"No, just fifty thousand," said Newton, waving his envelope.
"But Velikof will make millions—"
"He may have," chuckled Newton, "but not any more; the gentlemen in uniform will see to that."
"What do you mean?"
"Mangler, I bow to your knowledge in matters scientific, but the Commission put me in charge of business because you are incredibly naive. A few years ago they were selling little doohickeys that printed dollar bills. Ten days after Hiroshima, there were advertisements for everything from atomic permanent waves to atomic patent pills. Develop something new, and there will be ten sharpers making sucker-money out of it."
"But what happened?"
Newton chuckled. "First, Velikof, who is a charlatan of the first water, demonstrated a machine to me. I, a simple business man, was duly impressed by the wonders of science. I agreed to buy this fabulous gadget for fifty grand.
"Then," he continued cheerfully, "I mentioned it to you. You jeered, and then finally went along with the gag so that you'd have the splendid opportunity of watching me get clipped.
"And then again," he went on even more cheerfully, "the man who knew it wouldn't work in the first place was convinced by a bit of sleight-of-hand. There, Mangler, you did a fine job for me."
Mangler growled. "Yeah—? How?"