The door opened. There stood Sam K. Barrows, David Blunk, Mrs. Nild, and with them stood the somber, dark figure of Edwin M. Stanton.

"We met it down the street," Dave Blunk boomed cheerfully. "It was coming here and we gave it a lift in our cab."

The Stanton simulacrum looked sourly at all of us.

Good lord, I said to myself. We hadn't expected this-- does this make a difference? Are we hurt and if so how bad?

I did not know. But in any case we had to go on, and this time to a showdown. One way or the other.

11

Barrows said amiably, "We parked down a little ways and had a talk with Stanton, here. We've come to what we seem to feel is an understanding, at least of sorts."

"Oh?" I said. Beside me, Maury had assumed a set, harsh expression. Pris shuddered visibly.

Holding out his hand my dad said, "I am Jerome Rosen, owner of the Rosen spinet and electronic organ plant of Boise, Idaho. Do I have the honor of meeting Mr. Samuel Barrows?"

So we each have a surprise for the other side, I said to myself. You managed, sometime during the night, to round up the Stanton; we for our part--if it's roughly equivalent-- managed to obtain my dad.

That Stanton. As the Britannica had said: he had connived with the enemy for his own personal advantage. The skunk! And the idea swept over me: _probably he was with Barrows the entire time in Seattle; he had not gone off at all to open a law office or see the sights_. They had no doubt been talking terms from the start.

We had been sold out--by our first simulacrum.

A shocking omen it was.

At any rate, the Lincoln would never do that. And, realizing that, I felt a good deal better.

We had better get the Lincoln back on again, I said to myself.

To Maury I said, "Go ask Lincoln to come up here, will you?"

He raised his eyebrow.

"We need him," I said.

"We do," Pris agreed.

"Okay." Nodding, Maury went off.

We had begun. But begun what?

Barrows said, "When we first ran into Stanton, here, we treated it as a mechanical contraption. But then Mr. Blunk reminded me that you maintain it to be alive. I'd be curious to know what you pay the Stanton fellow, here."

_Pay_, I thought wildly.

"There are peonage laws," Blunk said.

I gaped at him.

"Do you have a work contract with Mr. Stanton?" Blunk asked. "And if you do I hope it meets the Minimum Wage law's requirements. Actually we've been discussing this with Stanton and he doesn't recall signing any contract. I therefore see no objection to Mr. Barrows hiring him at say six dollars an hour. That's a more than fair wage, you'll agree. On that basis Mr. Stanton has agreed to return with us to Seattle."

We remained silent.

The door opened and Maury entered. With him shambled the tall, hunched, dark-bearded figure of the Lincoln simulacrum.

Pris said, "I think we should accept his offer."

"What offer?" Maury said. "I haven't heard any offer." To me he said, "Have you heard any offer?"

I shook my head.

"Pris," Maury said, "have you been talking with Barrows?"

Barrows said, "Here's my offer. We'll let MASA be assessed at a worth of seventy-five thousand dollars. I'll put up--"

"Have you two been talking?" Maury interrupted.

Neither Pris nor Barrows said anything. But it was clear to me and to Maury, clear to all of us.

"I'll put up one hundred and fifty thousand," Barrows said. "And I'll naturally have a controlling interest."

Maury shook his head no.

"May we discuss this among ourselves?" Pris said to Barrows.

"Surely," Barrows said.

We withdrew to a small supply room across the hall.

"We're lost," Maury said, his face gray. "Ruined."

Pris said nothing. But her face was tight.

After a long time my father said, "Avoid this Barrows. Don't be part of a corporation in which he holds control; this I know."

I turned to the Lincoln, who stood there quietly listening to us. "You're an attorney--in the name of god, help us."

The Lincoln said, "Louis, Mr. Barrows and his compatriots hold a position of strength. No deception lies in his acts... he is the stronger party." The simulacrum reflected, then it turned and walked to the window to look out at the street below. All at once it swung back toward us; the heavy lips twisted and it said, with pain in its face but a spark glowing in its eyes, "Sam Barrows is a businessman but so are you. Sell MASA ASSOCIATES, your small firm, to Mr. Jerome Rosen, here, for a dollar. Thereby it becomes the property of the Rosen spinet and organ factory, which has great assets. To obtain it, Sam Barrows must buy the entire establishment, including the factory, and he is not prepared to do that. As to Stanton, I can tell you this; Stanton will not cooperate with them much further. I can speak to him, and he will be persuaded to return. Stanton is temperamental, but a good man. I have known him for many years; he was in the Buchanan Administration, and against much protest I elected to keep him on, despite his machinations. Although quick-tempered and concerned with his own position, he is honest. He will not, in the end, consort with rascals. He does not want to open a law office and return to his law practice; he wishes a position of public power, and in that he is responsible--he makes a good public servant. I will tell him that you wish to make him Chairman of your Board of Directors, and he will stay."

Presently Maury said softly, "I never would have thought of that."

Pris said, "I--don't agree. MASA shouldn't be turned over to the Rosen family; that's out of the question. And Stanton won't buy an offer like that."

"Yes he will," Maury said. My father was nodding and I nodded, too. "We'll make him a big man in our organization--why not? He has the ability. My good god, he can probably turn us into a million-dollar business inside a year."

The Lincoln said gently, "You will not regret placing your trust, and your business, in Mr. Stanton's hands."

We filed back into the office. Barrows and his people awaited us expectantly.

"Here is what we have to say," Maury said, clearing his throat. "Uh, we've sold MASA to Mr. Jerome Rosen." He indicated my father. "For one dollar."

Blinking, Barrows said, "Have you? Interesting." He glanced at Blunk, who threw up his hands in a gesture of rueful, wry resignation.

The Lincoln said to the Stanton, "Edwin, Mr. Rock and the two Mr. Rosens wish you to join their newly-formed corporation as Chairman of its Board of Directors."

The sour, embittered, harsh features of the Stanton simulacrum faltered; emotions appeared, disappeared. "Is that the actual fact of the matter?" it said questioningly to the group of us.

"Yes sir," Maury said. "That's a firm offer. We can use a man of your ability; we're willing to step down to make way for you."

"Right," I said.

My father said, "This I agree to, Mr. Stanton. And I can speak for my other son, Chester. We are sincere."

Seating himself at one of MASA's old Underwood electric typewriters, Maury inserted a sheet of paper and began to type. "We'll put it in writing; we can sign it right now and get the barge towed out into the river."

Pris said in a low, cold voice, "I consider this a deceitful betrayal of not only Mr. Barrows but everything we've striven for."

Staring at her, Maury said in a shocked voice, "Shut up."

"I won't go along with this because it's wrong," Pris said. Her voice was absolutely under control; she might have been ordering clothes over the telephone from Macy's. "Mr. Barrows and Mr. Blunk, if you want me to come along with you, I will."