A gleeful scream sounded behind them and Papa went tearing by. With a running leap, he landed on an arm of one of the starfish. Its supporting spring contracted under the weight, then catapulted him ceilingward. When he came down again, it was on an arm of another starfish, then another. The fourth collapsed, depositing him on the floor, and its spring went twanging across the room. Struggling to his feet, he staggered into something resembling a clothes tree, knocked it over and sprawled beside it. He roared with delight as he snapped the stem of the thing across his knee and hurled the pieces at the ceiling. They scored direct hits on one of the bulky objects suspended overhead and it came crashing down with a twinkling roar amid a shower of sparks. "Yow-ee!" he exuberated. "So much fun I never had!" Riva helped him up. "Papa, it's control yourself you must. The last time--remember?" But he only shook her off and went bounding through an archway. His hectic progress through the house was punctuated by sounds of crashing destruction. "Honestly," Riva said, spreading her hands, "what to do with him I don't know." Cassidy continued staring in the direction the old man had gone. "He's wrecking the place!" "That he is," she admitted sighing. "And such a nice joint it be, too." "He's just plain nuts!" said Mason. Riva smiled. "But it's _so_ much fun he has." Cassidy moved away to get a better view of a silvery gray screen set in the wall and flanked by twin rows of dials and knobs. "You got stereovision, Riva?" he asked. Mason went over and twisted several of the controls until a soft light began suffusing the screen. "Ster-eo-what?" the girl asked. "Video, television--pictures with sound." Her face brightened. "Pictures we got--sounds too. Right in that little window." Just then Papa, uninhibited as ever, came storming back into the room with a lusty "Ya-hoo!" He lost his footing and crashed against the screen. Sparks shot out and the picture that was beginning to take shape faded into obscurity. "It that settles, Papa!" Riva said, exasperated. "Outside I'm going and for what happens to you I'm not responsible!" At the door, she paused and smiled at Cassidy. "It'll have to be out there that we play, but no less fun will we have. Put on my best cavorting clothes I'm going to." Mason turned the knobs again, but produced nothing more than the smell of burning insulation and a few snickers from Papa. "At least," Cassidy observed, "they evidently do know something about electronics. All we have to do now is run down one of the technicians and we might get the parts we need for the stabilizer." * * * * * Outside Mason dropped down on the steps and sat with his shoulders slumping. "Damnedest thing I've ever seen," he mumbled.