IV
Once the city of Timbuktu was more important in population, in commerce,in learning than the London, the Paris or the Rome of the time. It wasthe crossroads where African traffic, east and west, met Africantraffic, north and south; Timbuktu dominated all. In its commercialhouses accumulated the wealth of Africa; in its universities and mosquesthe wisdom of Greece, Rome, Byzantium and the Near East--at a time whensuch learning was being destroyed in Dark Ages beset Europe.
Timbuktu's day lasted but two or three hundred years at most. By themiddle of the Twentieth Century it had deteriorated into what lookednothing so much as a New Mexico ghost town, built largely of adobe. Itspalaces and markets has melted away to caricatures of their formerselves, its universities were a memory of yesteryear, its populationfallen off to a few thousands. Not until the Niger Projects, the damsand irrigation projects, of the latter part of the Twentieth Century didthe city begin to regain a semblance of its old importance.
Homer Crawford's team had come down over the Tanezrouft route, Reggan,Bidon Cinq and Tessalit; that of Isobel Cunningham, Jacob Armstrong andClifford Jackson, up from Timbuktu's Niger River port of Kabara. Theymet in the former great market square, bordered on two sides by the onetime French Administration buildings.
Isobel reacted first. "Abe!" she yelled, pointing accusingly at him.
Abe Baker pretended to cringe, then reacted. "Isobel! Somebody _told_ meyou were over here!"
She ran over the heavy sand, which drifted through the streets, to thehovercraft in which he had just pulled up. He popped out to meet her,grinning widely.
"Why didn't you look me up?" she said accusingly, presenting a cheek tobe kissed.
"In Africa, man?" he laughed. "Kinda big, Africa. Like, I didn't know ifyou were in the Sahara, or maybe down in Angola, or wherever."
She frowned. "Heaven forbid."
Abe turned to the others of his team who had crowded up behind him. Ithad been a long time since any of them had seen other than native women.
"Isobel," he said, "I hate to do this, but let me introduce you to HomerCrawford, my immediate boss and slave driver, late of the University ofMichigan where he must've found out where the body was--they gave him adoctorate. Then here's Elmer Allen, late of Jamaica--British WestIndies, not Long Island--all he's got is a master's, also in sociology.And this is Kenneth Ballalou, hails from San Francisco, I don't thinkKenny ever went to school, but he seems to speak every language ever."Abe turned to his final companion. "And this is our sole _real_ African,Bey-ag-Akhamouk, of Tuareg blood, so beware, they don't call the Tuaregthe Apaches of the Sahara for nothing."
Bey pretended to wince as he held out his hand. "Since Abe seems to bean education snob, I might as well mention the University of Minnesotaand my Political Science."
Jake Armstrong and Cliff Jackson had come up behind Isobel, and were nowintroduced in turn. The older man said, "A Tuareg in a Reunited Nationsteam? Not that it makes any difference to me, but I thought there wassome sort of policy."
"I was taken to the States when I was three," Bey said. "I'm an Americancitizen."
Isobel was chattering, in animation, with Abe Baker. It developed they'dboth been reporters on the school paper at Columbia. At least, they'dboth started as reporters, Isobel had wound up editor.
Since their introduction, Homer Crawford had been vaguely frowning ather. Now he said, "I've been trying to place where I'd seen you before.Now I know. Some photographs of Lena Horne, she was--"
Isobel dropped a mock curtsy. "Thank you, kind sir, you don't have totell me about Lena Horne, she's a favorite. I have scads of tapes ofher."
"Brother," Elmer Allen said dourly, "how's anybody going to top that?Homer's got the inside track now. Let's get over to this meeting. By thecars, helio-copters and hovercraft around here, you got more of aturnout than I expected, Homer."
The meeting was held in what had once been an assembly chamber of theofficials of the former _Cercle de Tombouctou_, when this had all beenpart of French Sudan. It was the only room in the vicinity which wouldcomfortably hold all of them.
* * * * *
Elmer Allen had been right, there was something like a hundred personspresent, almost all men but with a sprinkling of women, such as Isobel.More than half were in native costume running the gamut from Nigeria toMorocco and from Mauritania to Ethiopia. They were a competent looking,confident voiced gathering.
