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observe our friend Valturus, I must say that he seems uncommonly cheerful for a man facing ruin.”
    “Who’s going to ruin him?”
    “We—the government, that is.” She indicated the royal family, conspicuous by their red polls in the black-haired assemblage, and the ministers sitting in a row on the far side of the king.
    “What for?”
    “Oh, we’re not doing it deliberately, but his business will not survive the disbandment of the army.”
    “The disbandment—what’s this?” frowned Hobart.
    “Charion’s idea; he says that expenditures must be reduced, and that besides we should set a good example for other peoples.”
    “Is this such a peaceful world you can afford unilateral disarmament?”
    “On the contrary, the barbarians . . .”
    At that moment Queen Vasalina, on the other side of the princess, touched the girl’s arm, Hobart heard the queen’s stage whisper: “Argimanda dear, Gordius wants to know whether your young man has his speech ready.”
    Speech! Hobart had not thought of that. He had no idea of what he was expected to say. To be more accurate, he supposed he was intended to give them some conventional guff, when he would have preferred to tell them to go plum to hell . . . but that wouldn’t do for a number of obvious reasons . . .
    King Gordius took a last gulp of wine and rose as the trumpets went off. Oh, lord, thought Hobart; it would have to be something, and quick . . .
    “. . . and so, ladies and gentlemen of Logaia, the puissant champion, the successful suitor, will tell you in his own words how he, the unknown barbarian, by unflagging resource and unremitting effort, gained that insight which enabled him to save our darling princess, and which has made him worthy and more than worthy to be enrolled in that line of heroes, the Xerophi family, of which we are—ahem—a modest representative; wherefore, ladies and gentlemen, we give you, with high hopes and fatherly affection: PRINCE ROLLIN!”
    The applause was tremendous. The king smiled all over and sat down. Hobart pulled himself angularly to his feet.
    “I—” he began. A thunderous burst of applause stopped him.
    “I—” Again the roar of handclapping.
    “I—” He paused deliberately, but this time there was no applause. He glanced over at the king and saw why: Gordius had his finger to his lips. The king winked at Hobart. The engineer drew breath and began: “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of Logaia. Perhaps I should have warned somebody that I had used up most of my words on the androsphinx today. In any case I am more adept with a pencil and a slide-rule than with my tongue, so I—uh—trust you won’t take it amiss if I—uh—
    “Concerning the means whereby I acquired the knowledge necessary to answer the monster’s riddle, I can do no better than to refer you to the works of Ogden, Richards, Brouwer, Tarski, and other leaders of modern logic. I could I suppose give you an epitome of their doctrines, except for the facts that, first, it would take all night, and second, I haven’t read any of their books myself. But if you wish to—uh—
    “To conclude this mercifully brief address, I ask you, how did it happen? Again, how? Ah, ladies and gentlemen, that’s the question! And what’s the answer? I’ll tell you; I admit—nay more, I assert, frankly and unequivocally, that, not being able to state with any reasonable degree of accuracy, and fearing lest I should deviate from those paths of rectitude and veracity in which it has been my unwavering custom to perambulate, I experience a certain natural hesitancy in giving oral expression to an opinion, the correctness of which might be interpreted somewhat erroneously! I thank you.” Rollin Hobart sat down.
    There was a short interval of silence, then a patter of applause, then a mighty surge of it. Hobart grinned a little; either they were glad of the brevity of the speech, or it was a case of “If this young man expresses himself in terms too deep