Officer Flanders
and said: "Pardon me, Officer. Could you tell me where I could find the
Donahue Building?"

And while the policeman told her, the Nipe listened carefully. Now he
knew what street he was on and its location in respect to two other
streets. He also had a number. He remembered them all, accurately and
completely. It was a good beginning, he decided. It would not be too
long before he would have enough to enable him to locate the address he
was looking for. After that, there would only remain the job of
observing and making plans to get what he wanted at that address.

He settled himself to wait for more information. He knew that it would
be a long wait.

But he was prepared for that.

_SECOND INTERLUDE_

The woman's eyes were filled with tears, for which the doctor was
privately thankful. At least, he thought to himself, the original shock
has worn off.

"And there's nothing we can do?" she asked. "Nothing?" There was anguish
in her voice.

"I'm afraid not," the doctor told her gently. "Not yet. There are
research men working on the problem, and one day ... perhaps ..." Then
he shook his head. "But not yet." He paused. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Stanton."

The woman sat there in the comfortable chair and looked at the
specialist's diploma on the doctor's wall--and yet, she really didn't
see the diploma at all. She was seeing something else--a kind of dream
that had been shattered.

After a moment, she began to speak, her voice low and gentle, as though
the dream were still going on and she were half afraid she might waken
herself if she spoke too loudly.

"Jim and I were so glad they were twins. Identical twin boys. He said
... I remember, he said, 'We ought to call them Ike and Mike.' And he
laughed a little when he said it, to show he didn't mean it."

The doctor said nothing, waiting for her to go on.

"I remember, I was propped up in the bed, the afternoon after they were
born, and Jim brought me a new bed jacket, and I said I didn't need a
new one because I'd be going right home the very next day, and he said,
'Hell, kid, you don't think I'd buy a bed jacket just for hospital use,
now do you? This is for breakfasts in bed, too.'

"And that's when he said he'd seen the boys and said we ought to name
them Ike and Mike."

The tears were coming down Mrs. Stanton's cheeks heavily now, and the
grief made her look older than her twenty-four years, but the doctor
said nothing, letting her spi