"It's easy to be polite to you, Miss dell'Angela," I said by rote. Yes, it was part of our training: _A Claims Adjuster is always courteous_. But what I said was true enough, all the same. She was a girl that I enjoyed being polite to. "No, truly," she persisted. "You are an important officer in the Company, and you must have trained long for the post. What did they teach you?" "Well--" I hesitated--"just the sort of thing you'd expect, I guess. A little statistical mathematics--enough so we can understand what the actuaries mean. Company policies, business methods, administration. Then, naturally, we had a lot of morale sessions. A Claims Adjuster--" I cleared my throat, feeling a little self-conscious--"a Claims Adjuster is supposed to be like Caesar's wife, you know. He must always set an example to his staff and to the public. I guess that sounds pretty stuffy. I don't mean it to be. But there is a lot of emphasis on tradition and honor and discipline." She asked, rather oddly, "And is there a course in loyalty?" "Why, I suppose you might say that. There are ceremonies, you know. And it's a matter of cadet honor to put the Company ahead of personal affairs." * * * * * "And do all Claims Adjusters live by this code?" For a moment I couldn't answer. It was like a blow in the face. I turned sharply to look at her, but there was no expression on her face, only a mild polite curiosity. I said with difficulty, "Miss dell'Angela, what are you getting at?" "Why, nothing!" Her face was as angelic as her name. "I don't know what you mean or what you may have heard about me, Miss dell'Angela, but I can tell you this, if you are interested. When my wife died, I went to pieces. I admit it. I said a lot of things I shouldn't have, and some of them may have reflected against the Company. I'm not trying to deny that but, you understand, I was upset at the time. I'm not upset now." I took a deep breath. "To me, the Company is the savior of humanity. I don't want to sound like a fanatic, but I am loyal to the Company, to the extent of putting it ahead of my personal affairs, to the extent of doing whatever job the Company assigns to me. And, if necessary, to the extent of dying for it if I have to. Is that clear?" Well, that was a conversation-stopper, of course. I hadn't meant to get all wound up about it, but it hurt to find out that there had been gossip. The dell'Angela girl merely said: "Quite clear." We rode in silence for a while. She was staring out the window again, and I didn't especially want to talk just then. Maybe I was too sensitive. But there was no doubt in my mind that the Company was the white hope of the world, and I didn't like being branded a traitor because of what I'd said after Marianna died. I was, in a way, paying the penalty for it--it had been made pretty clear to me that I was on probation. That was enough.