smarter operator than Eggy Eggleston ever
was or ever can be."

* * * * *

Partially mollified despite herself, and highly resentful of the fact,
Sandra tried again. "But don't you _see_, Jarve, that she's just simply
playing you for a sucker? Pulling the strings and watching you dance?"

Since he was sure, in his own mind, that she was speaking the exact
truth, it took everything he had to keep from showing any sign of how
much that truth had hurt. However, he made the grade.

"If that thought does anything for you, Sandy," he said, steadily, "keep
right on thinking it. Thank God, the field of thought is still free and
open."

"Oh, you...." Sandra gave up.

She had shot her heaviest bolts--the last one, particularly, was so
vicious that she had actually been afraid of what its consequences might
be--and they had not even dented Hilton's armor. She hadn't even found
out that he had any feeling whatever for Temple Bells except as a
component of his smoothly-functioning scientific machine.

Nor did she learn any more as time went on. Temple continued to play
flawlessly the part of being--if not exactly hopefully, at least not
entirely hopelessly--in love with Jarvis Hilton. Her conduct, which at
first caused some surprise, many conversations--one of which has been
reported verbatim--and no little speculation, became comparatively
unimportant as soon as it became evident that nothing would come of it.
She apparently expected nothing. He was evidently not going to play
footsie with, or show any favoritism whatever toward, any woman aboard
the ship.

Thus, it was not surprising to anyone that, at an evening show, Temple
sat beside Hilton, as close to him as she could get and as far away as
possible from everyone else.

"You can talk, can't you, Jarvis, without moving your lips and without
anyone else hearing you?"

"Of course," he replied, hiding his surprise. This was something
completely new and completely unexpected, even from unpredictable Temple
Bells.

"I want to apologize, to explain and to do anything I can to straighten
out the mess I've made. It's true that I joined the project because I've
loved you for years--"

"You have nothing to ..."

"Let me finish while I still have the courage." Only a slight tremor in
her almost inaudible voice and the rigidity of the fists clenched in her
lap betrayed the intensity of her emotion. "I thought I could handle it.
Damned fool