There was fire and blood in Whitlock's eye as he looked at Sandra Drake. Actual bloodshed was averted by a very scant margin when Enid McBride entered and stepped before Sandra, cutting off any attempt of Whitlock's to advance upon the red-headed female with intent to inflict damage. Enid McBride was three or four years older than the other woman, and it must be reluctantly admitted that she was not the four-alarm all-out beauty that was capable of matching looks with Sandra. On the other--and most important--hand, Enid had the ability to make men and women like her; in her less boisterous way, Enid's charm and personality made itself felt even before she spoke to Sandra. "You're needed," she told Sandra quietly. "For what?" asked the Drake girl, and her cool contralto sounded scratchy in contrast. "We've a number of hurt men here and we need help. You're elected." "I've never helped a man in my life." "You are getting no younger," said Enid with a short laugh. "I'd say it was about time you started." "Oh men!" Enid looked at McBride, and with that almost telepathy that seems to exist between husband and wife, John understood that he was to leave this to Enid. He thought with a smile: Enid's smaller, but I'll bet she packs a better wallop! Then he motioned to Whitlock, and they left as Enid said: "You're a complete washout, my dear, and your not knowing that makes you even more complete. Why don't you get smart?" "Are you trying to tell me how to manage my life?" "It's time someone did. Obviously you aren't capable of managing it." "I do all right." "Nuts. If this is a sample of your brilliance, I say, 'bring back the good old days!' Look, Sandra, what are you trying to prove?" "That I'm as good as any man." "Spinach. Ask any man and he'll probably admit it. What you're trying to prove is that you're better than all men, isn't that it?" "Well--" "And since you are superior to men, no doubt you'd prefer legal protection for them--marriage laws designed to assist and protect the weaker and inferior male; labor restrictions so that grasping women may not take advantage of them; protection so that avaricious women will not be able to take advantage of his lesser experience?" "Why that's ridiculous!" "Is it? A few hundred years ago, men set up such laws to protect women because they realized that there were among their own sex, men who would think nothing of taking advantage of an unwary woman. As soon as the women decided that they were equals, men reluctantly removed that protection. Now, Sandra, if you are equal or superior to men, you should be civic-minded enough to want to protect the weaker." "Bah! You talk like a man!"