Homer Crawford knocked with a knuckle on the table that stood at thehead of the hall and called for silence. "Sorry we're late," he said,"Particularly in view of the fact that the idea of this meetingoriginated with my team. We had some difficulty with a nomad raider, upin Chaambra country."
Someone from halfway back in the hall said bitterly, "I suppose intypical African Development Project style, you killed the poor man."
Crawford said dryly, "_Poor man_ isn't too accurate a description of thegentleman involved. However, he is at present in jail awaiting trial."He got back to the meeting. "I had originally thought of this being aninformal get-together of a score or so of us, but in view of the numbersI suggest we appoint a temporary chairman."
"You're doing all right," Jake Armstrong said from the second row ofchairs.
"I second that," an unknown called from further back.
Crawford shrugged. His manner had a cool competence. "All right. Ifthere is no objection, I'll carry on until the meeting decides, if itever does, that there is need of elected officers."
"I object." In the third row a white haired, but Prussian-erect man hadcome to his feet. "I wish to know the meaning of this meeting. I objectto it being held at all."
Abe Baker called to him, "Dad, how can you object to it being held ifyou don't know what it's for?"
Homer Crawford said, "Suppose I briefly sum up our mutual situation andif there are any motions to be made--including calling the meetingquits--or decisions to come to, we can start from there."
There was a murmur of assent. The objector sat down in a huff.
Crawford looked out over them. "I don't know most of you. The word ofthis meeting must have spread from one group or team to another. So whatI'll do is start from the beginning, saying little at first with whichyou aren't already familiar, but we'll lay a foundation."
He went on. "This situation which we find in Africa is only a part of aworld-wide condition. Perhaps to some, particularly in the Western Worldas they call it, Africa isn't of primary importance. But, needless tosay, it is to we here in the field. Not too many years ago, at the sameperiod the African colonies were bursting their bonds and achievingindependence, an international situation was developing that threatenedfuture peace. The rich nations were getting richer, the poor weregetting poorer, and the rate of this change was accelerating. Thereasons were various. The population growth in the backward countries,unhampered by birth control and rocketing upward due to new sanitation,new health measures, and the conquest of a score of diseases that havebedeviled man down through the centuries, was fantastic. Try as theywould to increase per capita income in the have-not nations, populationgrew faster than new industry and new agricultural methods could keepup. On top of that handicap was another; the have-not nations were sofar behind economically that they couldn't get going. Why build abicycle factory in Morocco which might be able to turn out bikes for,say, fifty dollars apiece, when you could buy them from automatedfactories in Europe, Japan or the United States for twenty-fivedollars?"
Most of his audience were nodding agreement, some of them impatiently,as though wanting him to get on with it.
Crawford continued. "For a time aid to these backward nations was leftin the hands of the individual nations--especially to the United Statesand Russia. However, in spite of speeches of politicians to thecontrary, governments are not motivated by humanitarian purposes. Thegovernment of a country does what it does for the benefit of the rulingclass of that country. That was the reason it was appointed thegovernment. Any government that doesn't live up t
o this dictum soonstops being the government."
"That isn't always so," somebody called.
Homer Crawford grinned. "Bear with me a while," he said. "We can debatetill the Niger freezes over--later on."
He went on. "For instance, the United States would _aid_ Country X witha billion dollars at, say four per cent interest, stipulating that themoney be spent in America. This is aid? It certainly is for Americanbusiness. But then our friends the Russians come along and loan the samecountry a billion rubles at a very low interest rate and with supposedlyno strings attached, to build, say, a railroad. Very fine indeed, butfirst of all the railroad, built Russian style and with Russianequipment, soon needs replacements, new locomotives, more rolling stock.Where must it come from? Russia, of course. Besides that, in order tobuild and run the railroad it became necessary to send Russiantechnicians to Country X and also to send students from Country X toMoscow to study Russian technology so that they could operate therailroad." Crawford's voice went wry. "Few countries, other than commieones, much desire to have their students study in Moscow."
* * * * *
There was a slight stirring in his audience and Homer Crawford grinnedslightly. "You'll pardon me if in this little summation, I step on a fewideological toes--of both East and West.
"Needless to say, under these conditions of _aid_ in short order theeconomies of various countries fell under the domination of the twogreat collossi. At the same time the other have nations including GreatBritain, France, Germany and the newly awakening China, began to realizethat unless they got into the _aid_ act that they would disappear ascompetitors for the tremendous markets in the newly freed formercolonial lands. Also along in here it became obvious that philanthropywith a mercenary basis doesn't always work out to the benefit of thereceiver and the world began to take measures to administer aid moreefficiently and through world bodies rather than national ones.
