d the day they left
Y-port.

The tall young man with rumpled black hair was arguing, while the pretty
girl clung to his arm and watched his face admiringly, as though he were
the only man in the world.

"But Steward," said the young man, "Dorothy and I--that is, Mrs. Hall
and I--we felt sure we'd be able to have a table by ourselves. We don't
want to be unreasonable, it's only that this is our honeymoon, maybe the
only time we'll ever get to spend together, really, and we like to eat
alone, together, I mean. That's the reason we chose the _Star Lord_,
because the advertisements all talked about how big and roomy it was,
and how it didn't have to be so miserly with its space as they did in
earlier ships. They said you could have privacy, and not have to crowd
all together in one stuffy little cabin, the way they used to."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hall," said the Steward crisply. "We are all proud of
the spaciousness of our ship, but not even the _Star Lord_ can provide
separate tables for everybody who--Oh, _good_ morning, Mr. Jasperson!
Glad to see you, sir." Turning his back on Tom, he smiled and bowed to
the new arrival "Everything all right, sir?"

"Good morning, Dr. Chase. No nightmares last night? 'Morning Davis. Tell
that waiter of mine to be more particular about giving me plenty of ice
water. I like plenty of water, and I like it cold."

"Sorry, sir. I'll speak to him at once." He bowed again as Jasperson
strode on.

"Then could we--" Tom began.

Davis whirled with an impatient frown. "What? Are you still here?
Surely I made it clear that there's nothing I can do, Mr. Hall?"

"But couldn't you at least move us to another table?"

"I regret that you are dissatisfied with our arrangements. All table
space was allocated before we took off from Y-port."

"But you've put us with such noisy people!" said Tom stubbornly. "They
keep talking about how much money they made in deutonium, and they refer
to us, right in front of us, as the babes in the woods. They may be
rich, but they haven't the manners of a six-year old. We _can't_ stay at
that table."

"Mr. Hall, I can't waste any more time with you. If all our passengers
were to demand special privileges--" He shrugged his shoulders.

* * * * *

Dorothy Hall whispered shyly, "Ask him, then, what about that man?" and
she nodded her head slightly to the right.

"Yes," said Tom. "You say there isn't enough room, but what about that