_I_ did not lie to you, no. But you were lied to, all the same.

By whom?

By none less than that conniving arch-fiend, John W. Campbell, Jr., that"s who!

Wasn"t it he who bought the story?

And wasn"t it he who, with malice aforethought, published it in a package which was plainly labeled Science Fiction?

And, therefore, didn"t you have every right to think it _was_ science fiction?

Sure you did!

I am guilty of nothing more than weakness; my poor, frail sense of ethics collapsed completely at the sight of the bribe he offered me to become a party to the dark conspiracy that sprang from the depths of his own demoniac mind. Ah, well; none of us is perfect, I suppose.

DAVID GORDON.