"But there was still another problem, particularly here in Africa. Thenewly freed former colonies were wary of the nations that had formerlyowned them and often for good reasons, always remembering thatgovernments are not motivated by humanitarian reasons. England did notfree India because her heart bled for the Indian people, nor did Francefinally free Algeria because the French conscience was stirred withthoughts of Freedom, Equality and Fraternity."
A voice broke in from halfway down the hall, a voice heavy with Britishaccent. "I say, why did you Yanks free the Philippines?"
Homer Crawford laughed, as did several other Americans present. "That'sthe first time I've ever been called a Yankee," he said. "But the pointis well taken. By freeing the islands we washed our hands of theresponsibility of such expensive matters as their health and education,and at the same time we granted freedom we made military and economictreaties which perpetuated our fundamental control of the Philippines.
"The point is made. The distrust of the European and the white man as awhole was prevalent, especially here in Africa. However, andparticularly in Africa, the citizens of the new countries were almostunbelievably uneducated, untrained, incapable of engineering their owndestiny. In whole nations there was not a single lawyer or--"
"That's no handicap," somebody called.
There was laughter through the hall.
Homer Crawford laughed, too, and nodded as though in solemn agreement."However, there were also no doctors, engineers, scientists. There werewhole nations without a single college graduate."
He paused and his eyes swept the hall. "That's where we came in. Most ofus here this afternoon are from the States, however, also represented tomy knowledge are British West Indians, a Canadian or two, at least onePanamanian, and possibly some Cubans. Down in the southern part of thecontinent I know of teams working in the Portuguese areas who areBrazilian in background. All of us, of course, are Africans racially,but few if any of us know from what part of Africa his forebears came.My own grandfather was born a slave in Mississippi and didn't know hisfather; my grandmother was already a hopeless mixture of a score ofAfrican tribes.
"That, I assume, is the story of most if not all of us. Our ancestorswere wrenched from the lands of their birth and shipped under conditionsworse than cattle to the New World." He added simply, "Now we return."
There was a murmur throughout his listeners, but no one interrupted.
"When the great powers of Europe arbitrarily split up Africa in theNineteenth Century they didn't bother with race, tribe, not evengeographic boundaries. Largely they seemed to draw their boundary lineswith ruler and pencil on a Mercator projection. Often, not only werenative nations split in twain but even tribes and clans, and sometimessplit not only one way but two or three. It was chaotic to the oldtribal system. Of course, when the white man left various efforts weremade from the very start to join that which had been torn apart acentury earlier. Right here in this area, Senegal and what was thenFrench Sudan merged to form the short-lived Mali Federation. Ghana andFrench Guinea formed a shaky alliance. More successful was thefederation of Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda and Zanzibar, which of course,has since grown.
"But there were fantastic difficulties. Many of the old tribalinstitutions had been torn down, but new political institutions had beenintroduced only in a half-baked way. African politicians, supposedly'democratically' elected, had no intention of facing the possibility ofgiving up their individual powers by uniting with their neighbors. Notonly had the Africans been divided tribally but now politically as well.But obviously, so long as they continued to be Balkanized the chances ofrapid progress were minimized.
"Other difficulties were manifold. So far as socio-economics wereconcerned, African society ran the scale from bottom to top. The Bushmenof the Ermelo district of the Transvaal and the Kalahari are stone agepeople still--savages. Throughout the continent we find tribes at anethnic level which American Anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan calledbarbarism. In some places we find socio-economic systems based onchattle slavery, elsewhere feudalism. In comparatively few areas,Casablanca, Algiers, Dakar, Cairo and possibly the Union we find arapidly expanding capitalism.
"Needless to say, if Africa was to progress, to increase rapidly her percapita income, to depart the ranks of the have-nots and become havenations, these obstacles had to be overcome. That is why we are here."
"Speak for yourself, Mr. Crawford," the white haired objector of tenminutes earlier, bit out.
