She won it with six diamonds, and went down nine tricks, doubled. Sam started to say something, after the debacle, but one look at his wife's anguished countenance stopped him short of audibility. Sam said consolingly, "I'm such a lousy bidder, dear. I must have given you the wrong idea of my hand." * * * * * Next time, Sam made up for his timidity. Sam, with one heart in his hand, tried a psychic. "One heart," he said firmly. Sam knew there was a good chance the hearts were in the oppositions' hands, and this looked like a fine defensive tactic. However, his wife, with a three-suit powerhouse, couldn't conceive of a psychic from Sam. She had need of only a second round stopper in hearts and a small slam in no trump was in the bag. She had no hearts, but timid Sam was undoubtedly holding the ace-king. She bid six no-trump, which was conservative for her. She didn't want to make the mistake of having Sam let the bid die. Joe had the ace, king, queen and jack of hearts and a three to lead to Alice's hand. Alice finished up the hearts for a total of seven tricks, and this time it was Mrs. Tullgren who opened her mouth to speak. But she remembered Sam's kindness in the former hand, and she said, "It was all my fault, darling. To think I couldn't recognize a psychic, just because it came from you. I think we're overmatched, sweet." She paused to smile at Joe. "Up against the man who invented the comptin-reduco-determina." She added, as an afterthought, "And his charming, brilliant new wife." Which brought about incident number three. Alice turned to Mrs. Tullgren sweetly and asked, "Don't you really understand the comptin-reduco-determina?" "Not even faintly," Mrs. Tullgren answered. She smiled at Alice. The smile faded after about ten minutes. For Alice was telling her _all_ about the comptin-reduco-determina. For an hour and nineteen minutes, Alice talked to this woman who had been humiliated twice, telling her all the things about the famous thinking machine that Mrs. Tullgren didn't want to know. It wasn't until Alice was through talking animatedly that the entranced Joe began to suspect that perhaps the Tullgrens weren't as interested in the dingus as a scientific mind would assume. They weren't. There was a strain after that, a decided heaviness to the rest of the evening. Sam seemed to sigh with relief when they said good night. In the car, Joe was thoughtful. Halfway home, he said, "Darling, I think you know too much--for a female, that is. I think you'll have to have a go with the knowledge-instiller. In reverse, of course." "Of course," she agreed. "I don't object to females knowing a lot. The world does." "Of course," she said. She was a first model and, therefore, experimental. These bugs were bound to show up. She was now less knowing, more deceptive, and she could frown. She began to remind him of Vera, which didn't make sense.