"That's all!" the little man said. "It was all explained to me. The stuff works different on different people. It lets out what you've been pluggin' up inside. Oh, man," he chortled, "and you gave me the freeze for showin' you those French postcards!" "I do not have a dirty mind," Marc said, "and even if I did, it would hardly be any business of yours. The point is that this awful elixir of yours has made a mess of things." "At least," Toffee put in, "it's given us a devil of a handicap." The little man looked at Toffee directly for the first time and obviously was struck by what he saw. "Who's the cool chunk of stuff?" he asked. He moved in close to Toffee and put a hand casually on her shoulder. "Just call me Hotstuff Harold, honey," he murmured. "That's how I'm referred to by all my intimate friends." "If you don't keep your grimy little paws to yourself," Toffee said evenly, "they'll soon be referring to you as 'the deceased.'" "It's nice that you two are acquainted," Marc said sourly, "but that still doesn't solve my problem." Peering over the top of his glasses, he fixed Hotstuff Harold with a beady eye. "How do I get rid of the effects of this awful elixir of yours?" "As far as I know," Hotstuff said, "all you can do is wait for it to wear off." "And how long will that take?" "Who knows?" Hotstuff shrugged. "I ain't never messed with the stuff. Maybe I been repressin' a better nature and it would come out and ruin my life's work." "I doubt it," Marc said. "But there must be something I can do about this." "If I was you, man, I'd go sit in a Marilyn Monroe picture until they kicked me out." Hotstuff put his hand to Marc's sleeve. "You still owe me some bucks, boy. Twenty for the pictures and twenty more for the shot of elixir." "Now, look here," Marc said sternly, "if you think...." He stopped, for Hotstuff, a businessman of some agility, already had Marc's wallet in his hand and was counting out the money. Marc snatched it back from him. "Here, now!" he said. Harold grinned modestly. "Mother taught me how to take up public collections while I was still in rompers. They say I was the cutest little dip that ever worked the Stem." "Well, this is one stem you're not clipping," Marc said hotly. "Keep your hands to yourself." "I ain't goin' to leave till I get paid," Hotstuff said without animosity. "Just a minute." Toffee broke in. "While you two are arguing, time is running down the drain. If we're going to the country we'd better get started." Marc turned to her with a sigh. "I thought I explained to you that...." "But I've got it all figured out," Toffee said complacently. "While you've been wasting your time with this grifter, I've been working out a plan." "I'm sorry," Marc said wearily, "but I don't think I could stand another one of your plans. Not today."