* * * * *
Homer Crawford nodded. "You are correct, sir. I should have said that isthe reason the teams of the Reunited Nations African Development Projectare here. I note among us various members of this project besides thosebelonging to my own team, by the way. However, most of you are underother auspices. We of the Reunited Nations teams are here because asAfricans racially but not nationally, we have no affiliation with clan,tribe or African nation. We are free to work for Africa's progresswithout prejudice. Our job is to remove obstacles wherever we find them.To break up log jams. To eliminate prejudices against the steps thatmust be taken if Africa is to run down the path of progress, rather thanto crawl. We usually operate in teams of about half a dozen. There arehundreds of such teams in North Africa alone."
He rapped his knuckle against the small table behind which he stood."Which brings us to the present and to the purpose of suggesting thismeeting. Most of you are operating under other auspices than theReunited Nations. Many of you duplicate some of our work. It occurred tome, and my team mates, that it might be a good idea for us to gettogether and see if there is ground for co-operation."
Jake Armstrong called out, "What kind of co-operation?"
Crawford shrugged. "How would I know? Largely, I don't even know who yourepresent, or the exact nature of the tasks you are trying to perform. Isuggest that each group of us represented here, stand up and announcetheir position. Possibly, it will lead to something of value."
"I make that a motion," Cliff Jackson said.
"Second," Elmer Allen called out.
The majority were in favor.
Homer Crawford sat down behind the table, saying, "Who'll start off?"
Armstrong said, "Isobel, you're better looking than I am. They'd ratherlook at you. You present our story."
Isobel came to her feet and shot him a scornful glance. "Lazy," shesaid.
Jake Armstrong grinned at her. "Make it good."
Isobel took her place next to the table at which Crawford sat and facedthe others.
She looked at the chairman from the side of her eyes and said, "Afterthat allegedly _brief_ summation Mr. Crawford made, I have a sneakingsuspicion that we'll be here until next week unless I set a newprecedent and cut the position of the Africa for Africans Associationshorter."
Isobel got her laugh, including one from Homer Crawford, and went on.
"Anyway, I suppose most of you know of the AFAA and possibly many of youbelong to it, or at least contribute. We've been called the AfricanZionist organization and perhaps that's not too far off. We are largely,but not entirely an American association. We send out our teams, such asthe one my colleagues and I belong to, in order to speed up progressand, as our chairman put it, eliminate prejudices against the steps thatmust be taken if Africa is to run down the path of progress instead ofcrawl. We also advocate that Americans and other non-African-bornNegroes, educated in Europe and the Americas, return to Africa to helpin its struggles. We find positions for any such who are competent,preferably doctors, educators, scientists and technicians, but alsocompetent mechanics, construction workers and so forth. We operate aschool in New York where we teach native languages and lingua francasuch as Swahili and Songhai, in preparation for going to Africa. Weraise our money largely from voluntary contributions, and largely fromAmerican Negroes although we have also had government grants, donationsfrom foundations, and from individuals of other racial backgrounds. Isuppose that sums it up."
Isobel smiled at them, returned to her chair to applause, probably dueas much to her attractive appearance as her words.
Crawford said, "When we began this meeting we had an objection that itbe held at all. I wonder if we might hear from that gentleman next?"
The white haired, ramrod erect, man stood next to his chair, notbothering to come to the head of the room. "You may indeed," he snapped."I am Bishop Manning of the United Negro Missionaries, an organizationattempting to accomplish the only truly important task that cries forcompletion on this largely godless continent. Accomplish this, and allelse will fall into place."
Homer Crawford said, "I assume you refer to the conversion of thepopulace."
"I do indeed. And the work others do is meaningless until that has beenaccomplished. We are bringing religion to Africa, but not through whitemissionaries who in the past lived _off_ the natives, but through Negromissionaries who live _with_ them. I call upon all of you to give upyour present occupations and come to our assistance."
Elmer Allan's voice was sarcastic. "These people need less superstition,not more."
The bishop spun on him. "I am not speaking of superstition, young man!"
Elmer Allen said. "All religions are superstitions, except one's own."
"And yours?" the Bishop barked.
"I'm an agnostic."
The bishop snorted his disgust and made his way to the door. There heturned and had his last word. "All you do is meaningless. I pray you,again, give it up and join in the Lord's work."
Homer Crawford nodded to him. "Thank you, Bishop Manning. I'm sure wewill all consider your words." When the older man was gone, he lookedout over the hall again. "Well, who is next?"
