Pearl descended the stairs hesitantly, the snow shovel held at the ready, her eyes averted from the wall where the Devil was chained. "I don't see any mouse," she said. "Where is it?" "Chained to the wall," said Joe. "Chained...." Pearl looked toward the Devil and her mouth dropped open. Then she shrieked. "He's dead!" she cried out. "You've shot him." "He's dead all right," said Joe. "But that isn't the Devil--only his body. He's traded bodies with a mouse, and he's escaped. He's loose in the world, Pearl, and he's on a rampage. And sooner or later he'll be coming back here for revenge...." Pearl's voice broke. "And for his body!" she wailed. "Oh, Joe. I'm afraid." "We've got to get out of here," said Joe. "Upstairs, and go find the kids. We're leaving the city as fast as the car can take us. We'll go up to the country to your mother's. Maybe the Devil won't know where to find us. And maybe, in the body of a mouse, he won't be able to." "But he won't be in the body of a mouse," said Pearl. "He'd change that almost the minute he got out of the house. No telling who's the Devil now!" "You're right," said Joe. "All the more reason to get out of here quick. Go find the kids, while I throw our clothes in the car." Pearl dropped the snow shovel and raced out of the basement. Joe walked over to the corpse of the Devil and gave it a kick. "Dead all right, no doubt about it," he muttered to himself. Then he turned and went upstairs. In a moment he was stuffing clothing from all the bureau drawers and the closets into their traveling bags. When they were full he carried them out to the car. Then he went back in and came out with his arms full. * * * * * Pearl came up the walk with Jimmy by one hand and Sally by the other. "Where are we going?" asked Sally. "Yeah," complained Jimmy. "What's the big rush? It was my turn to bat, and we were only sixteen runs behind...." "We're going to Grandma's," said Joe. "Going up to the farm for a little vacation." "Can I milk a cow?" asked Jimmy instantly. "No," said Sally promptly, "I'm going to milk it!" She kicked Jimmy in the shin and he howled at the top of his voice. "He's loose all right," said Joe, and Pearl nodded palely. She shook Sally and shoved her toward the car. "Get into the car, both of you," she ordered. "I've got a few things to get from the house, and I'll be right out." Joe groaned. "Never mind all that stuff," he said. "We've got to get out of here." "I'm not going to get 'all that stuff'," said Pearl. "There are a _few_ things a woman has to have, and a man would never think of. I won't be a minute." And she wasn't. Almost before Joe had the kids settled in the back seat, she reappeared carrying her large purse and stuffing an assortment of things hastily into it as she ran toward the car. "All right," she said, slipping into the front seat. "Let's go. The sooner we get away from the house, the better I'll like it." "Me too," said Joe.