He followed them all over the ship, but they didn't find any more minds to purge. Finally, Kent Knight said, "I think the Arkkhans are gone, Bob." "Yeah," the red head replied. "But maybe we ought to give everybody another slug of it just to be sure they're not hiding out." That bottle and several others went down the throats of the crew amid the wails and laments of Sammy. * * * * * Sammy snored peacefully in a corner as Knight and Mallory talked. "It's funny when you think of it," Mallory commented. "They must have been more than just pure thought, or how could the liquor bother them?" "Sammy had the clue. All the time I thought he had one of them in his mind, but he didn't. His subconscious mind somehow made him stay drunk. He knew something was trying to get at him. "I feel sure, but somehow I'll never know, that they had a physical body of some sort, else they could have roamed at will across space. They wouldn't have needed any hosts." Knight rubbed the nape of his neck where the hackles had risen at the memory of that furry little body he had touched which had brought _It_ into his mind. "Then it seemed like an actual weight, a physical load, lifted from my mind when the Things died in me," he added, tapping a tumbler of the amber fluid on the table between them. "I'm sure I saw their bodies fading away that last time. There were a half-dozen shadows on the floor and then they disappeared." Mallory nodded agreement. "I saw shadows, too, when we poured that liquor down a couple of my men. But what I can't figure is why your Thing jumped back and forth. First you had it. Then you gave it to me, and took it back again." "I guess they just couldn't help it, Bob. Maybe it was instinctive, or perhaps they needed to change hosts lest they became rooted into one and died with it." Knight stared at the glass, picked it up. He looked quietly at Mallory. "How's Mary Jo, Bob?" Mallory grinned. "I wondered how long it would be before you asked that. So I suppose I'd better say it now." He picked up his glass, clicked against Knight's. "Here's to Faith," he said. "Your Faith, Kent Knight." "_My_ Faith?" "Mary Jo didn't know how much she loved you until you walked out so gallantly. But," he added ruefully, his green eyes flickering, "I found out what a smash climax you gave her. So, since then I've been looking for a Faith like yours. "Honestly, I don't see what the hell she sees in you. You're about as romantic as an old shoe. But...." He drank in one swift gulp. Kent Knight only stared out into space, seeing nothing for the joyous tears in his eyes.