners, the truism applies. No great leader has ever stood alone. 

But Crowley also knew instinctively that he was going to have to keepthe number of his immediate associates small. They were going to have toknow his secret, and no man is so naïve as not to realize that while oneperson can keep a secret, it becomes twice as hard for two and from thatpoint on the likelihood fades in a geometric progression. 

On the fifth day he knocked on the door of the suite occupied by Dr. Braun and his younger associates and pushed his way in without waitingfor response. 

The three were sitting around awaiting his appearance and to issue himhis usual day's supply of serum. They greeted him variously, Patriciawith her usual brisk, almost condescending smile; Dr. Braun with agentle nod and a speaking of his first name; Ross Wooley sourly. Rossobviously had some misgivings, the exact nature of which he couldn'tquite put his finger upon. 

Crowley grinned and said, "Hello, everybody. "

"Sit down, Don, " Braun said gently. "We have been discussing yourexperiment. "

While the newcomer was finding his seat, Patricia said testily, "Actually, we are not quite happy about your reports, Don. We feel an. .. If you'll pardon us . .. An evasive quality about them. As though youaren't completely frank. "

"In short, " Ross snapped, "have you been pulling things you haven't toldus about?"

Crowley grinned at them. "Now you folks are downright suspicious. "

Dr. Braun indicated some notes on the coffee table before him. "It seemshardly possible that your activities would be confined largely to goingto the cinema, to the swankier night clubs and eating in the more famedrestaurants. "

Crowley's grin turned into a half embarrassed smirk. Patricia thought ofa small boy who had been caught in a mischief but was still somewhatproud of himself. He said, "Well, I gotta admit that there's been a fewthings. Come on over to my place and I'll show you. " He looked at Braun. "Hey, Doc, about how much is one of them Rembrandt paintings worth?"

Braun rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, "Great Caesar, " he murmured. He came to his feet and looked around at the rest of them. "Let us goover there and learn the worst, " he said. 

At the curb, before the hotel, Ross Wooley looked up and down the streetfor a cab. 

Crowley said, his voice registering self-deprecation, "Over here. "

Over here was a several toned, fantastically huge hover-limousine, anattily dressed, sharp-looking, expressionless-faced young man behindthe wheel. 

The three looked at Crowley. 

He opened the door. "Climb in folks. Nothing too good for youscientists, eh?"

Inside, sitting next to a window with Patricia beside him and Dr. Braunat the far window, and with Ross in a jump seat, Crowley saidexpansively, "This is Larry. Larry, this is Doc Braun and his friends Iwas telling you about, Ross Wooley and Pat O'Gara. They're likescientists. "

Larry said, "Hi, " without inflection, and tooled the heavy car out intothe traffic. 

[Illustration]

Ross spun on Crowley. "Don, where'd you get this car?"

Crowley laughed. "You'll see. Take it easy. You'll see a lot of things. "

 * * *

They were too caught up in their own thoughts and in the barrage ofdemands they were leveling at Crowley to notice direction. It wasn'tuntil they were already on the George Washington Bridge that Patriciablurted, "Don, this isn't the way to your hotel!"

Crowley said tolerantly, "Take it easy, Pat. We're taking a shortdetour. Something I have to show you in Jersey. "

"I don't like this, " Ross snapped. The redhead shifted his heavyshoulders in a reflexive protest against the confining tweed coat hewore. 

"Relax, " Crowley told him reasonably. "I've been thinking things outquite a bit and I've got a lot to discuss with you folks. "

They were across the bridge now and Larry headed into the maze whichfinally unraveled itself to the point that it was obvious they wereheading north. Larry hit the lift lever and they rose ten feet from thesurface. 

Dr. Braun said evenly, "You had no intention of taking us to your room. You used that as a ruse to get us out of our hotel and, further, acrossthe bridge until we are now in a position where it's quite impossiblefor us to summon police assistance. "

Crowley grinned. "That's right, Doc. Didn't I tell you these three werereal eggheads, Larry? Look how quick he figured that out. "

Larry grunted in what might have been amusement. 

Ross, growling low in his throat, turned suddenly in his jump seat andgrabbed Crowley by the coat front. "What's going on here?"

Crowley snapped, "Larry!"

From seemingly nowhere, the chauffeur had produced a thin blackautomatic and was now lazily pointing it, not so much at Ross Wooley asat Dr. Braun and Patricia. He said evenly, softly, "Easy, friend. "

Ross released his grip, "Put that thing away, " he blurted. 

"Sure, sure, " Larry said, his voice all but disinterested. The gundisappeared. 

Crowley, only slightly ruffled, said now, "Take it easy, Ross. Nothing'sgoing to happen to you. I'm going to need you folks and I'm going totreat you right. "

"Where are we going?" Ross growled. 

"I had the boys rent me a big estate like up in the Catskills. Bigplace, nice and quiet. In fact, the last tenants used it for one ofthese rest sanitariums. You know, rich people with DTs or trying to geta monkey off their back. "

"The boys?" Patricia said softly. 

He looked at her and grinned again. Crowley was obviously enjoyinghimself. "I got a few people working for me, " he explained. 

Dr. Braun blurted, "You fool! You mean you've revealed the existence ofthe process Pat, Ross and I worked out to a group of ignoramuses?"

