Page:Amazing Stories Volume 10 Number 13.djvu/126

124 him, sat Dr. L. Dawson Furner, Dean of the Department of Science, and chief of the teaching staff. Winters mumbled an apology and turned to leave, but was stopped by Dr. Howell.

"Come in, Alan," he said, with what might easily have been a note of relief in his voice, "the Dean and I were just discussing a matter with which you are familiar. You will not be intruding."

"But, Dr. Howell—," the Dean seemed to resent the interruption, "perhaps you will not care to have Mr. Winters present during the conclusion of our discussion." His words carried a threat.

"Oh, that will be all right," Dr. Howell replied, easily. "But we need not be disturbed by Mr. Winters' presence. He usually does his work here and I think he has something to do which must be completed to-day." Dean Furner admitted the check-mate with a grudging word of assent, and Winters turned to his desk, where he tried vainly to concentrate on the work in hand. But he could not shut out a thought of the consequences this unexpected and surprising visit might bring, for local tradition had it that the arrogant Dean never visited the office of a subordinate unless the one visited was "on the spot."

HE silence which had greeted Winters' entrance was decidedly not the kind which often falls between friends who are in perfect accord. Rather, it spoke of professional jealousies and personal hatreds. It was the kind of silence which sometimes forms a barrier between enemies, serving but one good purpose;—to keep them from destroying each other.

In fact, for more than a year stories of the personal enmity of Dean Furner toward Dr. Howell had been a favorite subject for gossip at the university. The "underground" carried almost daily some new story of his antagonism, and even among the hired help bets had been placed on just how long Dr. Howell would be permitted to remain a member of the Faculty.

Probably suppressed beneath a veneer of diplomatic hypocrisy since the advent of Professor Howell some years before, Dean Furner's antagonism toward his subordinate had apparently become active, when Dr. Howell had published his new theory of the Universe. It was controversial matter of profound interest to students of higher science, and numbers of advanced students had taken sides in the controversy. Some went so far as to say that the fate of the world might eventually rest on the correct settlement of the question.

"Your case came up before the Board of Trustees yesterday," Furner broke a silence which had become oppressive, "and, of course, they had to make a decision. You understand, Dr. Howell, that I could hardly oppose the Board in the matter." "I would not expect it," Howell stated, in a matter-of-fact tone.

"They all felt as I do, that you should take an indeterminate leave of absence,—for rest and mental relaxation," the Dean added, significantly.

"Your regular duties have been hard, and the addition of extra scientific research has impaired your efficiency to such an extent that your services are no longer of value to the University," Dean Furner concluded coldly.

"Of course I was not aware that my mental condition was bad, but I