ead of the line was saying, "They ought to round them all
up and make them move on. Three thousand--that would keep the people
who've got a right here going a long time."

Someone else, not quite so angry, said, "They're people just like us.
You know what the Bible says about that. We ought to share as long as we
can."

"Yeah, and pretty soon there won't be anything for anybody to share!"

"That may be true, but it's what we're supposed to do. It's what we've
_got_ to do if we're going to stay human. I'll take anybody into my
house who knocks on my door."

"When you see your kids crying for food you can't give them you'll
change your tune!"

Just ahead of him in line Ken saw a small, silent woman who looked about
with darting glances of fear. She was trembling with fright as much as
with the cold that penetrated her thin, ragged, cloth coat.

She was one of them, Ken thought. She was one who had come from the
outside. He wondered which of the loud-mouthed ones beside him would be
willing to be the first to take her beyond the bounds of Mayfield and
force her to move on.

* * * * *

That night, at dinner, he spoke of it to his parents and the Larsens.

"It's a problem that has to be faced," said Professor Maddox, "and
Hilliard is choosing the solution he thinks is right. He's no more
heartless than Dr. Aylesworth, for example."

"It seems a horrible thing," said Mrs. Larsen. "What will happen to
those who are turned away?"

"They will die," said Dr. Larsen. "They will go away and wander in the
snow until they die."

"Why should we have any more right to live than they?" asked Mrs.
Maddox. "How can we go on eating and being comfortable while they are
out there?"

"_They_ are out there in the whole world," said Dr. Larsen as if
meditating. "There must be thirty million who have died in the United
States alone since this began. Another hundred million will die this
winter. The proportion will be the same in the rest of the world. Should
we be thankful for our preservation so far, or should we voluntarily
join them in death?"

"This is different," said Mrs. Maddox. "It's those who come and beg for
our help who will be on our consciences if we do this thing."

"The whole world would come if it knew we had stores of food here--if it
could come. As brutal as it is, the Mayor has taken the only feasible
course open to him."

Ken and Maria remained silent, both feeling the horro