Pride is always cropping up in the wrong place. If Cal or Tinker had not taken such a firm stand in the first place, it would have been easier for either one of them to back down. The argument had started in fun, and was now in deadly earnest. How and where the change came Cal did not know. He reviewed the whole thing again. The first pair were ignorant. Benj was vindictive enough to deprive his brother of a useless thing that interested Cal. Dr. Lange was enigmatic. He had neither personal view or ignorance to draw his desire for Murdoch's worthless Hoard. Tinker Elliott might be goading Cal into making an adventuresome trip for the purpose of bringing him closer to her way of living. He wouldn't put it past her. But the more he thought about it, the deeper and deeper he was falling into his own bullheadedness. He was going to get Murdoch's Hoard himself if it turned up to be a bale of one hundred dollar bills of the twenty-first century--worth exactly three cents per hundred-weight for scrap paper. * * * * * Tinker Elliott returned to the Association after the dinner with Cal. She worked diligently for an hour, and loafed luxuriously for another hour. It was just after this that Cal came into her laboratory and grinned sheepishly at her. "Now what?" she asked. "Changed your mind?" "Uh-huh," he said. "Still squeamish about space?" He nodded. "Poor Cal," she said, coming over to him. She curled up on his lap and put her head on his shoulder. "What are we going to do about it?" "I'm going to give you the Key," he said. She straightened up. "You don't mind if we use it--Tony and I?" "Not at all." "I'm going to punish you," she said. "I'm not going to tell what Murdoch's Hoard is until we bring it back." Cal locked surprised. "All right," he said. "It's worthless anyway. I'll wait." "You don't want to go along?" "If I wanted to go at all, I'd go myself," said Cal. "O.K. Then wonder about Murdoch's Hoard until we get back. That'll be your punishment." "Punishment? For what?" "For not having the kind of personality that would go out and get it." "All right. Do you want the Key?" "Sure. Where is it?" "At home." "Thought you weren't living at home," said Tinker. "I haven't been. The Key is there, though. You see, Tink, it takes the technique to make it work rather than the equipment. I'll give you both the equipment and the technique as soon as we get there. I'll demonstrate and write out the procedure. Now?" "The sooner the better," she said. Tinker graced her hair with a wisp of a hat and said: "I'm ready." Putting her hand in his arm, she followed him to the street and they drove to his cottage. He led her inside, seated her, and offered her a cigarette. "Now, Tinker," he said seriously, "where is it?" "Where is what?" "The Key." "You have it as far as I'm concerned." "You know better than that." "You had it." "No, you're wrong. Cal had it."