"Exactly! Suppose you had two ships in Sydney Harbor, one seven miles north of the other. According to the globular theory, the northern ship would also be four miles higher!" The editor lurched in his swivel chair. "Stop the presses!" he yelled into the phone, as he had seen editors do in American films. "And get me the Hatson Line quickly!" He waited for his connection. Then he said, "This is the editor of the _Sun_. Listen and listen carefully. Hold all sailings until further notice! I've just learned that the earth is flat! _Flat_, do you understand? God help the ships at sea!" He hung up, wan and shaken. Then he rushed for the door to get the story on the presses. He was already through the door when he made the odd discovery that it wasn't the door. It was the window, it was open, and his office was on the ninth floor. * * * * * Nothing more was heard of Herbert Fitzgrone after this tragedy. Presumably frightened that he might be held responsible for the editor's death, the scientist disappeared. Fortunately for posterity, however, he neglected to pick up the calculations he had spread out on the editor's desk. They were discovered by a vice-president of the Hatson Line, who came to the editor's office for further enlightenment. This gentleman made a prolonged study of the papers--he was quick on the trig and a fast man with a digit. He came to the terrifying conclusion that Christopher Columbus had made a terrible mistake. He immediately cabled the New York office, forwarding all figures down to the last spherical triangle. The head of the New York office, a patriotic man, promptly dispatched the whole thing to the State Department in Washington, marked "Top Secret." Five minutes later Drew Pearson predicted darkly that the whole world would shortly find itself flat on its back. The nation's top scientists were summoned to a secret and speedy conclave at the White House. The President put it squarely up to the scientists--was the world round, or wasn't it? And if it wasn't, what effect would a flat world have on the nation's defenses? Was this a boost for communism or democracy? "Speak up, boys," he said. "I haven't got all day." "Ridiculous, Mr. President," one scientist sneered. "If the world is flat, how do you explain that when you approach a mountain or ship at sea, you see first the summit or funnels?" "What you see depends upon the weather," a young scientist insisted. "If there are low clouds, you don't see the top first. Then again, what you see first often depends on what you _want_ to see first! It's conditioning. Have you ever made a conscious effort to see the bottoms first?" A little scientist with a high neck and a squint jumped up. "When a partial eclipse of the moon takes place, the shadow of the earth on the moon is a circle. Only a ball-shaped object can throw a circular shadow, gentlemen!"