bout warp theory.

She, herself, ate little. She was content to look at them. The
lieutenant, tall and strong, big-boned, dark-complexioned, square-faced,
white even teeth. Sam, smalled-boned, fair-complexioned, hair bleached
straw from the outdoor sun. He had been inclined to be a little stout
when she first saw him, but now he had that muscular wiriness which
comes with hard physical work--and clean living. His daughters would be
delicate, lovely, yet strong. The lieutenant's sons....

She watched, in a kind of rapture, the ripple of muscles beneath their
shirts, the way the pillar of the neck arose from strong shoulders to
support a well-shaped head, the way the muscles of jaws rippled under
their lean cheeks as they chewed. The way their intelligent eyes flashed
appreciation at each savory mouthful.

"It occurs to me, Sam," Lt. Harper said as he washed down some turkey
with a healthy quaff of wine. "We could give a little more attention to
scraping up food for Miss Kitty to cook. Now you take this brown rice,
for example, we could rig up a polishing mill so she'd have white
rice...."

"Nonsense," Miss Kitty said firmly. "All the proper food value lies in
the brown covering. I will not have the children's eating habits spoiled
from the beginning...."

Appalled, she realized what she had said. Both men stopped chewing and
stared at her.

"What children, Miss Kitty?" Lt. Harper asked, and he was looking at her
intently.

She dropped her eyes to her plate. She felt the red flush arising around
her neck, up into her face. She couldn't face him. Yet, it had to be
done. It must be made quite clear to him, both of them, that....

"_Our_ children," she said distinctly, and felt their eyes boring into
the top of her head. "And I wish you both would stop calling me Miss
Kitty, as if--as if you were kindergarten children and I was the old
maid school teacher! All three of us are adults, men and a woman. In
spite of what you may think, I am not a great deal older than either of
you. There will be children! If it works out the way I plan, I believe I
do have time for at least six sons and daughters before I reach ...
before my barren years."

She heard Sam's fork clatter down on the table top as he dropped it. She
heard Lt. Harper's feet scrape, as if he had been about to leap to his
feet. Without seeing it, she almost felt them look at one another.

Well, she had made it plain enough.

But they didn't say anything.