He no more got the bib under my chin than I asked, “What happened to all the robots? Not that I prefer them, you understand. But what’s the score? I’ve been away, and I thought--” The barber grinned. “You must have been away. I suppose you mean those animated junk piles three or four years ago. They’re gone. Nothing on the hoof but Government issue now.” Without any comment he clapped a rubber something over my nose and I took a dive. * * * * * When I woke up my beard was on the floor, I was trimmed, shaved, manicured and shined. That being my first brush with barbershop anaesthetic, now I understood the sign on the mirror: WE FEATURE THE NEW DREAM SERVICE. This new wrinkle made me forget about the robots. But one thing I did notice. In this barbershop there were only five chairs where they used to have them strung out as far as you could see. And there was something else that should have tipped me off to the situation. All the other four chairs were occupied by fellows without red stars on their faces. But me, I was space-happy about then with the prospect of seeing Gwen and the gang, so I didn’t think any more of it at the time. I caught an interurban Hedge-Hopper for New York and spent the time wondering a game of she-loves-me, she-loves-me-not. Alec had done pretty well in two hours. Almost everybody I knew in New York State was jammed into his apartment when I got there. I looked around for Gwen. Forest said she’d be along pretty soon. She came in on Tommy’s arm looking about as sweet as the girl you’re still in love with can look. She held out her arms and kissed me, but there was a little too much “Welcome home” in that hug, and not enough “Gee, Bill, but I’ve missed you!” to suit me. Tommy didn’t approve too much of what she did give me, but he seemed cordial enough at first. So things were like that. Old Pal, Old Gal, and Absence Makes the Heart Go Wander. Gwen wasn’t wearing a diamond, so I said to myself, nuts, Tommy’s a nice guy, but he wasted too much time. After awhile I got her alone out on Alec’s little balcony. It developed that Tommy had made more headway than I figured. She was pretty stand-offish at first. I was just beginning to get somewhere when the door jerked open behind us. Tommy saw me with my arm around Gwen’s shoulder. He looked mean, and that red star on his forehead made him look meaner. “What’s up, Tommy!” I asked. “Your number’s up if you don’t lay off Gwen. She’s my girl now.” “Hey, wait a minute,” I said. “This is still America.” “Come on, Gwen.” He took her arm and jerked. I was in no mood for that. I lined out a left jab across his bow. Somehow a fist got in my way. It was Tommy’s fist, and I could feel a couple of bones in my hand crack when our knuckles met. He said, “Go away!” giving me a little shove that almost dumped me over the railing for a six-story glide. By the time I got untangled Tommy had towed Gwen out of the flat.