* * * * *
A thus far speechless member of the audience, seated in the first row,came to his feet. His face was serious and strained, the face of a manwho pushes himself beyond the point of efficiency in the vain effort toaccomplish more by expenditure of added hours.
He came to the front and said, "Since I'm possibly the only one here whoalso has objections to the reason for calling this meeting, I might aswell have my say now." He half turned to Crawford, and continued. "Mr.Chairman, my name is Ralph Sandell and I'm an officer in the SaharaAfforestation Project, which, as you know, is also under the auspices ofthe Reunited Nations, though not having any other connection with yourown organization."
Homer Crawford nodded. "We know of your efforts, but why do you objectto calling this meeting?" He seemed mystified.
"Because, like Bishop Manning, I think your efforts misdirected. I thinkyou are expending tremendous sums of money and the work of tens ofthousands of good men and women, in directions which in the long runwill hardly count."
Crawford leaned back in surprise, waiting for the other's reasoning.
Ralph Sandell obliged. "As the chairman pointed out, the problem ofpopulation explosion is a desperate one. Even today, with all theefforts of the Reunited Nations and of the individual countries involvedin African aid, the population of this continent is growing at a pacethat will soon outstrip the arable portion of the land. Save onlyAntarctica, Africa has the smallest arable percentage of land of any ofthe continents.
"The task of the Afforestation Project is to return the Sahara to thefertile land it once was. The job is a gargantuan one, but ultimatelyquite possible. Here in the south we are daming the Niger, running ourirrigation projects farther and farther north. From the Mauritania areaon the Atlantic we are pressing inland, using water purification andsolar pumps to utilize the ocean. In the mountains of Morocco, the wateravailable is being utilized more efficiently than ever before, and thesands being pushed back. We are all familiar with Egypt's everincreasingly successful efforts to exploit the Nile. In the Saharaitself, the new solar pumps are utilizing wells to an extent neverdreamed of before. The oases are increasing in a geometric progressionboth in number and in size." He was caught up in his own enthusiasm.
Crawford said, interestedly, "It's a fascinating project. How long doyou estimate it will be before the job is done?"
"Perhaps a century. As the trees go in by the tens of millions, therewill be a change in climate. Forest begets moisture which in turn allowsfor more forest." He turned back to the audience as a whole. "In time wewill be able to farm these million upon million of acres of fertileland. First it must go into forest, then we can return to fieldagriculture when climate and soil have been restored. This is our primetask! This is our basic need. I call upon all of you for your supportand that of your organizations if you can bring their attention to thegreat need. The tasks you have set yourselves are meaningless in theface of this greater one. Let us be practical."
"Crazy man," Abe Baker said aloud. "Let's be practical and cut out allthis jazz." The youthful New Yorker came to his feet. "First of all youjust mentioned it was going to take a century, even though it's goinglike a geometric progression. Geometric progressions get going kind ofslow, so I imagine that your scheme for making the Sahara fertile again,won't really be under full steam until more than halfway through thatcentury of yours, and not really ripping ahead until, maybe two thirdsof the way. Meanwhile, what's going to happen?"
"I beg your pardon!" Ralph Sandell said stiffly.
"That's all right," Abe Baker grinned at him. "The way they figure,population doubles every thirty years, under the present rate ofincrease. They figure there'll be three billion in the world by 1990,then by 2020 there would be six billions, and in 2050, twelve billionsand twenty-four by the time your century was up. Old boy, I suggest theaddition of a Sahara of rich agricultural land a century from nowwouldn't be of much importance."
"Ridiculous!"
"You mean me, or you?" Abe grinned. "I once read an article by DonaldKingsbury. It's reprinted these days because it finished off the subjectonce and for all. He showed with mathematical rigor that given thepresent rate of human population increase, and an absolutely unlimitedtechnology that allowed instantaneous intergalactical transportation andthe ability to convert anything and everything into food, includinginterstellar dust, stars, planets,
everything, it would take only seventhousand years to turn the total mass of the total universe into humanflesh!"
The Sahara Afforestation official gaped at him.
The room rocked with laughter.
Irritated, Sandell snapped again, "Ridiculous!"
"It sure is, man," Abe grinned. "And the point is that the job iseducating the people and freeing them to the point where they candevelop their potentialities. Educate the African and he will see thesame need that does the intelligent European, American, or Russian forthat matter, to limit our population growth." He sat down again, andthere was a scattering of applause and more laughter.
