l impatience.

In the morning, he found that enrollment in his classes had doubled, and
the room was crowded to capacity with the bright, shining, eager faces
of young Terrestrials athirst for learning. There were apples,
chocolates and imported frismil nuts on his desk, as well as a pressing
invitation from Mrs. Purrington for him to spend all his weekends and
holidays at the White House. The window was fitted with an
air-conditioning unit which, he later discovered, his classes had
chipped in to buy for him, and the temperature had been lowered to a
point where it was almost comfortable. All the students wore coats.

When he went out on the campus, women--students, teachers, even
strangers--stopped to talk to him, to exclaim over him, to touch him,
even to kiss him. Photographers were perpetually taking pictures, some
of which turned up in the Student Union as full-color postcards. They
sold like Lajl out of season.

Narli wrote in Saturnian on the back of one: "Having miserable time; be
glad you're not here," and sent it to Slood.

There were cocktail parties, musicales and balls in Narli's honor. When
he tried to refuse an invitation, he was accused of shyness and
virtually dragged to the affair by laughing members of the faculty. He
put on so much weight that he had to buy a complete new Terrestrial
outfit, which set him back a pretty penny. As a result, he had to
augment his income by lecturing to women's clubs. They slobbered
appallingly.

* * * * *

Narli's students did all their homework assiduously and, in fact, put in
more work than had been assigned. At the end of the year, not only did
all of them pass, but with flying colors.

"I hope you'll remember, Professor Gzann," the President of the
University said, "that there will always be a job waiting for you
here--a non-exchange professorship. Love to have you."

"Thank you," Narli replied politely.

Mrs. Purrington broke into loud sobs when he told her he was leaving
Earth. "Oh, I'll miss you so, Narli! You will write, won't you?"

"Yes, of course," he said grimly. That made two hundred and eighteen
people to whom he'd had to promise to write.

It was fortunate he was traveling as a guest of the North American
government, he thought as he supervised the loading of his matched
interplanetary luggage; his eight steamer baskets; his leather-bound
_Encyclopedia Terrestria_, with his name imprinted in gold on each
volum