"No, they couldn't recognize the taste!" denied Clay. "They've always had salt in such minute quantities that they don't know what it tastes like. And as for the chemists—of course, they made the analysis, but who would believe them? The people had been so well-trained in thoughtlessness that they couldn't recognize the obvious. So they went right on believing they'd been poisoned."
"Even so," I argued, "what was to prevent the authorities from throwing away the salted food and distributing new capsules?"
"Nothing, nothing at all would prevent it!" Through the darkness, from the ledge of rock where Clay sat, I heard a peal of laughter. "Nothing at all to prevent it, Frank! They did just as you say! But they were reckoning without me!"
"Without you?"
"Yes, without me! You see, I had my own little game to play. It had come to me that whoever controlled the food controlled the country—and I was getting tired of a second-rate position. In my job as General Distribution Manager, it was easy enough to get access to the food vats—and I arranged to have a few more kegs of salt poured into the capsule mixture every time as it was made.
"Then how the sparks did fly! The people, hit in their most vital spot, were in a revolutionary mood; already old Oono Yuno was tottering on his throne. When I felt that it was about time to strike, I circulated an anonymous letter, stating that I, and I alone, knew how to remove the poison from the food—and offering to give a demonstration. I won't weary you now, Frank, with the details; it's enough to say that, when the people found that I could keep my promise and give them unadulterated food, they hailed me as their savior, threw over Oono Yuno and his party, whom they blamed for the bad capsules, and installed me in his place as Dictator, pledged to a policy of 'No salt in the bread!' So here I am! A wonderful sort of Dictator, don't you think?"
Once more Clay's laughter rang merrily through the darkness.
"We're a beautiful pair of Dictators, Phil!" said I, joining in his laughter.
But my mirth was cut short abruptly, for did I not again see a mysterious shadow shifting amid the dimness far down the gallery?