Crowley said angrily, "Now look, Doc, let's don't get on that bit. MaybeI'm just a country boy but I'm as smart as the next man. Just becausesome of you eggheads spend half your life in college don't mean you'vegot any monopoly on good common sense. I went to the school of hardknocks, understand, and I got plenty of diplomas to prove it. Take iteasy on that ignoramus talk. "

Patricia said suddenly, "Don's right, Dr. Braun. I think you've badlyunderestimated him. "

Ross snorted sourly at that remark. "We've all underestimated him. Well, I think you'll agree that our friend Don will get no more injections ofthe invisibility serum. "

Crowley chuckled. 

They looked at him. Three sinkings of stomach taking placesimultaneously. 

"Now, you know I thought that might be your altitude. .. . "

"Attitude, " Ross muttered. 

". .. So I went to the trouble of coming up to your suite last night andsort of confiscating the supply. By the looks of it, I'd say there wasenough for another ten shots or so. "

"See, " Patricia said to Ross. "You're not as smart as you thought youwere. Don's one up on you. "

 * * * * *

The estate which the "boys" had secured for Crowley was two or threemiles out of Tannersville on a mountainside and quite remote. He tookconsiderable pride in showing them about, although it was obvious thathe had been here before only once himself. 

He was obviously enjoying the situation thoroughly and had planned itout in some detail. Besides the empty-faced Larry, who had driven thecar, they were introduced to two more of Crowley's confederates, neitherof whom gave any indication that the three were present under duress. The first was a heavy-set, moist palmed southerner with a false air ofthe jovial. He shook hands heartily, said nothing with a good many wordsfor a few minutes and then excused himself. The third confidant was anolder man of sad mien who would have passed easily in the swankest ofWashington, New York or London private clubs. He was introduced simplyas Mr. Whitely, greeted them pleasantly as though all were fellowguests, had a word to say about the weather then and passed on. 

Patricia was frowning. "Your southern friend, Paul Teeter, it seems tome I've heard his name before. "

Crowley grinned. "Oh, Paul's been in the news from time to time. "

Ross was looking after Mr. Whitely who had disappeared into the mainbuilding. They were standing on the lawn, as part of the guided tourCrowley was giving them. He growled, "I suppose the two of them areexperienced confidence men, or something. "

"Take it easy with those cracks, Ross, " Crowley said. "Whitely used tohave a seat on the Stock Exchange. A real big shot. But that was beforethey disbarred him, or whatever they call it. "

"See here, " Dr. Braun said urgently. "We've had enough of all this, Don. I propose we go somewhere where it will be possible for us to bring youto your senses, and save you from disaster. "

"Kind of a powwow, eh? O. K. , Doc, come on in here. " He led them to theentrance, conducted them inside and into a library that led off the main_entrada_. He said, "By the way, Larry has a few of his boys up herejust kind of like estate watchmen. Some of them aren't much used tobeing out of the city and they get nervous. So. .. . "

Ross growled, "All right, all right, don't try to make like a third-ratevillain in a B-Movie. You have guards about and it would be dangerous totry to leave without your permission. "

"How about that?" Crowley exclaimed as though amazed. "Man, you eggheadscatch on quick. Nothing like a college education. " He waved them tochairs. "I'm going to have to leave for a while. Whitely's got some bigdeal brewing and we got to work it out. " He grinned suddenly. "AndLarry's got a different kind of deal. One he's been planning for yearsbut hasn't been able to swing one or two details. It's a caution howmany details a little man who wasn't there can handle in one of theseking-size capers. "

He had used the pseudo-criminal term, caper, with considerablesatisfaction. Crowley was obviously having the time of his life. 

"Very well, " Braun said, "we'll wait. " When the other had left the room, leaving the door open behind him, the doctor turned to his two youngerassociates. "What children we've been. "

Ross Wooley growled unhappily, "Brother, we couldn't have picked a worseso-called Common Man, if we'd tried. That character is as nutty as astuffed date. Do you realize what he's in a position to do?"

Patricia twisted her mouth thoughtfully. "I wonder if any of us reallyrealize. I am afraid even with all our speculation, we never trulythought this out. "

Dr. Braun pushed his glasses back on his nose with a forefinger. Heshook his head. "You make a mistake, Ross. We didn't make a bad choicein our selection of Don Crowley for our typical Common Man. "

Ross looked at him and snorted. 

Braun said doggedly, "Remember, we attempted to find the average man, the common man, the little man, the man in the street. Well, it becomesobvious to me that we did just that. "

Patricia said thoughtfully, "I don't know. I'm inclined to think thatfrom the beginning you two have underestimated Don. He has certainlyshown considerable ingenuity. Do you realize that he's done all this ina matter of less than a week?"

"Done all _what_?" Ross said sarcastically. 

She gestured. "Look at this establishment. He's obviously acquiredconsiderable money, and he already has an organization, or at least thebeginnings of one. "

"That is beside the point, " Braun said ruefully. "I say that he isreacting as would be expected. As the average man in the street wouldreact given the opportunity to seize almost unlimited power, and withsmall chance of reprisal. "

Patricia shrugged as though in disagreement. 

Braun looked at Ross Wooley. "Close the door, Ross. Lord knows whenwe'll have another chance to confer. Obviously, something must be done. "

Ross came quickly to his feet, crossed to the door, looked up and downthe hallway which was empty and then closed the door behind him. He cameback to the others and drew his chair in closer so that they couldcommunicate in low voices. 

