"The sponsor'll give out first," I said. "History is just one damn
crossroads after another." I mentioned, in passing, that I taught the
subject. "Why, since the beginning of this century, we've had enough of
them to keep the show running for a year."

"We have about twenty already written and ready to produce," the plump
man said comfortably, "and ideas for twice as many that the planning
staff is working on now."

The elderly man accepted that and took another cautious sip of wine.

"What I wonder, though, is whether you can really say that history can
be changed."

"Well, of course--" The television man was taken aback; one always seems
to be when a basic assumption is questioned. "Of course, we only know
what really did happen, but it stands to reason if something had
happened differently, the results would have been different, doesn't
it?"

"But it seems to me that everything would work out the same in the long
run. There'd be some differences at the time, but over the years
wouldn't they all cancel out?"

"_Non, non, Monsieur!_" the man with the book, who had been outside the
conversation until now, told him earnestly. "Make no mistake; 'istoree
can be shange'!"

I looked at him curiously. The accent sounded French, but it wasn't
quite right. He was some kind of a foreigner, though; I'd swear that he