glared at him. "Yes," she snapped. "But I hate having to die in your
company!"

She looked down at the valley. Lightning struck with monotonous
regularity on the hull, but the valley was untouched. Jill smiled,
though her face was white, her body rigid with waiting.

It was the smile that did it. Gray looked at her, her tousled black
curls, the lithe young curves of throat and breast. He leaned back in
his seat, scowling out at the storm.

"Relax," he said. "You aren't going to die."

She turned on him, not daring to speak. He went on, slowly.

"The only chance you took was in the landing. We're acting as lightning
rod for the whole valley, being the highest and best conductor. But, as
a man named Faraday proved, the charge resides on the surface of the
conductor. We're perfectly safe."

"How dared you!" she whispered.

He faced her, almost angrily.

"You knocked the props out from under my philosophy. I've had enough
hypocritical eyewash. I had to prove you. Well, I have."

She was quiet for some time. Then she said, "I understand, Duke. I'm
glad. And now what, for you?"

He shrugged wryly.

"I don't know. I can still take Caron's other ship and escape. But I
don't think I want to. I think perhaps I'll stick around and give virtue
another whirl."

Smoothing back his sleek fair hair, he shot her a sparkling look from
under his hands.

"I won't," he added softly, "even mind going to Sunday School, if you
were the teacher."

* * * * *

Transcriber's Note:

The following typographical errors in the original text have been
corrected in this eBook:

Page 62: "smill" changed to "small"

Page 63: "and" changed to "end"

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