_I_ did not lie to you, no. But you were lied to, all the same.
By whom?
By none less than that conniving arch-fiend, John W. Campbell, Jr., that"s who!
Wasn"t it he who bought the story?
And wasn"t it he who, with malice aforethought, published it in a package which was plainly labeled Science Fiction?
And, therefore, didn"t you have every right to think it _was_ science fiction?
Sure you did!
I am guilty of nothing more than weakness; my poor, frail sense of ethics collapsed completely at the sight of the bribe he offered me to become a party to the dark conspiracy that sprang from the depths of his own demoniac mind. Ah, well; none of us is perfect, I suppose.
DAVID GORDON.