Biddy came quickly forward and laid a hand on Davey's arm. "I didn't mean that I didn't want you to see Joe, Davey. In fact I talked to him about you and he said he might be able to help you too." The gratitude in Davey's face was eloquent. "He did?" "Uh-huh. Joe is just wonderful. We'll go there tomorrow--just me and you and Joe will fix your leg." Biddy saw the disappointment her words brought. Davey said, "That would be just wonderful." "You see its quite a long way from here. I came in the opposite direction on purpose in case anybody followed me. I didn't want to lead them to Joe and now it's getting pretty late." Davey glanced at the sun. "Uh-huh. Sun'll be down in fifteen minutes." "And I've got to get home or Mom and Pop won't like it. They'll be cross." "Sure--a little kid like you shouldn't be out on the desert at night." "I'll meet you tomorrow, though. Let's see, where--?" "Any place you say, Biddy." * * * * * Biddy thought it over very carefully, then suddenly bubbled with the warmth that was a part of her nature. "Davey--we won't wait. We'll go now. It will be way after dark when we get there because I can't leave Buck and he can't go very fast on his short legs, but we'll go anyway and see Joe tonight!" Davey's hands trembled. "But what about your folks?" Biddy shrugged. "Well, I'll be with you and you're an old person so that ought to make it all right." "Well--" "Anyhow, let's worry about that later. You make the jeep go real slow and I'll ride beside you. I can make Buck go faster that way." "All right." So the strange little cavalcade started slowly off across the desert. Biddy prattled on as she rode the phlegmatic Buck beside the jeep and Davey's heart sang a song within him, a crazy, ecstatic song: _We're looking for Joe. We're riding over the night desert hunting for him. And maybe we aren't the only ones. Maybe everybody in the world is stumbling through the darkness looking for Joe._ What Davey's heart was saying made little sense to his mind. But he did not question its source. He was only twenty-one and not a wise philosopher so he completely over-looked the wisdom of his instinct.... Cecil Bates sat in the Sage Bend tavern celebrating his luck and preparing for his triumph. This preparation consisted of spreading the word because his very nature demanded witnesses or there would be no triumph at all. "So you know where this foreign invader is, eh Ceec?" "Sure do." Cecil emptied his shot glass and tapped his forehead with a knowing finger. "Used my head. Used my head, I did." "Old blind Haney led you right to the stop, huh?" "Almost as close as I am to you. Now nobody'd think a blind man could do a thing like that--nobody but a man who uses his head like I do." "You sure are smart Ceec. You say you actually saw the machine he's going to blow us up with?"