their long program of research. They happily left to Nature's Choice the
one factor they could not control, and planned to accept an infant of
either sex with equal welcome. They loved their little boy as they loved
one another, rejoiced with him, despaired with him, and made their own
way with success and mistake, and succeeded in bringing Jimmy to five
years of age quite normal except for his education.

Now, proficiency in brain surgery does not come at an early age, nor does
world-wide fame in the field of delicate instrumentation. Jimmy's parents
were over forty-five on the date of his birth.

Jimmy's grandparents were, then, understandably aged seventy-eight and
eighty-one.

* * * * *

The old couple had seen their life, and they knew it for what it was.
They arose each morning and faced the day knowing that there would be no
new problem, only recurrence of some problem long solved. Theirs was a
comfortable routine, long gone was their spirit of adventure, the
pleasant notions of trying something a new and different way. At their
age, they were content to take the easiest and the simplest way of doing
what they thought to be Right. Furthermore, they had lived long enough to
know that no equitable decision can be made by listening to only one side
of any argument.

While young Jimmy was polishing off a platter of scrambled eggs the
following morning, Paul Brennan arrived. Jimmy's fork stopped in midair
at the sound of Brennan's voice in the parlor.