"You were gone all night, Harry." "He can take care of himself, I'm sure," Alice Cooper said. Harry frowned. "I told you to keep quiet, Marie." "No, let her talk, Harry. Of course he was gone all night. What's the matter, don't you think he can take care of himself?" "My Harry is quite a capable man, thank you." "Marie!" "Your Harry. That's right, you are fettered to one another all your lives. It's fantastic. Will you be a good girl and bring me something to eat?" Marie nodded and soon returned with two plates of stew. It was Marsden's favorite food and Marie had probably prepared it as a peace offering, but two plates meant one for him and one for Alice Cooper and Marie would go hungry. "I'm not in the mood to eat," said Harry, while his stomach grumbled. "You? Not in the mood to eat Talborian stew? I'd like to see the day. Go ahead, I'm not hungry." "You're both crazy," Alice Cooper said. "Pretending you're not hungry so the other can eat. No wonder this is such a backward place. If someone said that to me I'd gobble the food up quick before he could change his mind. On Earth, naturally, no one would ever say it." "I'll get some cold cloths for your leg," Marsden said to break the awkward silence which followed. "Cloths, nothing." Alice Cooper stood up. "Did you think I really hurt myself? I only wanted you to carry me and take me here, but if this hefty wife of yours is here, I guess you might as well take me back to town." "If I wasn't a lady ..." began Marie. "You? That's very good, my dear. A lady wrestler, you mean. Well, Harry, what are you waiting for? Take me back to Talbor City, please." Marsden looked at his wife's plain, unpainted but still pretty face, at the way days under the bright sun had added glowing highlights to her red-brown hair and Alice Cooper seemed like a wilted flower by comparison. Marsden thought of the long walk with her back to Talbor City and wished it were over already. * * * * * The spaceship blasted off with a terrible clamor. The people of Earth, the men and women, were gone. They had been here on Talbor only a few hours but to Marsden it seemed much longer. He was infinitely glad they could only stay one day. He met Charlie Adcock near the steps of the hotel. Charlie carried his shirt under one arm and was scowling. "You know," he said, "songs and pictures are funny things. They sure can fool a guy sometimes." "Yeah," said Marsden. "I don't know, Harry. I'm still glad they came. We were busting to see something different, either to have them come here or maybe to take off and forget all about Talbor." "What do you mean, forget about Talbor? Talbor's a pretty nice place. You work all day, sure, but it's good, clean work and you know your friends are working too, and then Saturday night you can go into town hooting and hollering and no one cares." "Yeah, Harry. Sure. That's what I mean. You know what? Those women of Earth are kind of skinny."