brandon was looking at his desk again.

an artificial grin spread across the narrow face of the secretary of interior who was watching him closely. the secretary's pencil-thin fingers continued to toy with the small, wood figure he was holding. "brandon," he tried to lie gracefully, "you're a card. a real card."

brandon shifted his position, brought his attention back to the thin man with the receding hairline. he couldn't, for the life of him, remember anything humorous he had said or done. he was too tired to be jovial. the past few days had sapped his strength. he was exhausted and there were still two more interviews scheduled.

good lord, he thought. two more! he found his eyes wandering back to his desk. he would never finish the papers in time. that would mean a severe penalty.

"come now, brandon. admit it. you know you want to work for us in interior."

"right now i don't know anything," brandon said wearily. "my head is tired and clouded. i can't think straight." he rubbed his hand across his forehead, wondering how much longer he would be able to continue to say no to their requests. he had almost found himself agreeing with the thin man a few moments ago. that wasn't good.

brandon leaned back in the contour chair and let some of the strength seep back into his outstretched legs. each year at this time they would begin to wander in with their strange, outlandish offers of positions with the government. it was perplexing.

"why me?" he asked suddenly. "why in interior? i know nothing about such work?"

the thin man leaned foreward, "because you are a good man, brandon. and we need good men these days. government is big business and we want the top positions filled with the best men we can get. besides," the secretary laughed softly, "you're wasting your time playing with dolls."

"they aren't dolls!" brandon said indignantly.

"so they aren't dolls."

"there is a difference," brandon insisted. "you make it sound as if i'm in my second childhood."

"all right. puppets!" the thin man shifted in his chair. he ran his lean fingers over the hand-painted figure he was holding in one hand. "but you can see my point."

brandon shook his head. that was it. he couldn't see the point. his puppets were becoming world famous, the result of reviving the almost lost art of hand carving. he was earning a fair living at it. he could see no reason for a change.

"think of the prestige if you come with us. you will be heading a department of your own," the secretary said.

brandon wrinkled his brow, thinking of how his name was already associated with his puppets. if only they would leave him alone, if only there wasn't so much paper work waiting for him on his desk, he would be able to spread out, expand, really have a going business. but they had to keep pestering him with worthless offers that they knew he couldn't handle, wasting his time, especially now when time was of the essence. the paper work on his desk had to be completed by midnight. he would never finish it now.

brandon felt the beginning of a headache. because of the paper work he hadn't had time to touch a new puppet in months. now these damn interviews were keeping him from the desk work. it was a vicious circle leading to ruin.

"you will be serving your country, brandon," the secretary said strongly. "not fiddling with dolls."

"i told you...."

the secretary held up his hand. "i know. puppets."

brandon got up and walked to the window and looked out at the setting sun. it was hard to define; there were some things words couldn't explain. all the offers had been good ones. but a man had to have some rule, some yardstick to guide him. brandon had his. he wanted to be useful, that wasn't too much to ask. life was too short to waste laboring in a position he wasn't fitted for. if he took interior's offer all that would be ended. he would be caught in a web which allowed no escape.

brandon turned. "i'm afraid, mr. secretary, that you don't understand my position. it isn't that i feel above being employed by the president. i have all the respect in the world for him and his office. i have nothing but respect for you...."

"then what is it, brandon?"

"i don't think i would be happy taking orders from some one else."

"we all have a boss, brandon."

"i haven't."

the secretary grinned. "you can head your own department. the president and myself will be the only ones you will have to answer to, i promise."

"that's what i mean," brandon answered softly.

the secretary felt his face flush. "you are insinuating that you are above working for the president, mr. brandon!" he said stiffly.

"you're twisting words." brandon's voice was determined. "it's just that i like to work alone. i like to put my hat on and go, whenever, and wherever i please."

the secretary shook his head "brandon! i happen to know that you haven't been off this estate, this property of yours, in the past five years."

