hari seldon sat at yugo amaryl's bedside-patiently, sadly. yugo was utterly spent. he was beyond medical help, even if he would have consented to avail himself of such help, which he refused.

he was only fifty-five. seldon was himself sixty-six and yet he was in fine shape, except for the twinge of sciatica-or whatever it was-that occasionally lamed him.

amaryl's eyes opened. "you're still here, hari?"

seldon nodded. "i won't leave you."

"till i die?"

"yes." then, in an outburst of grief, he said, "why have you done this, yugo? if you had lived sensibly, you could have had twenty to thirty more years of life."

amaryl smiled faintly. "live sensibly? you mean, take time off? go to resorts? amuse myself with trifles?"

"yes. yes."

"and i would either have longed to return to my work or i would have learned to like wasting my time and, in the additional twenty to thirty years you speak of, i would have accomplished no more. look at you."

"what about me?"

"for ten years you were first minister under cleon. how much science did you do then?"

"i spent about a quarter of my time on psychohistory," said seldon gently.

"you exaggerate. if it hadn't been for me, plugging away, psychohistorical advance would have screeched to a halt."

seldon nodded. "you are right, yugo. for that i am grateful."

"and before and since, when you spend at least half your time on administrative duties, who does--did-the real work? eh?"

"you, yugo."

"absolutely." his eyes closed again.

seldon said, "yet you always wanted to take over those administrative duties if you survived me."

"no! i wanted to head the project to keep it moving in the direction it had to move in, but i would have delegated all administration."

amaryl's breathing was growing stertorous, but then he stirred and his eyes opened, staring directly at hari. he said, "what will happen to psychohistory when i'm gone? have you thought of that?"

"yes, i have. and i want to speak to you about it. it may please you. yugo, i believe that psychohistory is being revolutionized."

amaryl frowned slightly. "in what way? i don't like the sound of that."

"listen. it was your idea. years ago, you told me that two foundations should be established. separate-isolated and safe-and arranged so that they would serve as nuclei for an eventual second galactic empire. do you remember? that was your idea."

"the psychohistoric equations-"

"i know. they suggested it. i'm busy working on it now, yugo. i've managed to wangle an office in the galactic library-"

"the galactic library." amaryl's frown deepened. "i don't like diem. a bunch of self-satisfied idiots."

"the chief librarian, las zenow, is not so bad, yugo."

"did you ever meet a librarian named mummery, gennaro mummery?"

"no, but i've heard of him."

"a miserable human being. we had an argument once when he claimed i had misplaced something or other. i had done no such thing and i grew very annoyed, hari. all of a sudden i was back in dahl. one thing about the dahlite culture, hari, it is a cesspool of invective. i used some of it on him and i told him he was interfering with psychohistory and he would go down in history as a villain. i didn't just say `villain,' either." amaryl chuckled faintly. "i left him speechless."

suddenly seldon could see where mummery's animosity toward outsiders and, most probably, psychohistory must come from-at least, in part-but he said nothing.

"the point is, yugo, you wanted two foundations, so that if one failed, the other would continue. but we've gone beyond that."

"in what way?"

"do you remember that wanda was able to read your mind two years ago and see that something was wrong with a portion of the equations in the prime radiant?"

"yes, of course."

"well, we will find others like wanda. we will have one foundation that will consist largely of physical scientists, who will preserve the knowledge of humanity and serve as the nucleus for the second empire. and there will be a second foundation of psychohistorians only-mentalists, mind-touching psychohistorians-who will be able to work on psychohistory in a multiminded way, advancing it far more quickly than individual thinkers ever could. they will serve as a group who will introduce fine adjustments as time goes on, you see. ever in the background, watching. they will be the empire's guardians."

"wonderful!" said amaryl weakly. "wonderful! you see how i've chosen the right time to die? there's nothing left for me to do."

"don't say that, yugo."

"don't make such a fuss over it, hari. i'm too tired to do anything. thank you-thank you-for telling me"-his voice was weakening-攁bout the revolution. it makes me-happy-----------"

and those were yugo amaryl's last words.

seldon bent over the bed. tears stung his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.

another old friend gone. demerzel, cleon, dors, now yugo . leaving him emptier and lonelier as he grew old.

and the revolution that had allowed amaryl to die happy might never come to pass. could he manage to make use of the galactic library? could he find more people like wanda? most of all, how long would it take?

seldon was sixty-six. if only he could have started this revolution at thirty-two when he first came to trantor .

now it might be too late.