Still purple with rage, the savant turned away. Stared dourly back toward the high board fence that surrounded the nudists.
The next instant he jerked as stiff as if an electric shock had jolted through him.
"Henry!"
"Yes, Joseph." The other's voice was meekly plaintive as he awaited a renewal of the diatribe.
"Henry, that fence is between us and the nudists! How could you see them, binoculars or not?"
Henry's face brightened. His goatee moved to a more confident angle.
"That's what I've been trying to tell you, Joseph," he explained. "It's my new invention—"
"Invention!" There was a hysterical note in the way Professor Paulsen exclaimed the word. "Please, Henry, not that! Don't tell me you've been inventing again—"
His little colleague bristled.
"And why shouldn't I be inventing, Joseph Paulsen?" he demanded querulously. "My inventions are mighty valuable. Why my new explosive—"[2]