e-deep pile of his rug and set it down
next to his big desk.

"I have a progress report on Pheola, Pete," I told him.

"That skinny one you brought back from Nevada, Lefty?"

I nodded. "She's not quite so skinny, thanks to my expense account,"
I said. "And she's ready to qualify."

"Not on PC," he said, hot at once.

"That remains to be seen, Pete. The lab has been tracking her
predictions for better than two weeks now, and in a couple more weeks
Norty will give us some stix on her scope, range and accuracy."

He glowered at me, his bushy brows down about his eyes. "I thought I
told you to concentrate on her healing," he said.

"I have," I told him. "But I saw no harm in seeing what she is like
with precognition," I said.

"Flat on her face, that's what she's like," he said testily. "One of
these days I'll have to convince you that what I say around here goes,
do you hear?"

"One of these days," I said. "But not when you're being a sour old
goat. You're just sore at her because she said you'd have a heart
attack."

"Nonsense!" he bristled.

"I've had Evaleen Riley doing a little PC work on you, too," I
confessed, and saw his face get dark with anger. "Now hold your
tongue, you old goat. I'm trying to help you," I cut in, to keep him
from bellowing at me. "Evaleen is worried, too. But she's a little
more cheerful than Pheola. She doesn't think you'll die."

"Well," he growled. "That's nice. I won't write my will."

"Stop acting like an old goat, you old goat," I snapped at him. "I'll
give you a prediction of my own: You'll be sick enough to die, but
we'll find a way to do something about it."

"Well, now _you're_ a PC!" he huffed. I like to think I have a little,
now and then. It's ever so short in range, and highly erratic, but I
have had my flashes.

"Just one thing," I said to him. "As a surgeon who has done a lot of
heart work, I want you in the heart clinic on the day these witches
say you're going to be sick. It will certainly make a lot of us feel
better, and the worst that can happen is that you can tell both those
witches they don't know the right time."

I didn't get to first base. "Now I'll tell you something, Wally Bupp!"
he said loudly. "I was fool enough to pay attention to what that witch
of yours said, and I've had a complete checkup. The heart people can't
find a thing the matter with my heart. The devil you say! I won't go
near your hospital. Now get out of here and don't give me an