to
the paternalism of a government that gave increased income-tax
deductions to married people.

* * * * *

Dr. Murt's growing interest was not entirely academic. His bachelorhood
was no accident of fate, but rather a carefully contrived independence,
for which he paid the price of eternal vigilance. As the world supply of
eligible bachelors diminished sharply, his wariness increased, and he
became more and more curt with nurses and female technicians at the
hospital.

He revealed the depth of his leeriness one afternoon at the scrub-up
sink, where he and his assistant were washing after a messy dissection.
Phyllis Sutton remarked, "Holly, down in Personnel, showed me a
tabulation she ran off for her own curiosity today, Doctor. Do you
realize that in this whole hospital there are only _eight_ unmarried
female employees?"

Murt threw water droplets from his bare arms and muttered, "Yes, and
every one of them's giving me the eye--to say nothing of half the
married ones."

His aide dried her long arms and slender hands and looked at him with a
crooked smile. "Not to underestimate your good looks, Doctor, but I am
one of the unmarried females. I trust I'm not giving you too much
trouble?"

He looked up, startled. "Yes--no, _no_--of course not. I'm referring to
the nurses and the technicians. What's got into them? The whole lot
seems to be on the make!"

Phyllis combed out her short dark hair and looked at him in the mirror.
"I assure you the males are just as bad. These interns and four of the
male nurses give me a physical with their eyes every time I happen to
meet them."

"I suppose this ties in somehow with your pantie-raid theory."

"Well, what do _you_ think?"

"I don't think. I just dodge. You'd do well to do the same," Murt told
her, putting on his jacket and adjusting his tie.

She sat down in his oak swivel-chair and crossed her slender ankles.
"Are you aware of the problem they have downstairs in the out-patient
clinic?"

"Hadn't heard," Murt said.

* * * * *

She removed a file from her purse and touched up her short nails. "The
outlying clinics are sending their overflow to us. They can't seem to
diagnose the odd symptoms they're getting."

"I had noticed the large number of negative test results coming out of
the lab," Murt acknowledged. "Haven't followed any of them through,
though."

"I have," Phyllis said with a little fr