Braun said, "One thing is definite. We must not allow him to securefurther serum. For all we know, he might be planning to inject some ofthose gangsters he's affiliated himself with. "

Patricia shook her head thoughtfully. "I still think you underestimateDon. He must realize he can't trust them. At this stage, he has had toconfide in at least two or three, fully to utilize his invisibility. Butin the long run it isn't to his advantage to have _anybody_ know aboutit. If the authorities, such as the F. B. I. , began looking for aninvisible man, sooner or later they would penetrate the field ofinvisibility. "

"You mean you think Crowley will use these men for a time and then . .. Destroy them?"

"He'll have to, or sooner or later the secret will be out. "

Braun said in soft logic, "If he can't allow anyone to know about it, then we, too, must be destroyed. "

Ross growled, "Then we've got to finish him first. "

Patricia said, "Now, I don't know. Don is showing considerably moresense than you two evidently give him credit for. I think in many wayswhat he's done is quite admirable. He's seen his chance--and has graspedit. Why, I wouldn't be surprised that Don will be the most powerful manin the country within months. "

The two men were staring at her. Ross sputtered, "Have you gonecompletely around the bend? Are you defending this . .. This. .. . "

 * * *

A voice chuckled, "Mind your language, Buster. Just take it easy oryou'll wind up with some missing teeth. "

Ross jumped to his feet as though couched with an electric prod. Dr. Braun stiffened in his chair and his eyes darted about the room. 

Patricia alone seemed collected. "Don Crowley!" she exclaimed. "Youshould be ashamed of yourself, listening in on private conversations. "

"Yeah, " the voice said. "However, it's handy to know what the other sideis dreaming up in the way of a bad time for you. Sit down, Buster. I'vegot a few things to say. "

Muttering, Ross resumed his place. The doctor sighed deeply and sankback onto the sofa he had been occupying. The three could see anindentation magically appear in the upholstery of an easy-chair acrossfrom them. 

Crowley's voice said confidently, "You know, from the first, I've kepttelling you eggheads that I'm not stupid, but none of you've bothered tolisten. You think just because you spent six or eight years of your lifein some college that you're automatically smarter than other people. ButI got a theory, like, that it doesn't make any difference if you spentyour whole life going to college, you still wouldn't wind up smart ifyou didn't start that way. "

Ross began to mutter something, but Crowley snapped, "Shut up for aminute, I'm talking. " He resumed his condescending tone. "Just forexample, take a couple of guys who got to the top. Edison in science andKhrushchev in politics. For all practical purposes, neither of them wentto school at all. Khrushchev didn't even learn to read until he wastwenty-eight years old. 

"Then take Dr. Braun here. He's spent half his life in school, andwhere's it got him? He'd make more dough if he owned the local garageand dealer franchise for one of the automobile companies in somejerkwater town. And look at Ross. He'd probably make more money playingpro football than he does messing around with all those test tubes andBunsen burners and everything. What good has all the school doneeither?"

Dr. Braun said gently, "Could we get to the point?"

"Take it easy, Doc. I'm in charge here. You just sit and listen. Thepoint is, you three with your smart-Aleck egghead education started offthinking Mr. Common Man, like you call me, is stupid. Well, it just sohappens I'm not. Take Pat there. She's smarter than you two, but she hadthe same idea. That this here country boy isn't as smart as she is. She's going to fox him, see? As soon as she saw the way the cards werefalling, she started buttering up to me. She even figured out that I wasprobably right in this room listening to you planning how to trip me up. So she pretended to take sides against you. "

"Why, Don!" Patricia protested. 

"Come off it, kid. You probably hate my guts worse than the others. Youwere the one who thought this _particular_ average man was a slob. Thatall common people were slobs. "

Patricia's face went expressionless, but Ross, knowing her well, couldsense her dismay. Crowley was right. She had been trying to play acareful game but their supposedly average man had seen through her. 

Crowley's voice went thoughtful. "I been doing a lot of thinking thisweek. A lot of it. And you want to know something? You know what Idecided? I decided that everybody talks a lot about the Common Man butactually he's never had a chance to, like, express himself. He's neverbeen able to put over the things he's always wanted. "

"Haven't you ever heard of democracy?" Ross said sourly. "Who do youthink elects our officials?"

"Shut up, I told you. I'm talking now. Sure, every four years the lousypoliticians come around and they stick coonskin caps on their heads orIndian bonnets and start saying ain't when they make their speeches. Showing they're just folks, see? They go out into the country, and sticka straw in their mouth and talk about crops to the farmers, all thatsort of thing. But they aren't _really_ common folks. Most of them arelawyers or bankers or something. They run those political parties andmake all the decisions themselves. The Common Man never really hasanything to say about it. "

Braun said reasonably, "You have your choice. If you think one candidateis opposed to your interests you can elect the other. "

Crowley grunted his contempt. "But they're both the same. No, therehasn't been no common man in Washington since Lincoln, and maybe hewasn't. Well, I'll tell you something. The kind of talk I hear down inthe corner saloon from just plain people makes a lot more sense to methan all this stuff the politicians pull. "

Dr. Braun cleared his throat and stared at the seemingly empty chairfrom whence came the other's belligerent voice. "Are you thinking ofentering politics, Don?"

"Maybe I am. "

"Good heavens, " Patricia ejaculated. 

"Oh, I'm not smart enough, eh? Well, listen baby, the eggheads don'tseem to be so great in there. Maybe it's time the Common Man took over. "

Dr. Braun said reasonably, "But see here, Crowley, the ability toachieve invisibility doesn't give you any advantages in swingingelections or. .. . " He broke off in mid-sentence and did a mental doubletake. 

