And Herbert could not create a man. Herbert did not have to have direct orders, and he had tried once to create a man when he had overheard them wishing for one. They had buried the corpse--perfect in every detail except that it never had been alive. "It's been a hot day," said Alice, fanning her brow. "I wish it would rain." Silently, Herbert moved from his corner and went out the door. Marguerite gestured after him with a bitter little laugh. "It'll rain this afternoon," she said. "I don't know how Herbert does it--maybe with silver iodide. But it'll rain. Wouldn't it have been simpler to get him to air-condition the house, Alice?" "That's a good idea," said Alice thoughtfully. "We should have had him do it before." * * * * * Herbert had not quite completed the task of air-conditioning the house when the other spaceship crashed. They all rushed out to the smoking site--the four women and Herbert. It was a tiny scoutship, and its single occupant was alive. He was unconscious, but he was alive. And he was a man! They carted him back to the house, tenderly, and put him to bed. They hovered over him like four hens over a single chick, waiting and watching for him to come out of his coma, while Herbert scurried about creating and administering the necessary medicines. "He'll live," said Thera happily. Thera had been a space nurse. "He'll be on his feet and walking around in a few weeks." "A man!" murmured Betsy, with something like awe in her voice. "I could almost believe Herbert brought him here in answer to our prayers." "Now, girls," said Alice, "we have to realize that a man brings problems, as well as possibilities." There was a matter-of-fact hardness to her tone which almost masked the quiver behind it. There was a defiant note of competition there which had not been heard on this little planet before. "What do you mean?" asked Thera. "I know what she means," said Marguerite, and the new hardness came natural to her. "She means, which one of us gets him?" Betsy, the youngest, gasped, and her mouth rounded to a startled O. Thera blinked, as though she were coming out of a daze. "That's right," said Alice. "Do we draw straws, or do we let him choose?" "Couldn't we wait?" suggested Betsy timidly. "Couldn't we wait until he gets well?" Herbert came in with a new thermometer and poked it into the unconscious man's mouth. He stood by the bed, waiting patiently. "No, I don't think we can," said Alice. "I think we ought to have it all worked out and agreed on, so there won't be any dispute about it." "I say, draw straws," said Marguerite. Marguerite's face was thin, and she had a skinny figure. Betsy, the youngest, opened her mouth, but Thera forestalled her. "We are not on Earth," she said firmly, in her soft, mellow voice. "We don't have to follow terrestrial customs, and we shouldn't. There's only one solution that will keep everybody happy--all of us and the man."