grumbling about the plumbing.

Paco and Loo, the only single bachelors on the tour besides himself,
were again quartered with him at the Astoria.

Paco said, "My friend, there I agree with you completely. America has
the best plumbing in the world. And the most."

Hank was pulling off his shoes after an arch-breaking day of
sightseeing. "Well, I'm glad I've finally found some field where it's
agreeable that the West is superior to the Russkies."

Loo was stretched out on his bed, in stocking feet, gazing at the
ceiling which towered at least fifteen feet above him. He said "In the
town where I was born, there were three bathrooms, one in the home of
the missionary, one in the home of the commissioner, and one in my
father's palace." He looked up at Hank. "Or is my country considered
part of the Western World?"

Paco laughed. "Come to think of it, I doubt if one third the rural
homes of Argentina have bathrooms. Hank, my friend, I am afraid Loo is
right. You use the word _West_ too broadly. All the capitalist world
is not so advanced as the United States. You have been very lucky, you
Yankees."

Hank sank into one of the huge, Victorian era armchairs. "Luck has
nothing to do with it. America is rich because private enterprise
_works_."

"Of course," Paco pursued humorously, "the fact that your country
floats on a sea of oil, has some of the richest forest land in the
world, is blessed with some of the greatest mineral deposits anywhere
and millions of acres of unbelievably fertile land has nothing to do
with it."

"I get your point," Hank said. "The United States was handed the
wealth of the world on a platter. But that's only part of it."

"Yes," Loo agreed. "Also to be considered is the fact that for more
than a hundred years you have never had a serious war, serious, that
is, in that your land was not invaded, your industries destroyed."

"That's to our credit. We're a peace loving people."

Loo laughed abruptly. "You should tell that to the American Indians."

Hank scowled over at him. "What'd you mean by that Loo? That has all
the elements of a nasty crack."

"Or tell it to the Mexicans. Isn't that where you got your whole
South-west?"

Hank looked from Loo to Paco and back.

* * * * *

Paco brought out cigarettes and tossed one to each of the others.
"Aren't these long Russian cigarettes the end? I heard somebody say
that by the time the smoke got through all the