"You know, Mr. Malone--"

"Call me Ken," Malone said.

"It is silly to be formal now, isn't it?" Luba said. "You know, Ken,
I'm beginning to realize that you are really a very nice person--in
spite of your rather surprising method of attack."

"What's surprising about it?" Malone said. "People do it all the
time."

* * * * *

The orchestra suddenly shifted from the previous slow number to a
rapid fire tune Malone couldn't remember having heard before. "That,"
he announced, "is too fast for me. I'm going to get some fresh air."

Luba nodded, her red hair brushing Malone's cheek silkily. "I'm
coming, too," she said.

Surrounding the Great Universal, Malone remembered, was a small belt
of parkland. He flagged a hallway car--remembering carefully to check
whether or not the driver was the sniggering Murray--and he and Luba
piled in and started out for the park. In the car, he held her hand
silently, feeling a little like a bashful schoolboy and a little like
Sir Kenneth Malone. It was a strange mixture, but he decided that he
liked it.

They got out, standing in the cool darkness of the park. Overhead a
moon and stars were shining. The little hallway car rolled away and
they were alone. Completely alone. Malone swallowed hard.

"Sleuth," Luba said softly in the darkness.

Malone turned to face her.

"Sleuth," she said, "don't you ever take a chance?"

"Chance?" Malone said.

"Damn it," Luba said in a soft, sweet voice, "kiss me, Ken."

Malone had no answer to that--at least, no verbal answer. But then,
one didn't seem to be needed.

When he finally came up for air, he said: "Lou--"

"Yes, Ken?"

"Lou, how long are you going to be here? Or in New York? What I mean
is--"

"I'll be around," Lou said. "I will be going back to New York of
course; after all, Ken, I do have a living to make, such as it is, and
Sir Lewis is expecting me."

"I don't know," Malone said, "but it still sounds funny. A girl like
you working for ... well, for the Psychical Research people. Ghosts
and ectoplasm and all that."

Suddenly Lou wasn't in his arms any more. "Now, wait a minute," she
said. "You seemed to need their information, all right."

"But that was ... oh, well," Malone said. "Never mind. Maybe I'm
silly. It really doesn't matter."

"I guess it doesn't, now," Lou said in a softer tone. "Except that it
does mean I'll be going back to New York pretty soon."

"Oh," Malone said. "