Crowley laughed in contempt. "The biggest thing you need to winelections, Doc, is plenty of dough. And I'll have that. But I'll alsohave the way to do more muck-raking than anybody in history. _I'll_ sitin on every important private get-together those crook politicians have. I'll get the details of every scheme they cook up. I'll get into anysafe or safe deposit box. I'll have the common people, you sneer so muchabout, screaming for their blood. "

Ross rumbled, "What do you expect to accomplish in office, Crowley?"

The voice became expansive. "Lots of things. Take this Cold War. If youdrop into any neighborhood bar, you'll hear what the common man thinksabout it. "

The three of them stared at the seemingly empty chair. 

"Drop the bomb first!" Crowley snapped. "Finish those reds off beforethey start it. In fact, I'm not even sure they've got the bomb. They'renot smart enough to. .. . "

"There was sputnik, you know, " Ross interrupted sourly. 

"Yeah, but built by those captured German scientists. We're way ahead ofthose Russkies in everything. Hit 'em now. Finish 'em off. The eggheadsin Washington are scared of their own shadows. Another thing I'd end isgetting suckered in by those French and English politicians. What doesAmerica need with those countries? They always start up these wars andget us to bail them out. And I say stop all this foreign aid and keepthe money in our own country. 

"And we can do a lot of cleaning up right here, too. We got to kick allthe commies out of the government. Make all the commies and socialistsand these egghead liberals, illegal. In fact, I'm in favor of shootingthem. When you got an enemy, finish him off. And take the Jews. I'm notanti-Semitic, like, understand. Some of my best friends are Jews. Butyou got to realize that wherever they go they cause trouble. They sticktogether and take over the best businesses and all. O. K. , you know whatI say? I say kick them out of the country. And they all came over herepoor and made their money here. So let them leave the way they came. We'll, like, confiscate all their property except like personalthings. "

Patricia had closed her eyes in pain long before this. She said, softly, "I imagine somewhere along in here we'll get to the Negroes. "

"I'm not against them. Just so they stay in their place. But thisintegration stuff is bunk. You got to face facts. Negroes aren't assmart as white people, neither are Chinks or Mexicans or Puerto Ricans. So, O. K. , give them their own schools, up to high school is all theyneed, and let them have jobs like waiters and janitors and like that. They shouldn't take a white man's job and they shouldn't be allowed tomarry white people. It deteriorates the race, like. "

Crowley was really becoming wound up now. Wound up and expansive. "There's a lot of things I'd change, see. Take freedom of speech andpress and like that. Sure I believe in that, I'm one hundred per centAmerican. But you can't allow people to talk against the government. Freedom of speech is O. K. , but you can't let a guy jump up in the middleof a theater and yell fire. "

"Why not?" Ross growled. "Freedom of speech is more important than a fewmovie houses full of people. Besides, if one man is allowed to jump upand yell fire, then somebody else can yell out 'You're a liar, there isno fire. '"

"You're not funny, " Crowley said ominously. 

"I wasn't trying to be, " Ross muttered, and then blurred into suddenaction. He shot to his feet, and then, arms extended, dashed toward thesource of the voice. He hit the chair without slowing, grappled crazily. 

"I've got him!" He wrestled awkwardly, fantastically, seemingly in aninsane tumbling without opponent. 

Patricia was on her feet. She grasped an antique bronze candle-holderand darted toward the now fallen chair and to where Ross was wrestlingdesperately on the floor. Crowley was attempting to shout, but waslargely smothered. 

Patricia held the candlestick at the ready, trying to find an opening, trying to locate the invisible Crowley's head. 

Frederick Braun staggered to his own feet, bewildered, shaking. 

A voice from the door said flatly, "O. K. , that's it. " Then, sharper, "Isaid cut it out. You all right, Mr. Crowley?"

It was Larry. His thin black automatic was held almost negligently inhis right hand. He ran his eyes up and down Patricia, taking in thecandlestick weapon. His ordinarily empty face registered a flicker ofamused approval. 

Patricia gasped, "Oh, no, " dropped her bludgeon and sank into a chair, her head in her hands. 

Ross, his face in dismay, came slowly to his feet. The redhead stared atthe gunman, momentarily considering further attack. Larry, ignoringboth Braun and Patricia, swung the gun to cover him exclusively. "Iwouldn't, " he said emptily. 

Of a sudden, Ross' head jerked backward. His nose flattened, crushingly, and then spurted blood. He reeled back, his head flinging this way andthat, bruises and cuts appeared magically. 

Crowley's voice raged, "You asked for it, wise guy. How do you likethese apples?"

The saturnine Larry chuckled sourly. "Hey, take it easy, chief. You'llkill the guy. "

Ross had crumpled to the floor. There were still sounds of blows. Crowley raged, "You're lucky I'm not wearing shoes, I'd break every ribin your body!"

Patricia was staring in hopeless horror. She said sharply, "Don, remember you need Ross! You need all of us! Without all of us there canbe no more serum. "

The blows stopped. 

"There will be no more serum anyway, " Braun said shakily. The thinlittle man still stood before his chair having moved not at all sincethe action began. 

Crowley's heavy breathing could be heard but he managed a snarl. "That'swhat you think, Doc. "

Braun said, "By Caesar, I absolutely refuse to. .. . "

Crowley interrupted ominously. "You know, Doc, that's where thisparticular common man has it all over you eggheads. You spend so muchtime reading, you don't take in the action shows on TV. Now what you'rethinking is that even if we were going to twist your arm a little, you'dstick to your guns. But suppose, like, it was Pat we was working on, while you had to sit and watch. "

The elderly man's brave front collapsed and his thin shoulders slumped. 

