t'd be more fun to sob on _her_ bosom. You
haven't even kissed her yet, have you? I mean _really_ kissed her?"

"You know I haven't. She's the one person aboard I can't be alone with
for a second."

"True. But I know of one chaperone who could become deaf and blind," she
said, with a broad and happy grin. "On my door, you know, there's a huge
invisible sign that says, to everyone except you, 'STOP! BRAIN AT WORK!
SILENCE!', and if I were properly approached and sufficiently urged, I
might ... I just _conceivably_ might ..."

"Consider it done, you little sweetheart! Up to and including my most
vigorous and most insidious attempts at seduction."

"Done. Maneuver your big, husky carcass around here behind the desk so
the door can open." She flipped a switch and punched a number. "I can
call anybody in here, any time, you know. Hello, dear, this is Teddy.
Can you come in for just a few minutes? Thanks." And, one minute later,
there came a light tap on the door.

"Come in," Teddy called, and Temple Bells entered the room. She showed
no surprise at seeing Hilton.

"Hi, chief," she said. "It must be something both big and tough, to have
you and Teddy both on it."

"You're so right. It was very big and very tough. But it's solved,
darling, so ..."

"_Darling?_" she gasped, almost inaudibly, both hands flying to her
throat. Her eyes flashed toward the other woman.

"Teddy knows all about us--accessory before, during and after the fact."

"_Darling!_" This time, the word was a shriek. She extended both arms
and started forward.

Hilton did not bother to maneuver his "big, husky carcass" around the
desk, but simply hurdled it, straight toward her.

* * * * *

Temple Bells was a tall, lithe, strong woman; and all the power of her
arms and torso went into the ensuing effort to crack Hilton's ribs.
Those ribs, however, were highly capable structural members; and
furthermore, they were protected by thick slabs of hard, hard muscle.
And, fortunately, he was not trying to fracture _her_ ribs. His
pressures were distributed much more widely. He was, according to
promise, doing his very best to flatten her whole resilient body out
flat.

And as they stood there, locked together in sheerest ecstasy, Theodora
Blake began openly and unashamedly to cry.

It was Temple who first came up for air. She wriggled loose from one of
his arms, felt of her hair and gazed unseeingly into her mirror. "Th