As I have stated, Benda and I had been on the most intimate terms for forty years.
Benda's first letter to me stated that he was at the Science Community on a visit.
This, for many reasons, was a most amazing piece of news to myself and to anyone who knew Benda.
Furthermore, that a man like Benda would want to have anything at all to do with the Science Community seemed strange enough in itself.
That the Science Community would want Benda was easy to understand; but, that it could outbid the New York Bell, was, to say the least, a surprise.
Of course, it was commonly known that Benda was being sought by Universities and corporations: I know personally of several tempting offers he had received.
At about that time Benda resigned his position with the New York Bell Telephone Company to accept a place as the Director of Communication in the Science Community.
But the New York Bell is a wealthy corporation and had thus far managed to hold Benda, both by the munificence of its salary and by the attractiveness of the work it offered him.