prior knowledge of a future event. He made a careful and systematic
record of Professor Chalmers' statements, at least two weeks before
the occurrence of the event to which they referred. It is entirely due
to him that we know exactly what Professor Chalmers said and when he
said it."

"Yes," his younger colleague added, "and in all my experience I've
never heard anything more preposterous than this man Whitburn's
attempt, yesterday, to deny the fact."

"Well, we're convinced that Doctor Chalmers did in fact say what he's
alleged to have said, last month," Dacre began.

"Jim, I think we ought to get that established, for the record,"
another of the trustees put in. "Doctor Chalmers, is it true that you
spoke, in the past tense, about the death of Khalid ib'n Hussein in
one of your classes on the sixteenth of last month?"

Chalmers rose. "Yes, it is. And the next day, I was called into this
room by Doctor Whitburn, who demanded my resignation from the faculty
of this college because of it. Now, what I'd like to know is, why did
Doctor Whitburn, in this same room, deny, yesterday, that I'd said
anything of the sort, and accuse my students of concocting the story
after the event as a hoax."

"One of them being my son," Dacre added. "I'd like to hear an answer
to that, myself."

"So would I," Stanly Weill chimed in. "You know, my client has a good
case against Doctor Whitburn for libel."