Barney didn't bother with further details about the Sweetwater Beach establishment at the moment. The agencies he usually employed to dig up background information were reasonably trustworthy, but he wanted to attract no more attention than was necessary to his interest in Dr. McAllen. That evening he took a plane to New York. * * * * * Physicist Frank Elby was a few years older than Barney, an acquaintance since their university days. Elby was ambitious, capable, slightly dishonest; on occasion he provided Barney with contraband information for which he was generously paid. Over lunch Barney broached a business matter which would be financially rewarding to both of them, and should not burden Elby's conscience unduly. Elby reflected, and agreed. The talk became more general. Presently Barney remarked, "Ran into an old acquaintance of ours the other day. Remember Dr. McAllen?" "Oliver B. McAllen? Naturally. Haven't heard about him in years. What's he doing?" Barney said he had only seen the old man, hadn't spoken to him. But he was sure it was McAllen. "Where was this?" Elby asked. "Sweetwater Beach. Small town down the Coast." Elby nodded. "It must have been McAllen. That's where he had his home." "He was looking hale and hearty. They didn't actually institutionalize him at the time of his retirement, did they?" "Oh, no. No reason for it. Except on the one subject of that cockeyed invention of his, he behaved perfectly normally. Besides he would have hired a lawyer and fought any such move. He had plenty of money. And nobody wanted publicity. McAllen was a pretty likable old boy." "The university never considered taking him back?" Elby laughed. "Well, hardly! After all, man--a matter transmitter!" Barney felt an almost electric thrill of pleasure. Right on the nose, Brother Chard! Right on the nose. He smiled. "Was that what it was supposed to be? I never was told all the details." Elby said that for the few who were informed of the details it had been a seven-day circus. McAllen's reputation was such that more people, particularly on his staff, had been ready to believe him that were ready to admit it later. "When he'd left--you know, he never even bothered to take that 'transmitter' along--the thing was taken apart and checked over as carefully as if somebody thought it might still suddenly start working. But it was an absolute Goldberg, of course. The old man had simply gone off his rocker." "Hadn't there been any indication of it before?" "Not that I know of. Except that he'd been dropping hints about his gadget for several months before he showed it to anyone," Elby said indifferently. The talk turned to other things. [Illustration] * * * * *