"Well, now, how'd you like a dame like that!" the cab driver exclaimed, climbing out of the car. "She takes a powder just because the guy gets a snootful and passes out!" He looked down at Marc who, sprawled on the sidewalk, was tuning up for a good solid snore. "I wonder where he belongs?" * * * * * Wherever he belonged, Marc at that very moment was lounging in a state of quiet bliss on one of the rising slopes in the valley of his mind. He turned to regard Toffee whose costume had once again become the transparent tunic, and to reflect that Paris would have to go a long way to stitch up anything half as becoming. Toffee smiled back at him and propped herself up lazily on one elbow. "Well," she said. "It was something of a whirl, wasn't it? I mean it leaves one a trifle dizzy." "Whirl?" Marc asked. "How do you mean?" Recent events had slipped from his mind in the interval between awareness and slumber. "The bombs," Toffee said. "The politicians--" she held up her hand and displayed the ring "--and this." Memory jarred back into place. "Oh, my gosh!" Marc cried. "All those congressmen! And the President! They're all back there...! And you're here...! How'll you ever get them straightened out?" Toffee laughed. "I won't. There's going to be a terrific run on the Washington doctors for a while, that's all. Anyway, it'll do the old tubs good, give them something to think about next time they start getting gay with the public's time--and redheaded women." "Anyway," Marc said. "At least it proves that a well-placed jolt in the right place is a lot more powerful than any bomb. I was right in the first place. When warfare gets personal it loses its attraction. I suppose they'll be busy developing more and worse bombs as soon as the shock wears off, but at least the people in the world will have another chance to try and prevent them." Toffee shrugged lightly. "It just goes to show that world politics are really childishly simple when someone comes along with a firm hand." "Are you going to keep the ring?" Marc asked. Toffee shook her head. "I think I'll just dematerialize it; I never did care about gems." She regarded him slowly from the corner of her eye. "I have just one last use for it first." "Yes?" Marc asked with a note of apprehension. "What's that?" "Just this," Toffee said. She slid her arms around his neck and drew him close. "One twitch of resistance and I'll double you up like a pretzel." Marc sighed helplessly. "When you put it that way, what can I do?" he asked, and submitted unflinchingly to her kiss. It was just as she drew away, just as she brushed her hand over his shoulder, that the ring exploded. Actually it was only a burst of vibrant green light, but it was so intense that it blinded Marc, blocking Toffee and the valley from sight. Marc squinted against the brilliance and waited for it to die. But when it did there was only an infinite blackness where it had been.