Crowley barked a laugh. 

Patricia by now, was bent over the unconscious Ross crying even as shetried to help him. 

Crowley said to the silent, all but disinterested Larry, "Have thesethree put in separate rooms in that section they used for the violentwing when the place was a nuthouse. Have a good guard and see they don'ttalk back and forth. "

"You're the boss, " Larry said languidly. 

 * * * * *

Crowley was thorough. For that they had to give him credit. They werekept divided, each in a different room-cell and with at least two burly, efficient guards on constant watch. They were fed on army-type trays andtheir utensils checked carefully. There was no communicationallowed--even with the guard. 

The second day, Crowley took measures to see their disappearance raisedno alarm at either their place of employment or at their residences. This raised few problems since all were single and all had alreadytaken off both from the job and from their homes in order to carry outtheir experiment. Crowley forced them to write further notes and lettersfinding excuses for extending their supposed vacations. He also hadLarry return to the hotel suite, pay their bill, pack their things andbring them to the Catskill estate which had become their prison. 

He had them make up lists of materials and equipment they would need forfurther manufacture of the serum upon which they had stumbled, and sentoff men to acquire the things. 

And on three occasions during the following weeks he had them broughtfrom their cells and spent an hour or so with them at lunch or dinner. Crowley evidently needed an audience beyond that of his henchmen. Therelease of his basic character, formerly repressed, was progressinggeometrically and there seemed to be an urgency to crow, to brag, toboast. 

[Illustration]

On the third of these occasions he was already seated at the table whenthey were ushered into the dining room. Crowley dismissed the guardswith a wave of his hand as though they were liveried servants. 

All had eaten but there were liqueurs and coffee, cigars and cigaretteson the broad table. 

Ross sank into a chair and growled, "Well, what hath the great manwrought by now?"

Crowley grinned at him, poured coffee and then a dollop of Napoleonbrandy into it. He gestured with a hand. "Help yourselves, folks. Howyou feeling? You been getting all the books you wanted? You look kind ofpeaked, Pat. "

"Miss O'Gara to you, you ape with delusions of grandeur, " she snapped. "When are you going to let us out of those prison cells?"

Crowley wasn't provoked. The strong can afford to laugh at themalcontented weak. "That's one of the things you never know, " he saideasily. "You sure you want out? Something the Doc said the other day hada lotta fact in it. The fewer people know about this secret of mine, thebetter off I'll be and the better off I am, the better off the wholecountry is going to be and I gotta think about that. I gotresponsibilities. "

"A combination of Engine Charley and Louis XIV, eh?" Ross muttered, running his beefy hand back over his crew cut. It was a relief to getout of his room and talk with the others, but he didn't want Crowley tosee that. 

"What's that?" the other was impatient of conversation that went abovehis head. 

Dr. Braun explained gently. "One said, _I am the State_, and the other, _anything that's good for my corporation is good for the UnitedStates_--or something quite similar. "

Crowley sipped at his coffee royal. "Well, anyway, Pat, the day you'reready to leave that cell, you'd better start worrying cause that'll meanI don't need you any more. "

Ross growled, "You didn't answer my question. Robbed any banks lately, great man?"

The other eyed him coldly. "Take it easy, Buster. Maybe in the earlystages of the Common Man Movement we hafta take some strong-armmeasures, but that stage's about finished. "

Patricia O'Gara was interested in spite of herself. She said. "You meanyou already have all the money you need?"

He was expansive. Obviously there was nothing to lose with these threeand he liked a sounding board. In spite of his alleged contempt foreggheads there was an element in Crowley which wished to impress them, to grant him equal status in their own estimations. 

"There's a devil of a lot to know about big finance. You need a starter, but once you get it, the stuff just rolls in automatic. " He grinnedsuddenly, almost boyishly. "Especially when you got a certain littleadvantage, like me. "

Braun said, interestedly, "How do you put your advantage to work?"

"Well, now, I gotta admit we aren't quite out of the woods. We need morecapital to work with, but after tonight we'll have it. Remember thatBrinks job up in New England a long time ago? Well, we got somethinglined up even bigger. I work with Larry and his boys to pull it. Thenthere's another thing cooking that Whitely's been keeping tabs on. Itlooks like IBM is going to split its stock, three for one. I gottaattend their next secret executive meeting and find out. If they do, webuy in just before, see? We buy on margin, buy options, all that sort ofjazz. Whitely knows all about it. Then we got another big deal inWashington. Looks like the government might devaluate the dollar. Whitely explained it to me, kind of. Anyway, I got to sit in on aconference the President's gonna have. If they really decide to devalue, then Whitely and me, we go ahead and put every cent we got into Swissgold. Then the day after devaluation, we switch it all back into dollarsagain. Double our money. Oh, we got all sorts of angles, Doc. "

"By Caesar, " Braun ejaculated. "You seem to have. "

 * * *

Patricia had poured herself some coffee and was sipping it, black, evenas she stared at him. "But, Don, what do you need all this money for?You already have more than plenty. Why not call it all off. Get out fromunder. "

Ross grunted, "Too late, Pat. Can't you see? He's got the power urgealready. "

Crowley ignored him and turned to her, pouring more coffee and cognacfor himself. "I'm not running up all this dough just for me. You thinkyou're the only one's got ideals, like? Let me tell you, I might just bea country boy but I got ambitions to put some things right in thisworld. "

"Such as. .. . " Patricia prodded, bitterness in her voice. 

