doubt whatever as to the meaning of the words. Either
he lived up to expectations or he didn't live at all. The Gods' anger
was not a small affair, and it seldom satisfied itself with small
results. When a God got angry with you, you simply hoped the result
would be quick. You didn't really dare hope it would also be temporary.

Forrester passed a hand over his forehead. If he had been doing his own
picking, he thought a little sadly, the job of tryout stand-in for
Dionysus was not the job he would have chosen. But then, the choice
wasn't his, and it never had been. It was the Gods who had picked him.

Unfortunately, if he failed, the mistake wouldn't be laid at the door of
the Gods. It would be laid at the door of William Forrester, together
with a nice, big, black funeral wreath.

But it didn't sound too bad at that, he told himself hopefully. After
all, it wasn't every day that a man was offered the job of stand-in for
a God, not every day that a man was offered the chance of passing a lot
of strenuous and embarrassing tests, and dying if he failed.

He told himself sternly to look on the positive side, but all he could
think of was the succession of tests still to come. What would they be
like? How could he ever pass them all? What would be thought necessary
to establish a man as a first-rate double for Dionysus?

Looks, he thought, were obviously the first thing, and he certainly had
those. For a second he almost wished he could see Ed Symes and apologize
for getting mad when Ed had told him he looked like Bacchus.

But then, he reflected, he didn't want to go too far. The idea of
apologizing to Ed Symes, no matter who his sister was, made Forrester's
gorge rise about five and a half feet.

"However," Aphrodite went on, as if she had just thought of something
too unimportant to bother mentioning, "don't worry about it. My father's
thunderbolt needn't concern you. I have every confidence that you will
prove yourself."

She smiled radiantly at him.

The idea occurred to Forrester that she just didn't think that a
mortal's mortality was important. But the idea didn't stay long. Being
reassured by a Goddess, he told himself confusedly, was very reassuring.

Venus was looking him up and down speculatively, and Forrester suddenly
thought a new test was coming. A little gentle sweat began to break out
on his forehead again, but his face stayed calm. He took a deep breath
and tried to concentrate on gathering st