Sandell, still glowering, took his seat, too.
Homer Crawford, who'd been hard put not to join in the amusement, said,"Thanks to both of you for some interesting points. Now, who's next? Whoelse do we have here?"
* * * * *
When no one else answered, a smallish man, dressed in the costume of theDogon, to the south, came to his feet and to the head of the room.
In a clipped British accent, he said, "Rex Donaldson, of Nassau, theBahamas, in the service of Her Majesty's Government and the BritishCommonwealth. I have no team. Although our tasks are largely similar tothose of the African Development Project, we field men of the AfricanDepartment usually work as individuals. My native pseudonym is usuallyDolo Anah."
He looked out over the rest. "I have no objection to such meetings asthis. If nothing else, it gives chaps a bit of an opportunity to airgrievances. I personally have several and may as well state them now.Among other things, it becomes increasingly clear that though some ofthe organizations represented here are supposedly of the ReunitedNations, actually they are dominated by Yankees. The Yankees are seepingin everywhere." He looked at Isobel. "Yes, such groups as your Africafor Africans Association has high flown slogans, but wherever you go,there go Yankee ideas, Yankee products, Yankee schools."
Homer Crawford's eyebrows went up. "What is your solution? The fact isthat the United States has a hundred or more times the educated Negroesthan any other country."
Donaldson said, doggedly, "The British Commonwealth has done more thanany other element in bringing progress to Africa. She should be giventhe lead in developing the continent. A good first step would be to makethe pound sterling legal tender throughout the continent. And, as thingsare now, there are some _seven hundred_ different languages, notcounting dialects. I suggest that English be made the lingua francaof--"
An excitable type, who had been first to join in the laughter atSandell, now jumped to his feet. "_Un moment, Monsieur!_ The FrenchCommunity long dominated a far greater portion of Africa than theBritish flag flew over. Not to mention that it was the most advancedportion. If any language was to become the lingua franca of all Africa,French would be more suitable. Your ultimate purpose, Mr. Donaldson, isobvious. You and your Commonwealth African Department wish to dominatefor political and economic reasons!"
He turned to the others and spread his hands in a Gallic gesture. "Iintroduce myself, Pierre Dupaine, operative of the African Affairssector of the French Community."
"Ha!" Donaldson snorted. "Getting the French out of Africa was likepulling teeth. It took donkey's years. And now look. This chap wants tobring them back again."
Crawford was knuckling the table. "Gentlemen, Gentlemen," he yelled. Hefinally had them quieted.
Wryly he said, "May I ask if we have a representative from thegovernment of the United States?"
A lithe, inordinately well dressed young man rose from his seat in therear of the hall. "Frederic Ostrander, C.I.A.," he said. "I might aswell tell you now, Crawford, and you other American citizens here, thismeeting will not meet with the approval of the State Department."
Crawford's eyes went up. "How do you know?"
The C.I.A. man said evenly, "We've already had reports that thisconference was going to be held. I might as well inform you that aprotest is being made to the Sahara Division of the African DevelopmentProject."
Crawford said, "I suppose that is your privilege, sir. Now, in accordwith the reason for this meeting, can you tell us why your organizationis present in Africa and what it hopes to achieve?"
Ostrander looked at him testily. "Why not? There has been considerableinfiltration of all of these African development organizations bysubversive elements...."
"Oh, Brother," Cliff Jackson said.
"... And it is not the policy of the State Department to stand idly bywhile the Soviet Complex attempts to draw Africa from the ranks of thefree world."
Elmer Allen said disgustedly, "Just what part of Africa would you reallyconsider part of the Free World?"
The C.I.A. man stared at him coldly. "You know what I mean," he rapped."And I might add, we are familiar with your record, Mr. Allen."
Homer Crawford said, "You've made a charge which is undoubtedly asunpalatable to many of those present as it is to me. Can yousubstantiate it? In my experience in the Sahara there is little, if any,following of the Soviet Complex."
An agreeing murmur went through the room.
Ostrander bit out, "Then who is subsidizing this El Hassan?"
Rex Donaldson, the British Commonwealth man, came to his feet. "That wasa matter I was going to bring up before this meeting."
Homer Crawford, fully accompanied by Abe Baker and the rest of theirteam, even Elmer Allen, burst into uncontrolled laughter.