"Aw, we went through all that the other day. The thing is, now it'sreally under way. If you was seeing the newspapers these days, you'dknow about the Common Man Party. "

"Oh, oh, " Ross muttered unhappily. 

"It's just getting under way, " Crowley said modestly, "but we're hiringtwo of the top Madison Avenue outfits to handle publicity and we'rerecruiting some of the best practical politicians in the field. "

"Practical politicians!" Ross snorted. "Types like Huey Long, McCarthy, Pendergast, I suppose. "

The other misunderstood him. "Yeah, and even better. We're going in bigfor TV time, full-page ads in the newspapers and magazines. That sort ofthing. The average man's getting tired of the same old talk from theRepublicans and Democrats. Paul Teeter thinks we might have a chance inthe next election, given enough dough to plow into it. "

Ross leaned back disdainfully. "What a combination. Whitely, the brokerwho has been barred from activity on Wall Street; Teeter, the crookedpolitician, but with connections from top to bottom; and Larry, whateverhis name is. .. . "

"Morazzoni, " Crowley supplied. "You know where I first ran into hisname? In one of them true crime magazines. He's a big operator. "

"I'll bet he is, " the redhead growled. "Probably with good Mafiaconnections. I'm surprised you haven't attempted to take over thatoutfit. "

Crowley laughed abruptly. "We're working on that, pal. Just take it easyand all these things will work their way out. But meanwhile I didn'tbring you jokers here to make snide remarks. I got work for you. I'mfresh out of that serum and you three are going to brew me up anotherbatch. "

They looked at him, Dr. Braun, Ross Wooley, Patricia O'Gara, their facesregistering stubbornness, revolt and dismay. 

He shook his head. "Larry and some of his boys have experience. I gottaadmit, I wouldn't even want to watch. "

"I'm for standing firm, " Braun said stiffly. "There are but three of us. The most they can do is kill us. But if this man's insanity is releasedon the world. .. . "

Crowley was shaking his head in deprecation. "Like when you say theworst we can do is kill you. Man, haven't you heard about the Nazis andcommies and all? You oughta read some of the men's adventure magazines. How do you think Joe Stalin got all them early Bolsheviks to confess?You think they weren't tough buzzards? Why make us go to all thetrouble, when you'd just cave in eventually anyway? Save yourself thegrief. "

Patricia said impatiently, "He's right, I'm afraid. I would collapserather quickly under physical coercion. You might last a bit longer, Ross possibly longer still. But in the end we would concede. "

Crowley said, as though in amazement, "You know, eggheads aren't asstupid as some would reckon. O. K. , folks, I got a laboratory all fixedup with your things. Let's go. Ah, Ross, old pal, I'm carrying heat, asLarry would say, so let's don't have any trouble, eh?"

He had been as good as his word in regards to the laboratory. It wasobviously one of the rooms used by the staff when the place had been asanitarium. Now, each of the three had all the equipment and suppliesthey required. 

Crowley took a seat at the far end of the room, facing them. There hadbeen a guard outside the door when they entered and a call would bringhim in seconds. Even so, Crowley sat in such wise that his right handwas ready to plunge inside his coat to the gun that evidently washolstered there. He said, "O. K. , folks, let's get about it. "

 * * *

It took them half an hour or so to sort out those materials each neededin his own contribution to the end product. 

Their captor looked at his watch impatiently. "Let's get a move on, here. I thought this was going to take a few minutes. "

Patricia said testily, "What's the hurry, Don?"

He grinned at her. "Tonight's the big night. This evening, just beforeclosing, I walk into. .. . Well, you don't have to know the name. Like Isaid, it'll make the Brinks job look like peanuts. They lock up theplace and leave, see? O. K. , about two o'clock in the morning, when thecity's dead, Larry and the boys drive up into an alley, behind. I goaround, one by one, and sock the four guards on the back of the head. Then I open up for Larry and they take their time and clear the placeout. From then on, we got all the dough we need to start pyramiding itup on the Stock Exchange and like that. "

Patricia had drawn on rubber gloves, pulled a lab apron around her. Shebegan reaching for test tubes, measuring devices. She murmured softly, "What keeps you from telling yourself you're nothing but a crook, Don?When we first met you--it seems a terribly long time ago, back there inFar Cry--you didn't seem to be such a bad egg. "

"We didn't know, then, he was a cracked egg, " Ross muttered. He lookedto where Crowley slouched, his eyes narrow as though considering hischances of rushing the other. Crowley grinned and shook his head. "Don'ttry it, Buster. "

Crowley looked at Patricia. "You don't get it, sister. It's likesomebody or other said. The ends, uh, justify the means. That means. .. . "

"I know what it means, " Patricia said impatiently. 

Dr. Braun, who rather hopelessly was also beginning to work at theequipment their captor had provided, said reasonably, "Don, the greaternumber of the thinkers of the world have rejected that maxim. If youwill, umah, analyze it, you will find that the end and the means areone. "

"Yeah, yeah, a lot of complicated egghead gas. What I'm saying, Pat, isthat what I'm eventually heading for is good for everybody. At leastit's good for all real hundred per cent Americans. Everybody's going togo to college and guaranteed to come out with what you three got, adoctor's degree. Everybody's going to get a guaranteed annual wage, like, whether or not they can do any work. It's not a guy's fault if hegets sick or unemployed or something. Everybody. .. . "

"Shades of all the social-reformers who ever lived, " Ross muttered. 

