The watchbirds tried to guard their other charges. Wolves were slaughtered, trying to kill rabbits. Rabbits were electrocuted, trying to eat vegetables. Creepers were burned out in the act of strangling trees. A butterfly was executed, caught in the act of outraging a rose. This control was spasmodic, because of the fewness of the watchbirds. A billion watchbirds couldn't have carried out the ambitious project set by the thousands. The effect was of a murderous force, ten thousand bolts of irrational lightning raging around the country, striking a thousand times a day. Lightning which anticipated your moves and punished your intentions. * * * * * "Gentlemen, _please_," the government representative begged. "We must hurry." The seven manufacturers stopped talking. "Before we begin this meeting formally," the president of Monroe said, "I want to say something. We do not feel ourselves responsible for this unhappy state of affairs. It was a government project; the government must accept the responsibility, both moral and financial." Gelsen shrugged his shoulders. It was hard to believe that these men, just a few weeks ago, had been willing to accept the glory of saving the world. Now they wanted to shrug off the responsibility when the salvation went amiss. "I'm positive that that need not concern us now," the representative assured him. "We must hurry. You engineers have done an excellent job. I am proud of the cooperation you have shown in this emergency. You are hereby empowered to put the outlined plan into action." "Wait a minute," Gelsen said. "There is no time." "The plan's no good." "Don't you think it will work?" "Of course it will work. But I'm afraid the cure will be worse than the disease." The manufacturers looked as though they would have enjoyed throttling Gelsen. He didn't hesitate. "Haven't we learned yet?" he asked. "Don't you see that you can't cure human problems by mechanization?" "Mr. Gelsen," the president of Monroe said, "I would enjoy hearing you philosophize, but, unfortunately, people are being killed. Crops are being ruined. There is famine in some sections of the country already. The watchbirds must be stopped at once!" "Murder must be stopped, too. I remember all of us agreeing upon that. But this is not the way!" "What would you suggest?" the representative asked. * * * * * Gelsen took a deep breath. What he was about to say took all the courage he had. "Let the watchbirds run down by themselves," Gelsen suggested. There was a near-riot. The government representative broke it up. "Let's take our lesson," Gelsen urged, "admit that we were wrong trying to cure human problems by mechanical means. Start again. Use machines, yes, but not as judges and teachers and fathers."