But nobody crossed over. Nor was there any further firing from Hector's side.
_Lay Down Your Arms_, the loudspeaker blared in another tune from tin-pan alley.
When it became clear that Hector's forces had withdrawn completely from the Reilly Street salient, Thebold's men crossed in strength.
They worked their way block by block to the grounds of the bubble gum factory and proceeded to lay siege to it.
With Hector Civek immobilized, Senator Bobby Thebold went looking for Geneva Jervis, accompanied by two armed guards.
He was trailed by the usual pack of small boys, several of them dressed in imitation of their hero, in helmets, silk-like scarves and toy guns at hips.
Alis, unable to reach the besieged palace to see if her father was safe, had asked Don to go back with her to Cavalier after the Battle of Reilly Street. Her mother told Alis that the professor was not only safe on the campus but had resigned his post as Royal Astronaut at Hector's court.
"Father broke with Hector?" Alis asked. "Good for him! But why?"
"He and Dr. Rubach just up and walked out," Mrs. Garet said. "That's all I know. Your father never explains these things to me. But if my intuition means anything, the professor is up to one of his tricks again. He's been locked up in his lab all day."
The campus had an air of expectancy about it. Students and instructors went from building to building, exchanging knowing looks or whispered conversations.
A rally was in progress in front of the Administration Building when Senator Thebold arrived. Don and Alis joined the group of listeners for camouflage and pretended to pay attention to what the speaker, an intense young man on the back of a pickup truck, was saying.
"The time has come," he said, "for men and women of, uh, perspicacity to shun the extremes and tread the middle path. To avoid excesses as represented on the one hand by the, uh, paternalistic dictatorship of the Hectorites, and on the other by the, uh, pseudo-democracy of Senator Thebold which resorts to force when thwarted. I proclaim, therefore, the course of reason, the way of science and truth as exemplified by the, uh, the Garet-Rubach, uh--"
Senator Thebold had been listening at the edge of the little crowd. He spoke up.