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Crandon paused as though searching for words with which to continue.

“Did you notice the paintings in the waiting room as you entered?”

Don nodded, too bewildered to speak.

“They were donated by the founder of our Organization. They were part of his personal collection—which, incidentally, he bought from the artists themselves. He also designed the atomic reactor we use for power here in the laboratory.”

“Then the pictures are modern,” said Don, aware that his mouth was hanging open foolishly. “I thought one was a Titian—”

“It is,” said Crandon. “We have several original Titians, although I really don’t know too much about them.”

“But how could a man alive today buy paintings from an artist of the Renaissance?”

“He is not alive today. POSAT is actually what our advertisements claim—an ancient secret society. Our founder has been dead for over four centuries.”

“But you said that he designed your atomic reactor.”

“Yes. This particular one has been in use for only twenty years, however.”

Don’s confusion was complete. Crandon looked at him kindly. “Let’s start at the beginning,” he said, and Don was back again in the classroom with the deep voice of Professor Crandon unfolding the pages of knowledge in clear and logical manner. “Four hundred years ago, in the time of the Italian Renaissance, a man lived who was a super-genius. His was the kind of incredible mentality that appears not in every generation, or even every century, but once in thousands of years.