unanatomical array of vacuum tubes and electrical relays.

She felt Ronald at her back. "It looks like the inside of a juke box,"
she said.

He beamed. "The same relay systems used in the simple juke box are
incorporated in a computer." He placed one hand lovingly on the top of
the cabinet.

"But, Ronald--it doesn't even resemble a--a mechanical man?"

"That's because it doesn't have any appendages as yet. You know, arms
and legs. That's a relatively simple adjustment." He winked at Corinne
with a great air of complicity. "And I have some excellent ideas along
that line. Now, run along, because I'll be busy most of the day."

* * * * *

Corinne ran along. She spent most of the day shopping for week-end
necessities. On an irrational last-minute impulse--perhaps an
unconscious surrender to the machine age--she dug in the grocery deep
freeze and brought out a couple of purple steaks.

That evening she had to call Ronald three times for dinner, and when he
came out of the den she noticed that he closed the door the way one does
upon a small child. He chattered about inconsequential matters all
through dinner. Corinne knew that his work was going smoothly. A few
minutes later she was to know how smoothly.

It started when she began to put on her apron to do the dishes. "Let
that go for now, dear," Ronald said, taking the apron from her. He went
into the den, returning with a small black box covered with push
buttons. "Now observe carefully," he said, his voice pitched high.

He pushed one of the buttons, waited a second with his ear cocked toward
the den, then pushed another.

Corinne heard the turning of metal against metal, and she slowly turned
her head.

"Oh!" She suppressed a shriek, clutching Ronald's arm so tightly he
almost dropped the control box.

Pascal was walking under his own effort, considerably taller now with
the round, aluminum legs Ronald had given him. Two metal arms also hung
at the sides of the cabinet. One of these rose stiffly, as though for
balance. Corinne's mouth opened as she watched the creature jerk
awkwardly across the living room.

"Oh, Ronald! The fishbowl!"

Ronald stabbed knowingly at several buttons.

Pascal pivoted toward them, but not before his right arm swung out and,
almost contemptuously, brushed the fishbowl to the floor.

Corinne closed her eyes at the crash. Then she scooped up several little
golden bodies and rushed for the kitch