"By Caesar, " Braun said in despair, "I have an idea you'll get the voteof every halfwit in the country. "

Crowley came to his feet. "I don't like that kind of talk, Doc. MaybeI'm just a country boy, but I know what the common man wants and whatI'm going to do is give it to him. "

Patricia looked up from her work long enough to frown at him. "Whatspecial are you going to get out of this, Don?"

That took him back for a moment and he scowled at her. 

"Come, come, " she said. "You've already admitted to we three just whatyou think and are going to do. Now, how do you picture yourself, afterall this has been accomplished?"

His face suddenly broke into its grin, a somewhat sly element in it now. "You know, when I get this all worked out, the folks are going to bepretty thankful. "

"I'll bet, " Ross muttered. He, too, was working at his element ofcompounding the serum. 

"Yeah, they will, Buster, " Crowley said truculently. "And they're goingto want to show it. You ever seen one of those movies like 'Ben Hur'back in Roman days? Can you imagine everybody in the whole countrythinking you were the best guy ever lived? You know, like an Emperor. "

"Like Caligula, " Dr. Braun said softly. 

"I don't know any of their names, but they really had it made. Snap yourfingers and there's a big banquet with the best floor show in the world. Snap your fingers and here comes the sexiest dames in Hollywood. Snapyour fingers and some big entertainment like a chariot race, orsomething. Once I put this over, the Common Man Party, that's the waypeople are going to feel about me and want to treat me. "

"And if they don't, you'll make them?" Ross said sarcastically. 

"You're too smart for your own britches, egghead, " Crowley snarled. Helooked at his watch. "Let's get this rolling. I got to get on down tothe city and start this caper going. "

Ross handed a test tube to Dr. Braun and began stripping the gloves fromhis hands. "That's my contribution, " he said. 

Patricia had already delivered hers. Dr. Braun combined them, thenheated the compound, adding a distillate of his own. He said, "When thiscools. .. . "

Crowley crossed the room to the door and said something to the guardthere. He returned in a moment with an anthropoid ape in a cage. He satit on the table and looked at them. 

"O. K. , " he said to Braun, his voice dangerous. "Let's see you inject themonk with this new batch of serum. "

Braun raised his eyebrows. 

The other watched him narrowly, saying nothing further. 

Dr. Braun shrugged, located a hypodermic needle and prepared it. In amatter of moments, the animal was injected. 

Ross Wooley said sourly, "Don't you trust your fellow man, Don?"

"No, I don't, and stop calling me Don. It's Dan. Daniel Crowley. "

The three of them looked at him in bewilderment. 

The ape was beginning to shimmer as though he was being seen through awindow wet with driving rain. 

"Don's my goody-goody brother. Used to live in the same house with me, but ever since we were kids and I got picked up on a juvenile delinquentrap for swiping a car, he's been snotty. Anyway, now he's moved out toFrisco. "

Patricia blurted, "But . .. But you let us believe you were Donald. .. . "

He brushed it off with a flick of his hand. "You said you had some dealwhere I could make me some money. O. K. , I was between jobs. "

The ape was invisible now. Crowley peered in at him. "Seems to work, allright. "

Dr. Braun sighed. "I am not a Borgia, Daniel Crowley. "

"You're not a what?"

"Never mind. I wouldn't poison even you, if that is what you feared. "

Daniel Crowley took up the new container of serum and put a lid on it. He said, "I got to get going. The guy out in front will get you back toyour rooms. No tricks with him, Buster"--he was talking directly toRoss--"he's already beat a couple of homicide raps. "

 * * * * *

Back in their cell-rooms, they found that there was but one guard. Evidently, the all-out robbery attempt to be held this night involvedpractically all of Larry Morazzoni's forces. Beyond that, this guard didnot seem particularly interested in keeping them from talking back andforth to each other through the peepholes that centered their doors. 

After a couple of hours during which time they largely held silence, immersed in their own thoughts, Dr. Braun called out, "Patricia, Ross, Ishould tender my apologies. It was my less than brilliant idea to findthe average man and use him as a guinea pig. "

"No apology necessary, " Patricia said impatiently. "We all went into itwith open eyes. "

"But you were correct, Pat, " the doctor said unhappily. "Our common manturned out to be a Frankenstein monster. "

Ross growled, "That's the trouble. It turned out he wasn't our commonman but his brother, whose petty criminal record evidently goes back tojuvenile days. "

"Even that doesn't matter, " Patricia said testily. "I've about come tothe conclusion that it wouldn't have made any difference _who_ we'd putin Don's . .. I mean Daniel Crowley's position. Man is too near theanimal, as yet at least, to be trusted with such power. Any man. "

"Why, Pat, " Dr. Braun said doggedly, "I don't quite believe you correct. For instance, do you feel the same about me? Would I have reacted likeour friend Dan?" He chuckled in deprecation. 

"That's my point, " she said. "I think you would . .. Ultimately. Onceagain look at the Caesars, they held godlike power. "

"You're thinking of such as Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Commodus. .. . "

"I'm also thinking of such as Claudius, the scholar who was practicallyforced to take the Imperial mantle. And Marcus Aurelius, the philosopherwho although bound up in learning himself allowed his family free reinin their vices and finally turned the Empire over to his son Commodus, one of the most vicious men of all time. But take Caligula and Nero ifyou will. Both of them stepped into power comparatively clean and withthe best of prospects. Well approved, well loved. What happened to themwhen given power without restraint?"

Ross grumbled, "I admit I missed the boat, but not for the reasons Patpresents. In a sane society, our serum would be a valuable contribution. But in a dog eat dog world, where it's each man for himself, then itbecomes a criminal tool. "

Patricia said sarcastically, "And can you point out a sane society?"

