"That I'm not a layman?"
"You could put it that way."
"That's a very interesting statement, Father, and one about which I want to know a good deal more after I've asked you some other questions. You see, I think I know what's the matter with you, and it's definitely curable."
"It is not curable." His voice had a flat finality, and his lips drew into a thin firm line.
"Let me ask you the questions anyway, Father," I said. He gave no other sign, "Have you ever looked through a microscope?"
"At the little beasties? Yes, in college."
"Well, that's what I have just finished doing with a number of slivers of living tissue from your body. Do you know what I saw that would bring me up here?"
"I might," he answered warily.
"What do you think?"
"Cancer, maybe."