strange emotion stifled his impulse to laugh at the
way the robe clung.

Instead, he lengthened his stride, but he was still a few feet behind
when she charged through the front entrance of the house. The door,
having opened automatically for her, started to swing closed. Robert
sprang forward to catch it.

"Wait a minute!" he cried.

Marcia-Joan snapped something that sounded like "Get out!" over her
shoulder, and squished off toward the stairs. As Robert started
through the door to follow, the striped robot hastened toward him from
its post in the hall.

"Do not use the front door!" it warned him.

"Out of my way!" growled Robert.

The robot reached out to enforce the command. Robert seized it by the
forearm and put all his weight into a sudden tug. The machine tottered
off balance. Releasing his grip, he sent it staggering out the door
with a quick shove.

* * * * *

A hasty glance showed Marcia-Joan flapping wetly up the last steps.
Robert turned to face the robot.

"Do not use that door!" he quoted vindictively, and the robot halted
its rush indecisively. "Only Marcia-Joan uses it."

The major-domo hesitated. After a moment, it strode off around the
corner of the house. First darting one more look at the stairs, Robert
thrust his head outside and shouted: "Blue Two!"

He held the door open while he waited. There was an answer from the
shrubbery. Presently, his own supervisor hurried up.

"Fetch the emergency toolbox!" Robert ordered. "And bring a couple of
others with you."

"Naturally, Robert. I would not carry it myself."

A moment after the robot had departed on the errand, heavy steps
sounded at the rear of the hall. Marcia-Joan's robot had dealt with
the mechanism of the back door.

Robert eyed the metal mask as the robot walked up to him. He found the
color contrast less pleasant than ever.

"I am not using the door," he said hastily. "I am merely holding it
open."

"Do you intend to use it?"

"I haven't decided."

"I shall carry you out back," the robot decided for him.

"No, you don't!" exclaimed Robert, leaping backward.

The door immediately began to swing shut as he passed through.

Cursing, he lunged forward. The robot reached for him.

This time, Robert missed his grip. Before he could duck away, his
wrist was trapped in a metal grasp.

_The door will close_, he despaired. _They'll be too late._

Then, suddenly, he felt the portal drawn b