"Pick her up and put her on the bed!" yelled Joe. "Get her out of here, and stay out yourself. This is something for Pearl and I to handle...." * * * * * "Pick her up," said Dad dazedly. "Son, are you going daffy, too? You've got her in your arms already. Carry her into the bedroom yourself--you're younger'n I am." "No, no," said Joe, pointing to the young man on the floor. "Pick her...." "Let her lay there," said Mother to Dad. "It's time we cut out this silly business. I've got a score to settle, and now that the cat's out of the bag, and your wife spoiled all my fun by getting stuck in the sand and ruining my post-hypnotic suggestions, I might as well settle it and be on my way." Dad staggered over to a kitchen chair and slumped down into it. "Will somebody explain what's going on?" he begged. "I'm an old man, but I didn't think I was going crazy. Or am I?" Pearl was coming to now, and she struggled to her feet. Joe steadied her a moment, then he looked at Dad. "No, you're not going crazy, Dad. We came here last night because we were fleeing from the Devil. He was chained up in our basement for months, but he escaped, and took the body of this young man lying on the floor--only it isn't a young man, now, but your wife. He switched bodies with her this morning when he stopped in front of the house. The Devil's in your wife's body now. And he's come to kill Pearl and I out of vengeance for my killing his own body." "It's true, Dad," said Pearl. "Can't you see that he's the Devil?" Her father looked at the body of his wife, standing there eyeing them all quizzically. Then he nodded. "Yes, I can see it. He's the Devil, all right. I've met him before. I recognize him now." "That's right," said the Devil, grinning. "I remember you, too. You were quite a lad before you married and settled down!" On the floor now, the body of the young man was stirring, and finally it sat up. The Devil looked at it. "This body's messy with virtue," he said. "I think I'll switch back for a moment. After all, I don't have any argument with you and your wife, and we did have fun, years ago. The memory of it is rather pleasant." "To you, perhaps," said Dad, "but not to me, I've put all that behind me, and if I had it to do over again...." "I know," said the young man, getting to his feet. "Women are always reforming men, and ruining them for my purposes. But that's past now, and I lost that game. Right now I've got a grudge to settle." Pearl's mother uttered a low moan and rushed over and huddled close to her husband. He put a protective arm around her shoulder. * * * * * The Devil turned to Joe. "What makes you think I intend killing you both?" he asked. "That's crude, and what would I stand to gain? You're both going to die some day, anyway, and in your present condition, I won't have any chance at you afterward. So, does it make sense that I'd let you slip out of my clutches that way?"