wanted. Ed did not touch the grass at any point except
one: the point where his protuberant stomach most protruded. Fore and
aft, the rest of him was balanced stiffly in the air.

Forrester gazed at the sight, feeling fulfilled. "Now," he said with a
note of decision in his voice, "we are going to play Spin-the-Bottle!"

The girls giggled and laughed.

"You mean with him?" Bette said.

Forrester sighed. "That's right," he said patiently. "With him."

He got into position and looked up at the girls. "This one's just for
practice, so we can all see how it works." He gave Symes's extended foot
a little push.

_Whee!_ he thought. Round and round the gentleman went, spinning
quietly on his stomach, revolving in a merry fashion while the girls and
Forrester watched silently. At last he slowed and stopped, his nose
pointing at Bette and his toes at Dorothy.

"Oh, my!" Dorothy said. "He's pointing at me!"

"He is not!" Bette said decisively. "His head points my way!"

"But he--"

"Temper, temper," Forrester said. "No arguments. That one didn't count,
anyhow--it was just to see how he worked. And I do think he works very
nicely, don't you?"

"Oh, yes, Lord Dionysus," Kathy said. There was the same undertone in
her voice, as if she were silently laughing at everything. She was, he
told himself, an extremely unlikable young woman.

The other girls agreed in a chorus. They were still studying the stiff
body of Ed Symes. His stomach had made a little depression in the grass
as he whirled, and he was now nicely bedded down for a real spin.
Forrester rubbed his hands together.

"Fine," he said. "Now, all of you are going to be judges."

"Me, too?" Bette asked.

Forrester nodded. "The head will be the determining factor. If our
little Mr. Bottle's head points to any one of you, that is the one I'll
choose first."

"See?" Bette said. "I told you it was his head."

"Well, I couldn't tell before anybody said so," Dorothy said. "And
anyhow, I--"

"Now, now, girls," Forrester said, feeling momentarily like a Girl Scout
troop leader. "Let's listen to the rules, shall we? And then we can get
down to playing the game." He took a deep breath. "Isn't this fun?"

The girls giggled.

"Good," Forrester said. "If Mr. Bottle's head ends up between two of
you, then the other five girls will have to decide which girl the head's
nearer to. The two girls involved will remain absolutely quiet during
the judging, and if the other