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Bennet Gage had delivered an ultimatum. The Colossus was far from expecting it. He had come to look upon the staunch, the tried, the absolutely dependable Gage as a segment of his other self. Saul Hartz would have been the first to own, for he was fundamentally generous, that much of the Planet's success was due to the ability of its editor-in-chief; and for himself there was no man on whose services he set a higher value. At the same time he must follow his star. No member of his staff was ever allowed to oppose his will. Advice was sometimes sought, it was sometimes taken, but even a man of Gage's quality could not be permitted to offer it, much less to insist upon it, uninvited.

"You are talking like a fool, Gage, aren't you?" The Colossus was too primitive to weigh his words overmuch at any time; in a crisis his bluntness of phrase seemed to add to his power. "Why go off at half cock, my friend?"

The editor of the Planet folded his arms, a little after the fashion of Napoleon, although he had too