He stared at me suspiciously. “We’ll see. Bring it into the next room.” He stalked off. I picked up the box, and staggered after him into the conference room. “Open it up,” he commanded. I dumped the suit on the table. He felt the texture of the cloth. “It doesn’t look like much,” he said. “And look here.” Very deliberately he stretched the diving suit out full length. “Doesn’t that look just like an ordinary diving suit?” he asked. “Yes, but--” “Isn’t its design similar to that of any diving suit?” “Yes, but--” “And a diver underground acts the same as a diver underwater.” “Well, sure. But--” “And, as a matter of fact, listen to this.” Krome picked up the application and read a few paragraphs to me. “Now,” he said, “all I have to do is change the word ‘underground’ to ‘underwater,’ change the word ‘ground’ or ‘earth’ to ‘sea,’ and I have a perfect description of a deepsea diving suit. Am I right?” “I know all that,” I said. “But--” “Well, then--there is no invention here. Once the cabbagite crystal is known it becomes so obvious that any routineer could use it in a diving suit. A new use of an old thing or an old process cannot be patented. Regar & Sons, Incorporated versus Scott and Williams, Incorporated.” * * * * * I protested, “But wait a minute. Wait until I demonstrate it for you. I’ll tie this rope on and then--” “No you don’t,” he said. “You don’t pull any rope tricks on me. I’ve read the spec. I know how it’s _supposed_ to work. _I’ll_ put it on.” And he began to climb into it. “Kindly stop opening and closing your mouth,” he said, “and help me with the helmet.” “Please,” I gasped. “The controls aren’t--” “Put the helmet on,” he said. “But the controls aren’t--” “Put the helmet on,” he insisted. With nerveless fingers I obeyed. I can remember wondering whether there was anything in his life insurance policy that would have covered a possibly fatal outcome. I hoped they wouldn’t make his widow and children wait seven years. I turned to glance at the door to see if there were any witnesses. No one was watching. I turned back to Krome and noticed with alarm that he appeared to have grown shorter. For a moment I thought he had fallen to his knees. But then I saw that he was slowly sinking through the floor. I made gestures with my hands in front of his face plate in a frantic attempt to show him how to operate the controls. Lower and lower he sank. I followed him right down to the floor until he disappeared through it, leaving me on my hands and knees staring at the blank and dusty tiles. Then I realized with horror that we were on the seventh floor.