The damned liar. He knew what I meant. He justified himself on a technicality. * * * * * I left Vicki Monday morning with more confidence than I'd had in ages. She had slept especially well, and the only thing on her mind was Clumsy's disappearance. He hadn't shown up since Soth scared the fleas off him with that hiss. At the office, I had my girl transcribe my notes and work up a memorandum to the board of directors. We sent it around before noon, and shortly after lunch I had calls from all ten of them, including the chairman. It was not that they considered it such a big thing--they were just plainly curious. We scheduled a meeting for Tuesday morning, to talk the thing over. That night when I got home, all was serene. Soth served us cocktails, dinner and a late snack, and had the place tidied up by bedtime. He did all this and managed to remain virtually invisible. He moved so quietly and with such uncanny anticipation of our demands, it was if he were an old family retainer, long versed in our habits and customs. Vicki bragged as she undressed that she had the giant hog-tied and jumping through hoops. "We even got half the excavation done for the rock wall," she said proudly. On impulse, I went out into the hall and down to Soth's room, where I found him stretched out slaunchwise across the double bed. He opened his eyes as I came in, but didn't stir. "Are you happy here?" I asked bluntly. He sat up and did something new. He answered my question with a question. "Are you happy with my services?" I said, "Yes, of course." "Then all is well," he replied simply, and lay down again. It seemed like a satisfactory answer. He radiated a feeling of peace, and the expression of repose on his heavy features was assuring. * * * * * It rained hard and cold during the night. I hadn't shown Soth how to start the automatic heating unit. When I left the house next morning, he was bringing Vicki her breakfast in bed, a tray on one arm and a handful of kindling under the other. Only once had he watched me build a fire in the fireplace, but he proceeded with confidence. We flew blind through filthy weather all the way to Detroit. I dismissed Jack with orders to return at eleven with Soth. "Don't be late," I warned him. Jack looked a little uneasy, but he showed up on schedule and delivered Soth to us with rain droplets on his massive bald pate, just ten minutes after the conference convened. I had Ollie Johnson there, too, to put Soth through his paces. The Ollie, in a bedraggled, soggy suit, was so excited that he remained an almost purplish black for the whole hour. The directors were charmed, impressed and enthusiastic.