He ignored her question, went out, locking the door. Before he opened the lab door to the hall he glanced at his watch. An hour ago nothing had happened! He shook his head, opened the door and stepped into the hall--almost bumping into Basil Nelson. "Hi, Earl," Basil said. "You look like you're in a hurry." "I am," Earl said. He started past Basil, who fell into step beside him. "I'll go along," Basil said. "That is, if you don't mind. I wanted to talk with you. Pretty important. It's about Irene." "What about Irene?" Earl said. Basil waited until they were on the sidewalk before answering. "I guess it's pretty obvious I'm in love with her," he said. "But--she seems to have eyes only for you. Mrs. Glassman sort of hinted that you and Irene--well--were going to get married. I wanted to ask you. If you and Irene are--" "_Damn_ Ethel Glassman," Earl said, irritated. "If you are in love with her why don't you tell her?" "She won't give me the chance to tell her," Basil groaned. "I think she suspects, though," he added darkly. "Fine," Earl said. "And there's no time like the present. Why don't you go back and pop the question right now while you have your nerve up?" Basil sighed. "I'll have to work up to it. Right now I'd rather tag along with you. Mind?" "No," Earl groaned. "Not at all. A--cousin of mine has a birthday coming up. I thought I'd buy her some new clothes. No use you tagging along." "Don't mind at all," Basil said. "We can do some more talking. Maybe we could cook up some scheme to make Irene fall in love with me. But every time I think I'm going great with her I pull something like dropping that test tube in your lab." "Oh, that," Earl said. "I--" He clamped his lips shut. * * * * * "See you at Glassman's at dinner tonight," Earl said firmly an hour later. As Basil still hesitated, he added, "Maybe I can think of something by then. Meanwhile I've still got work to do." "Uh, oh sure," Basil said, "but I'm afraid it's no use. She's in love with you, Earl." "Nonsense!" Earl unlocked the door to his lab and went in with his packages. He stacked them on a lab table and locked the hall door. A quick survey showed the lab as it should be. Earl had been worried. Since Nadine had become a full sized person, maybe the little green man had too. Earl crossed to the door to his living quarters and unlocked it. Inside, he saw Nadine still curled up in the chair in his pajamas, a stack of books beside her. "Hi," Earl said, subdued. "I've brought you some clothes, and also some literature on what they are. I think the literature will give you enough data to work on in dressing." He brought the stack of packages into the room and put them on a table. "While you're dressing I'll finish some work out in the lab," he said.