aintly proud at
each other.

The other man got up slowly, retrieved his picture, left the room
without saying a word.

"We can't do for little Lavada," the woman whined. "She was a late
child, and we're getting old, and we thought she would be better here.
It's hard to do for a growing girl when you get old. And my husband
can't keep steady work, because of his health and ..."

"I'm sure she will be happy here," the Madame said, smiling.

"Yes," the man agreed. "It's for the best. But--you know--well, we hate
to do it."

"How old is she?"

"... Fourteen."

Miss Bestris studied the picture again. "She doesn't look over twelve."

"She's fourteen."

"And healthy--"

"We have doctors to see to that," the Madame said. "How much did you
have in mind?"

"Well," the man said, "it's been a month now since I worked, and with
debts and everything...."

"And something to put aside for winter," his wife added.

"We couldn't take less than a _milli dordoc_."

"And we wouldn't even think of it, but we don't have a scrap of bread in
the house."

"And all our bills, and winter coming on...."

Miss Bestris turned the picture this way and that. The parents waited.
The woman cleared her throat. The man shuffled his feet. The clock on
the wall went tick-tick, tick-tick.

"I'll give you eight hundred and thirty _dordocs_," the Madame said.

"Well...."

Miss Bestris bent forward, holding out the picture. "Here, then. Take
it. I wouldn't offer that, but I need a girl right now. One of mine ran
away last week, and I'm afraid she won't be able to work for a month or
so after they bring her back. I'm being generous. Eight hundred and
thirty, or take your picture and don't waste my time."

The man and woman stared at her. And the clock went _tick-tick_.

"Take it, Chav."

"... All right," the man said. "We need the money."

Miss Bestris leaned across the desk, pressed a button on her panel.
Almost immediately, a door slid silently open and her lawyer entered
with a white, printed, standard-form sales contract in his hand.
Efficiently and rapidly, he entered the particulars. "Sign here," he
said, and the parents signed.

"Now," said the Madame, "if you'll bring in Lavada tomorrow at nine,
I'll arrange for a doctor to be here. If his examination is
satisfactory, the money will be ready."

The lawyer left, and the woman said, "You understand, we wouldn't do
this but for ..."

"I understand, perfectly," Miss Bestri