"Not me," said Jimmy darkly. "If I don't get to milk the cow, I'd rather stay here." Sally kicked him again, and he punched her in the ribs. But her answering wail lasted but a few seconds when she observed that neither of her parents was paying any attention. She frowned at them and looked back at the house as they roared away from it. A half-hour later, as they passed from the suburbs out into the open country, she said: "Mommy, why did you leave the front door open?" Her mother started, turned toward Joe and laid a hand on his arm. "The Devil with the door," said Joe. "We're not going back _now_!" * * * * * Three hours later they were well upstate, and Joe began to breathe easier. He turned on the radio. There was music on the station to which it was tuned. He began to twist the dial. "Let me do it," said Pearl. "You pay attention to your driving." "Get some news," said Joe. "I want to know what's going on." "I'll get some news if some is being broadcast," said Pearl. "This isn't the time for news broadcasts, usually." She turned the dial past several stations giving musical programs, another where a strident nasal voice was selling something that turned out to be horehound cough syrup which also cured dyspepsia, rheumatiz and cancer. After ten minutes of spiel, a polka began rolling out the barrel and it was obvious there would be no news on this station. Pearl went on down the dial. "... has settled over the city of Barcelona," said a voice. "Temporarily, a calm has replaced the rioting, and apparently the city is peaceful. What caused the sudden cessation in violence is not apparent at the moment, but the new government has stepped in and announced over the seized radio that they have assumed control and have the situation in hand. "In Algiers, French troops are pursuing rebel raiders, who are fleeing in disorder, their initial ferocity seeming to have dissolved as rapidly as it had begun. "Here in this country, of course, the sensational news is the suicide of Senator Schnort, who went suddenly insane, screaming that he had been hypnotized, and that he had murdered the President. He apparently used the same gun to blow out his own brains that he had used on the President." For the next half-hour, they listened to a recital of a wave of madness that had swept the world, to be followed by a calm almost as unnatural. Then, finally, Joe switched off the radio and turned to Pearl. "He's stopped rampaging around, and now he's probably looking for us," said Joe. He looked at his wife, and looked back at the road ahead. Then he turned to glance at her once more. She was still looking out of the rear window. "What's the matter?" he asked. "That car," she said. "It's been sticking right behind us for miles. I think he's following us." * * * * *