It was ice. A thin skin formed rapidly, grew thicker; the other open
end of the U-tube began to bubble violently. Ice at one end, steam at
the other.
Silly?
But I was seeing it!
I must say, however, that at the time I didn't really know that that
was all I saw.
* * * * *
The reason for this is that Pudge Detweiler came groaning down the
steps to the laboratory just then.
"Ah, Greek," he wheezed. "Ah, Virgie. I wanted to talk to you before I
left." He came into the room and, panting, eased himself into a chair,
a tired hippopotamus with a hangover.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Greco demanded.
[Illustration]
"You?" Pudge's glance wandered around the room; it was a look of
amused distaste, the look of a grown man observing the smudgy mud play
of children. "Oh, not you, Greek. I wanted to talk to Virgie. That
sales territory you mentioned, Virgie. I've been thinking. I don't
know if you're aware of it, but when my father passed away last
winter, he left me--well, with certain responsibilities. And it
occurred to me that you might be willing to let me invest some of
the--"
I didn't even let him finish. I had him out of there so fast, we
didn't even have a chance to say good-by to Greco. And all that stuff
about demons and hot-and-cold water and so on, it all went out of my
head as though it had never been. Old Pudge Detweiler! How was _I_ to
know that his father had left him thirty thousand dollars in one
attractive lump of cash!