He straightened up. The speaker had stopped talking and was looking at him with wary and ice-hard eyes.

Seldon said calmly, "Your permit to address the students, sir."

"Who are you?" said the speaker. He said it loudly, his voice carrying.

"I'm a member of the faculty of this University," said Seldon, equally loudly. "Your permit, sir?"

"I deny your right to question me on the matter." The young men behind the speaker had gathered closer.

"If you have none, I would advise you to leave the University grounds immediately."

"And if I don't?"

"Well, for one thing, the University security officers are on their way." He turned to the crowd. "Students," he called out, "we have the right of free speech and freedom of assembly on this campus, but it can be taken away from us if we allow outsiders, without permits, to make unauthorized-"

A heavy hand fell on his shoulder and he winced. He turned around and found it was one of the men Finangelos had referred to as "goons."

The man said, with a heavy accent whose provenance Seldon could not immediately identify, "Get out of here fast. "

"What good will that do?" said Seldon. "The security officers will be here any minute."

"In that case," said Namarti with a feral grin, "there'll be a riot. That doesn't scare us."

"Of course it wouldn't," said Seldon. "You'd like it, but there won't be a riot. You'll all go quietly." He turned again to the students and shrugged off the hand on his shoulder. "We'll see to that, won't we?"

Someone in the crowd shouted, "That's Professor Seldon! He's all right! Don't pound him!"

Seldon sensed ambivalence in the crowd. There would be some, he knew, who would welcome a dust-up with the University security officers, just on general principles. On the other hand, there had to be some who liked him personally and still others who did not know him but who would not want to see violence against a member of the faculty.