Ross grunted. "No, " he said. After a moment he added, "You know, in away Crowley was right. We three eggheads didn't do so well up againstwhat he called his common sense. I tried to slug him, with negativeresults. Dr. Braun, you tried sweet reason on him. Forgive me if Ilaugh. Pat, you tried your womanly wiles, but he saw through that, too. "

"The chickens have not all come home to roost, " Patricia saidmysteriously. "What time is it?"

Ross told her. 

She called to the guard, "See here, you. "

"Shut up. You ain't supposed to be talking at all. Go to sleep. "

"I want to speak to Mr. Morazzoni. It's very important and you are goingto be dreadfully sorry if you don't bring him. "

"Larry can't be bothered. He's getting ready to go on down to the city. "

"I know what he's doing, but if he doesn't listen to me, he's going tobe very unhappy and probably full of bullet holes. "

The guard came over to her door and stared at her for a long moment. Hechecked the lock on her door and then those of Dr. Braun and RossWooley. "We'll see who's going to be sorry, " he grunted. He turned andleft. 

 * * *

When he returned it was with both Larry Morazzoni and Paul Teeter, DanCrowley's political adviser. Morazzoni growled, "What goes on? Yousquares looking for trouble?"

Patricia said testily, "I suggest you let us out of here, Mr. Morazzoni. If you do, we pledge not to press kidnaping charges against you. Ibelieve you are aware of the penalty in this State. "

"You trying to be funny?"

"Definitely not, Mr. Morazzoni, " Patricia said icily. "Daniel Crowleybragged to us of your plans for tonight. "

The hoodlum muttered a contemptuous obscenity under his breath. 

Paul Teeter, the heavy-set southerner said jovially, "But what has thisto do with releasing you, Miss O'Gara? Admittedly Dan is a bitindiscreet but. .. . " He let the sentence fade away. 

"Yes, " Patricia said. "I realize that he is a nonprofessional in yourranks, and have little doubt that eventually you would have surmountedwhatever precautions he has taken to keep you in underling positions. That's beside the point. The point is that by this time Daniel Crowleyhas, ah, infiltrated the institution you expected to burglarize tonight. He is inside, and you are still outside. There are four guards alsoinside, whom he is expected to eliminate before you can join him. "

"He told you everything all right, the jerk, " Larry said coldly. "But sowhat?"

"So Dan Crowley had us make up a new amount of serum tonight and testedit on a chimpanzee in the lab. If you'll go and check, you'llundoubtedly find the chimp is again visible. "

The gunman looked at Paul Teeter blankly. 

The other's reactions were quicker. "The serum lasts for twelve hours, "Teeter barked. 

"This batch lasts for three hours, " Patricia said definitely. "Yourfriend Crowley is suddenly going to become visible right before the eyesof those four guards--and long before he had expected to eliminatethem. "

Teeter barked, "Larry, check that monkey. "

Doc Braun spoke up for the first time since the appearance of the two. He said dryly, "You'll also notice that the animal is sound asleep. Itseems that I added a slow-acting but rather potent sleeping compound tothe serum. "

The gunman started from the room in a rush. 

Ross called after him, "If you'll look closely, you'll also note thechimp's skin has turned a brilliant red. There have been some basicchanges in the pigment. "

"Holy smokes, " Paul Teeter protested, moping his face with ahandkerchief. "Didn't he take any precautions against you people atall?"

Ross said, "He was too busy telling us how smart a country boy hehappened to be. "

Larry returned in moments, biting his lip in the first nervousmanifestation any of them had ever seen in him. He took Teeter to oneside. 

Patricia called to them impatiently. "You have no time and no one tocontact Crowley now. Don't be fools. Mend your bridges while you can. Let us out of here, and we'll prefer no charges. "

Larry was a man of quick decisions. He snapped to the blank-faced guardwho had assimilated only a fraction of all this, "Go on back to the boysand tell them to start packing to get out of here. Tell them the fix haschilled. It's all off. I'll be there in a few minutes. "

"O. K. , chief. " The other had the philosophical outlook of those who weremeant to take orders and knew it. He left. 

Larry and Teeter opened the cell doors. 

Teeter said, "How do we know we can trust you?"

Ross looked at him. 

Larry said, "It's a deal. Give us an hour to get out of here. Then usethe phone if you want to call a taxi, or whatever. I ain't stupid, thisthing was too complicated to begin with. "

When Teeter and Morazzoni were gone, the three stood alone in thecorridor, looking at each other. 

The doctor pushed his glasses back onto his nose with a thumb andforefinger. "By Caesar, " he said. 

Ross ran a hefty paw back through his red crew cut and twisted his faceinto a mock grimace. "Well, " he said, "I have to revise my formerstatement. I used brute strength against Crowley, the doctor used sweetreason, and Pat her womanly wiles. And all failed. But as biochemists, each working without the knowledge of the others, we used science--andit paid off. I suppose the thing to do now is buy three jet tickets forCalifornia. "

Braun and Patricia looked at him blankly. 

Ross explained. "Didn't you hear what Crowley said? His brother, Donald, has moved out to San Francisco. He's our real Common Man, we'll have tostart the experiment all over again. "

Dr. Braun snorted. 

Patricia O'Gara, hands on hips, snapped, "Ross Wooley, our engagement isoff!"

Transcriber's Note:

 This etext was produced from _Analog_ January 1963. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U. S. Copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.