A few weeks after our return from Quito the Chief had been called to Ottawa. On his return Pat invited him to our apartment for dinner. Polly and Harry made up the party. A couple of cocktails before dinner loosened our tongues and even Harry, who had been rather morose since the flu caught him, was able to laugh at the Chief's fund of good stories. Polly was her loquacious self again, I noted. Having the flu shortly after Harry hadn't bothered her much, but Harry's evident depression had. After a heaping plate of lasagne and a large slice of fresh apple pie, Hallam sat back and loosened his belt with a sigh of repletion. "It may be bad manners," he admitted with a smile, "but if I don't, I'll explode." I offered him either a Drambuie or Australian port to go with his cigar. It was difficult choice as he loved both. The port won, for patriotic reasons, he said, and he tippled and puffed for a few minutes in complete contentment. "You know, if I'd been ten years younger I'd have proposed to you myself." He winked at Pat. "The only trouble is that I wouldn't have been able to decide whether to keep you in the Lab or have you stay home to cook." For a moment there was silence as we watched the fire. Then the Chief took a deep breath and let it whistle out of his nose. "You're waiting to hear what happened down East, I imagine." We all nodded and he continued. "When I arrived in Ottawa I checked with the Minister of Health but he wouldn't tell me anything. The following morning we flew to Washington where we were to attend a top secret conference headed by Prime Minister Macpherson of Canada and President Johnson of the United States." He paused. "Johnson, you remember, was the dark horse Democrat who swept the country after the moderate depression of the late fifties and the consequent decline in popularity of the Republicans." "Anyway," he resumed, "the senior members of the Canadian cabinet and corresponding members of the United States Executive and Congress were to be there, as well as the military heads and observers from the British Commonwealth countries which had representation in Washington. The next morning, in the underground military headquarters which had been prepared for thermonuclear warfare, we assembled at our appointed desks. With their usual love for conferences, the Americans had made elaborate preparations, and we all had name tags and name plates on our desks, as well as microphones and loudspeakers so we could identify and hear anyone in the room. With very little preamble, both heads of state were introduced. The President was the first to speak. I'll try to give it to you as he said it." * * * * *