For Howard Mangler objected most violently to having a "mere business man" running the delicate field of Operations, while Phillip Newton felt that physicists should stay in their white ivory tower and let business men run the details of business. Open battle did not join every day, sometimes it smouldered for weeks before breaking out in a welter of directives, memorandums, and hot words. But any long period of quiet brought a foreboding of imminent war to the office force; and when the first thrust was sent home, the force cleared its desk so that the passage of memorandums could flow untrammeled by the processes of work.
The rumor of war preceded the opening of hostilities by long enough for preparation so that—
"Lillian, you'd better polish off that batch of invoices, quick-like."
"In a hurry?"
"We will be. Grant has just invaded Richmond."
"Oh."
Sometimes it was Shiloh, but when Grant invaded Richmond, it meant that Howard Mangler had stamped down the long corridor to blast his way through the defences of the outer office of Phillip Newton and into the inner sanctum itself—and was now firing his big guns in the enemy's face.
"This has got to go through!" roared Mangler.
"It is unnecessary."
"How would you know?" demanded Mangler.