He winked and didn't answer and that was enough of a tip-off. There are
times when a confidential secretary shouldn't even pretend to recognize
his boss.
I turned back to see if I was still standing beside myself, and I was,
so I said, "Listen, Margie--"
My voice interrupted, "Margie? I thought _you_ were Miss Ames. I'm
O'Graeme. I was going to say--"
I grabbed myself by the lapels. "See here, O'Graeme," I said. "Are you
_sure_ this is all right? I mean, everybody seems to be having lots of
fun, but what if we get stuck this way? And, listen, can't everyone
just walk out of range of that stuff? It must affect only a given area."
He grinned my best grin. "I suggested it. But nobody _wants_ to. Do
you?"
I hadn't thought about it before, but I didn't. I looked across to
where Mr. Ames was lying on the floor trying to make like a mermaid,
and then I glanced at the tank and wondered who was in there, for nine
little mermaids were trying to get away from the tenth one!
And I began to howl with laughter. No, not for a million credits would
I want to walk out on a party like this. Even if it cost me my job, and
I was beginning to have a hunch it would.
[Illustration: _Not for a million credits would I walk out on a party
like this!_]
Then I had an idea that it might be fun to stir the water in the
mermaid tank and see what--I started toward it and nearly fell over a
chair. The chair hadn't been there before and I saw I was facing in the
opposite direction than the one I'd started out, so I muttered, "What
the--" and looked down and recognized my own suit, my own hands, and
my own watch-candid on my wrist.