s standing in front of him.
It was the expression on her face which stopped Ronald Lovegear. The
look was a compound of restraint and compulsion, the reflection of some
deep struggle in Corinne's soul. Then she suddenly leaned forward and
pressed her lips to Pascal's full, fleshy pumpkin mouth. Slowly, one of
Pascal's aluminum arms moved up and encircled her waist.

Mr. Lovegear stepped back into the rain. He stood there for several
minutes. The rain curled around the brim of his hat, dropped to his
face, and rolled down his cheeks with the slow agitation of tears.

When, finally, he walked around to the front and stamped heavily up the
stairs, Corinne greeted him with a flush in her cheeks. Ronald told her
that he didn't feel "quite up to dinner. Just coffee, please." When it
was ready he sipped slowly, watching Corinne's figure as she moved
around the room. She avoided looking at the aluminum figure in the
chair.

Ronald put his coffee down, walked over to Pascal, and, gripping him
behind the shoulders, dragged him into the den.

Corinne stood looking at the closed door and listened to the furious
pounding.

* * * * *

Ten minutes later Ronald came out and went straight to the phone.

"Yes! Immediately!" he told the man at the freight office. While he sat
there waiting Corinne walked upstairs.

Ronald did not offer to help the freight men drag the box outside. When
they had gone he went into the den and came back with the pumpkin. He
opened the back door and hurled it out into the rain. It cleared the
back fence and rolled down the alley stopping in a small puddle in the
cinders.

After a while the water level reached the mouth and there was a soft
choking sound. The boy who found it the next morning looked at the mouth
and wondered why anyone would carve such a sad Jack-O'-Lantern.

THE END

Transcriber's Note:

This etext was produced from _If Worlds of Science Fiction_ July
1953. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.
copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and
typographical errors have been corrected without note.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Weak on Square Roots, by Russell Burton

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WEAK ON SQUARE ROOTS ***

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