hey're not going to stop me from having a good time while I last,
anyhow. I think they're through with me for today; and I'm going to
hear Jeery Wade, anyhow. He'll make up a hooting good song about all
this when I tell him."

"Take care of yourself, Rod ... goodbye," said Miss Noble, almost
concernedly.

She dropped the phone into its cradle, rose, and went back to the
vizer screen, switching on the speaker as she sat down. Only then did
she notice that the screen was entirely dark except for a vague sliver
of gray.

"Are you still there, young man?" she asked the microphone.

There was silence from the speaker. The hammer on each bar of the long
metal xylophone of the electric eye signal hung motionless.

"He's gone ... and left the front door unlatched too. And I thought he
was persistent." She was disappointed. "He owes me four more minutes
of fun."

She got up slowly and started for the door. "That curly hair stuff is
new since my last sixties, too. I wonder if it would work on white
hair ... I'd better go down and close the door. Can't have just
anybody coming into one's house."

* * * * *

She descended the stairs, opened the door from the front room, then
took one step forward into the hall. Before she could interpret the
soft bump of the salesman's bare feet as they struck the floor, she
was encircled by his strong arm; and the hiss of the anesthetic gun
was loud in the small area of the hall. Limply she sagged against his
arm.

The hissing of the gun stopped. The young man slipped it into his
pocket and, turning, thrust the inner door wide open with his now free
hand. Entering the tidy front room, he kicked the door shut behind him
and gulped in the good air before he headed for the back of the house,
cradling the small body easily in his arms. Failing to find there what
he was looking for, he went up the narrow white-railed stairway to the
second floor. Across the landing, the gleam of porcelain showed
through a half-open door.

He laid his burden carefully on the vari-colored braided rug by the
tub and began to draw a warm bath, testing the temperature frequently
with his hand. When water reached the overflow outlet, he turned off
the tap and sprinted downstairs for his sample case. The hall was
still chokingly full of gas; and after grabbing out the case, he
slammed the door again. He brought the case up to the bathroom, where
he opened it on the floor beside the