her face in the darkness. He said
slowly, "I guess we all have to look out for ourselves and the devil
take the hindmost."

"I suppose," she said placidly. "Though it would depend on what you
wanted out of life. Here in Dubbinville I think we're a little more
neighborly than that."

"It's a nice town," Doak said. "A real nice town."

In front a car was stopping on the other side of the road. Someone got
out from the door on the far side and the car moved on.

"That would be Martha, I guess," Mrs. Klein said. "She'll want some of
that ham, I know. You may as well have a cup of coffee with us
anyway."

IV

Doak had some coffee and some rolls and ham. And some talk with both
of them in the bright comfortable kitchen. They talked about the
ridiculous price of food in the city and how cool the house was after
the heat of the day and what was it like on Venus?

Neither of the women had ever been to Venus. Doak told them about the
lakes, the virgin timber, the glareless warmth that came from the
generative earth.

And about the lack of communication facilities.

"There isn't enough commerce to make any video installations
worthwhile," he explained, "and the only information transmission is
by amateur radio operators. But nobody seems to miss it. It's got
enough vacation facilities without video."

Martha looked at him evenly. "The--Arnold Law applies there, too,
doesn't it?"

Doak met her gaze. "Of course." And then, "Why do you ask?"

She smiled. "I was thinking it would be a good place to curl up with a
book." Her chin lifted. "Or establish a newspaper."

He didn't answer. He took another roll and buttered it.

Mrs. Klein said, "Martha's too young to know what a newspaper is--or a
book. And so are you, Mr. Parker. I say we're not missing much."

He grinned at her. "Bad, were they?"

"There was a paper in Chicago so bad you'd think I was lying if I
tried to describe it to you. And all the books seemed to be concerned
with four-letter words."

He carefully put a piece of ham between the broken halves of the roll.
"Even Bobbie Burns? From what my mother told me he was quite a lad."

"He was dead before your mother was born," Mrs. Klein said. "All the
good ones were, all the ones who tried to entertain instead of shock
or corrupt."

Martha said lightly, "Mama's an admirer of Senator Arnold, the way it
sounds."

"I'll thank you not to mention his name while I'm eating," Mrs. Klein
said acidly. "And