"Sure he did," Mars said heavily. "Old Sunshine Boy never misses a bit of excitement. Only he probably found something even more exciting. He's in California, all dressed up as a mortal." "California?" Ceres said. "My goodness, what would that boy be doing in California?" Mars guffawed. "Probably showing off--how Sunshine Boy loves to show off! Displaying that gorgeous body to the girls on Muscle Beach, I'll bet." "Eight to five," Pan said at once. Mars turned to him and nodded shortly. "Done." "Now, if I were a betting man," Vulcan began in a thoughtful bass, "I'd--" "We all know what you'd do, Gimpy," Mars roared. "But you won't do it, so shut up about it." "Please," Hera said. "Order." Her voice was like chilled steel. The others settled back. "I think we're ready. Shall we begin, dear?" She looked at Zeus, who got ready to start. But before he could get a word out, there was a flicker of blue energy in the room, a couple of yards away from Forrester and Venus. The flicker expanded to a Veil, and a man stepped out of it. He was a short, fat individual wearing a _chiton_ as if he had slept in it for three or four weeks. His face was puffy and his golden hair was ruffled. His eyelids seemed to have acquired a permanent half-mast, and beneath them the eyes were bleary and disinterested. Forrester needed no introductions to Morpheus, the God of Sleep. The God looked around at the assembled company with a kindly little smile on his tired face. Then, slowly and luxuriously, he yawned. When his mouth closed again, after a view of caverns measureless to man, he rubbed at his eyes with his knuckles, and then heaved a great sigh and, apparently, resigned himself to the terrible effort of speech. "I'm late," he said. "But it's really not my fault." "Oh?" Hera said in a nasty tone of voice. Morpheus shook his head slowly from side to side. "It really isn't." His voice was terribly calm. It was obvious, Forrester thought, that he did not give a damn. "The alarm just didn't seem to go off again. Or else I didn't hear it." "Now, Morpheus," Hera said. "I should think you'd get some kind of alarm that really worked, after all this time." "Why bother?" Morpheus said, and shrugged ponderously. "Anyhow, I'm here." He yawned again. "The thing's tiresome, but I did say I'd be here, and here I am. Now, does that satisfy everybody? Because if it doesn't, I do have some sleep to catch up on." "It satisfies us all," Hera said with some asperity. "Go sit down." Morpheus shambled quietly over to a couch near Mars. He lowered himself onto it, and slowly slipped from a sitting position to a reclining one. "Well," Hera said to Zeus, "we're ready, dear."