"that doesn't alter a thing. i can go, anytime i please. i have no reason to leave now. but when i do, i won't feel obligated, i won't have to ask permission."

the secretary relaxed. "you can do that in the department anytime you wish. visit the conservations, then, when you are tired of traipsing around, you can come back and write up a report or two." the secretary cleared his throat. "just for the records, of course."

brandon sighed. "of course. just for the records." he brushed back his thick, black hair and sat down. damn it. why couldn't they leave him alone? that was all he wanted, to be left alone. he was sick of all this. they knew he wasn't fitted to be a clerk in any of the departments. yet they wasted his time offering him important positions, as if the title would persuade him. why?

"we could outlaw your doll-making," the secretary said casually.

brandon shrugged his shoulders. "harmonics did that with my music writing, remember! i didn't always do hand-carving."

the secretary remembered. he had had an indirect hand in that. it had been thought that if brandon was suddenly without income he might easily be persuaded to accept a position. they hadn't counted on brandon's resourcefulness, nor his stubborness.

the thin man leaned back in his chair, looked again at the doll thing resting in one hand. the man was clever; there was a life-like quality to the doll. brandon was an artist and it would be a shame to take him out of circulation. yet what could he do? the president had insisted on the visit again this year, knowing full well that brandon would turn down the offer.

suddenly, the secretary felt sorry for brandon. the man was breaking down and didn't realize it. his face was drawn and pale. he looked dog-tired.

"won't you change your mind, brandon?" the secretary asked softly. "with interior you will have an opportunity to get out into the sunlight. it will be a healthy life visiting the many conservations we have situated around the country; it will agree with you, i'm sure."

brandon sighed. "i'm afraid, mr. secretary, that we are both wasting our time. i have a tremendous amount of paper work to finish before midnight tonight and i am tired. i also have a few more interviews before i can get at it." brandon got up, "so if you don't mind—"

the thin man looked at brandon searchingly. "won't you reconsider?"

"i'm afraid not," brandon answered.

the secretary paused at the door. "see you next year, then!"

"next year," brandon answered flatly.

the secretary of interior hardly spoke to the young man waiting by his vehicle. he wanted to get away from there as soon as possible. these yearly visits to brandon always upset him, made him feel like a cad. it would be days before he shook the unwanted feeling.

"how did it go?" the young man asked eagerly.

the secretary took in the youngish face, the confidence flowing from the eyes. evans always managed to give that youthful impression, yet he wasn't really a young man. in a way the thin man envied evans ... with one exception, of course. this would be evans' first visit to brandon. some of the confidence would be gone when he walked out of brandon's house.

"i said how did it go?" evans repeated.

the secretary shrugged his thin shoulders. "as usual. he refused."

evans showed white, even teeth. "is he tired?"

"very."

"excellent," evans said "and the paper work. is it worrying him?"

the thin man studied evans. no, he didn't envy the man any longer. evans had no feelings; it was written on his face. "the paper work is worrying him to death," he heard himself say.

"wonderful!"

the secretary became conscious of the small figure he was holding in his hand. he had walked out with one of brandon's creations! suddenly, he slammed it to the ground. the paint chipped and cracked. the small head rolled loosely across the lawn. evans looked at him queerly.

"i think you need a rest," the young man said softly, unsmiling.

"brandon is a good man. i hate to see him broken. he has a lot of talent. but not for the work we're offering him. it isn't right, grinding him into the dirt the way we are."

evans leaned over, picked up the broken puppet. one arm was twisted at an odd angle, the clown suit was torn and dirty. evans tried to fit the head back on the small body. finally he succeeded.

he looked at the secretary of interior. his eyes seemed different. "i have a position he can fill and do a good job. he won't refuse. i'm sure." evans walked away, toward brandon's house, still holding the broken figure.

brandon stood on the veranda looking across his small estate, in the direction of the city. the site of the government was located there. perhaps that was why he was so reluctant; he lived too close to it, had it around him day in and day out. the government was ubiquitous, omnipresent and omnipotent. it dominated every conversation, every business, every life from birth to death. lately it even seemed that every one he came in contact with held a position with some agency connected with the government.

"mr. brandon!"

"i know," he answered without turning. "you're from labor."

"we've never met!"