The next instant he jerked as stiff as if an electric shock had jolted through him. "Henry!" "Yes, Joseph." The other's voice was meekly plaintive as he awaited a renewal of the diatribe. "Henry, that fence is between us and the nudists! How could you see them, binoculars or not?" Henry's face brightened. His goatee moved to a more confident angle. "That's what I've been trying to tell you, Joseph," he explained. "It's my new invention--" "Invention!" There was a hysterical note in the way Professor Paulsen exclaimed the word. "Please, Henry, not that! Don't tell me you've been inventing again--" His little colleague bristled. "And why shouldn't I be inventing, Joseph Paulsen?" he demanded querulously. "My inventions are mighty valuable. Why my new explosive--"[2] "--Which you ran onto quite by accident, and which turned out not to be an explosive at all," the professor cut in grimly. "Well, the government--" "The government doesn't have to live with you. Nor to put up with your 'inventive' ways." Henry's tall partner was fierce in his vehemence. "You've cited one of your devil's devices that turned out well. Well, now let me mention a few. Remember what happened when you decided to find the universal solvent[3]?" "But scientists all make mistakes sometimes, Joseph--" "And how about that time you wiped out every peony within ten miles? Was that a mistake too?" "Honestly, I didn't think it would kill anything but ragweed," Henry sniveled miserably. "Of course it was all an accident when you rendered every one of our guinea pigs sterile, wasn't it?" sneered the other. "That was a nice invention, Henry. All it did was to cut off our income for months on end, and nearly destroy our reputation for reliability as breeders of laboratory guinea pigs." "Oh, Joseph!" Henry's voice was an abject wail. His goatee hung limp and bedraggled. "You know I didn't mean any harm any of those times. Really I didn't. I just want to be a scientist--" Again he began sniveling. Professor Paulsen, still glaring, opened his mouth to denounce his partner further. Then, thinking better of it, he relaxed and put his arm around Henry's quivering shoulders. "Do you think I like to talk to you like this?" he asked, leading the way toward the porch. "Do you think it's pleasant for me?" Wearily, he shook his head. "I hate to be shouting at you all the time, Henry. It's just that patience will stretch only so far. Then it snaps." A pause. "I keep thinking you'll learn by experience, Henry. That you'll realize you can't be forever blowing the roof off the laboratory, or Lord knows what else, and quit fooling around with things you don't understand. "But instead, you go right on. You dabble into some new branch of science, and a cloud of trouble sweeps down on us like a typhoon on Zamboanga." * * * * * Together, the friends climbed the porch steps and took seats on the ancient but comfortable wicker settee.