effect he was having on the other men.
'We should not forget that each time we erase one of
these personalities,' he pressed on relentlessly, 'society loses
irrevocably a certain capacity for change. If we eliminate
all personalities who do not fit, we may find ourselves without
any minds capable of meeting future change. Our direct an-
cestors were largely the inmates of mental hospitals. . . we
are fortunate
abruptly, 'what is your opinion on the case of Bill Walden?'
Helen Walden started, but Conrad Manz shrugged his mus-
cular shoulders. 'Oh, hospitalize the three-headed monster!'
Major Grey snapped his eyes directly past Colonel Hart
and fastened them on the Medicorps captain. 'Your opinion,
Captain?'
But Helen Walden was too quick. Before he could rap the
table for order, she had her thin words hanging in the echo-
ing room. 'Having been Mr. Walden's wife for fifteen years,
my sentiments naturally incline me to ask for hospitalization.
That is why I may safely say, if Major Grey will pardon me,
that the logic of the drugs does not entirely fail us in this
situation.'
Helen waited while all present got the idea that Major
Grey had accused them of being illogical. 'Bill's aberration
has led to our daughter's illness. And think how quickly it
contaminated Clara Manz! I cannot ask that society any
longer expose itself, even to the extent of keeping Bill in
the isolation of the hospital, for my purely sentimental rea-
sons.
'As for Major Grey's closing remarks, I cannot see how it is
fair to bring my husband to trial as a threat to society, if
some future change is expected, in which a man of his behav-
iour would benefit society. Surely such a change could only be
one that would ruin our present world, or Bill would hardly
fit it. I would not want to save Bill or anyone else for such
a future.'
She did not have to say anything further. Both of the other
Medicorps officers were now fully roused to their duty. Colo-
nel Hart, of course, 'humphed' at the opinions of a woman
and cast his with Major Grey. But the fate of Bill Walden
was sealed.
Major Grey sat, weary 'and uneasy, as the creeping little
doubts began. In the end, he would be left with the one big
stone-heavy doubt. . . could he have gone through with thistf -
he had not been drugged, and how would the logic of the trial
look without drugs?
He became aware of the restiveness in the room. They were
waiting for him, now that the decision was irrevocable. With-
out the drugs, he reflected, they might be feelingwhat was
the ancient word,
