Jill sighed. Her face was drained of expression and she answered in a flat voice, «He was the Man from Mars. I tried so hard.»

«I'm sure you did — the Man from Mars?»

«Yes. Ben … Ben Caxton said you were the one to come to.»

«Ben Caxton, eh? I appreciate the confid — hush!»Harshaw gestured for silence. He looked puzzled, then surprise burst over his face. «Heart action! I'll be a babbling baboon. Dorcas — upstairs, the clinic — third drawer in the locked part of the cooler; the code is “sweet dreams.” Bring the drawer and a one cc. hypo.»

«Right away!»

«Doctor, no stimulants!»

Harshaw turned to Jill. «Eh?»

«I'm sorry, sir. I'm just a nurse … but this case is different. I know.»

«Mmm … he's my patient now, nurse. But about forty years ago I found out I wasn't God, and ten years later I discovered I wasn't even Aesculapius. What do you want to try?»

«I want to try to wake him. If you do anything to him, he goes deeper into it.»

«Hmm … go ahead. Just don't use an ax. Then we'll try my methods.»

«Yes, sir.» Jill knelt, started trying to straighten Smith's limbs. Harshaw's eyebrows went up when he saw her succeed. Jill took Smith's head in her lap. «Please wake up,» she said softly. «This is your water brother.»

Slowly the chest lifted. Smith let out a long sigh and his eyes opened. He looked up at Jill and smiled his baby smile. He looked around, the smile left him.

«It's all right,» Jill said quickly. «These are friends.»

«Friends?»

«All of them are your friends. Don't worry — and don't go away again. Everything is all right.»

He lay quiet with eyes open, staring at everything. He seemed as content as a cat in a lap.

Twenty-five minutes later both patients were in bed. Jill had told Harshaw, before the pill he gave her took hold, enough to let him know that he had a bear by the tail. He looked at the utility car Jill had arrived in. Lettered across it was: READING RENTALS — Permapowered Ground Equipment — «Deal with the Dutchman!»

«Larry, is the fence hot?»

«No.»

«Switch it on. Then polish every fingerprint off that heap. When it gets dark, drive over the other side of Reading — better go almost to Lancaster — and leave it in a ditch. Then go to Philadelphia, catch the Scranton shuttle, come home from there.»

«Sure thing, Jubal. Say — is he really the Man from Mars?»

«Better hope not. If he is and they catch you before you dump that wagon and connect you with him, they'll quiz you with a blow torch. I think he is.»

«I scan it. Should I rob a bank on the way back?»

«Probably the safest thing you can do.»

«Okay, Boss.» Larry hesitated. «Mind if I stay over night in Philly?»

«Suit yourself. But what in God's name can a man do at night in Philadelphia?» Harshaw turned away. «Front!»

Jill slept until dinner, awoke refreshed and alert. She sniffed the air from the grille overhead and surmised that the doctor had offset the hypnotic with a stimulant. While she slept someone had removed her dirty torn clothes and had left a dinner dress and sandals. The dress was a fair fit; Jill concluded that it must belong to the one called Miriam. She bathed and painted and combed and went down to the living room feeling like a new woman.

Dorcas was curled in a chair, doing needle point; she nodded as if Jill were part of the family, turned back to her fancy work. Harshaw was stirring a mixture in a frosty pitcher. «Drink?» he said.

«Uh, yes, thank you.»

He poured large cocktail glasses to their brims, handed her one. «What is it?» she asked.

«My own recipe. One third vodka, one third muriatic acid, one third battery water — two pinches of salt and add pickled beetle.»

«Better have a highball,» Dorcas advised.

«Mind your business,» Harshaw said. «Hydrochloric acid aids digestion; the beetle adds vitamins and protein.» He raised his glass and said solemnly, «Here's to our noble selves! There are damned few of us left.» He emptied it.

Jill took a sip, then a bigger one. Whatever the ingredients it seemed to be what she needed; well-being spread from her center toward her extremities. She drank about half, let Harshaw add a dividend. «Look in on our patient?» he asked.

«No, sir. I didn't know where he was.»

«I checked a few minutes ago. Sleeping like a baby — I think I'll rename him Lazarus. Would he like to come down to dinner?»

Jill looked thoughtful. «Doctor, I don't know.»

«Well, if he wakes I'll know it. He can join us, or have a tray. This is Freedom Hall, my dear. Everyone does as he pleases … then if he does something I don't like, I kick him the hell out. Which reminds me: I don't like to be called “Doctor.”»

«Sir?»

«Oh, I'm not offended. But when they began handing out doctorates for comparative folk dancing and advanced flyfish ing, I became too stinkin' proud to use the title. I won't touch watered whiskey and take no pride in watered-down degrees. Call me Jubal.»

«Oh. But the degree in medicine hasn't been watered down.»

«Time they called it something else, so as not to confuse it with playground supervisors. Little girl, what is your interest in this patient?»

«Eh? I told you, Doct — Jubal.»

«You told me what happened; you didn't tell me why. Jill, I saw the way you spoke to him. Are you in love with him?»

Jill gasped. «Why, that's preposterous!»

«Not at all. You're a girl; he's a boy — that's a nice setup.»

«But — No, Jubal, it's not that. I … well, he was a prisoner and I thought — or Ben thought — that he was in danger. We wanted to see him get his rights.»

«Mmm … my dear, I'm suspicious of a disinterested interest. You look as if you had normal glandular balance, so it's my guess that it is either Ben, or this poor boy from Mars. You had better examine your motives, then judge which way you are going. In the meantime, what do you want me to do?»

The scope of the question made it hard to answer. From the time Jill crossed her Rubicon she had thought of nothing but escape. She had no plans. «I don't know.»

«I thought not. On the assumption that you might wish to protect your license, I took the liberty of having a message sent from Montreal to your Chief of Nursing. You asked for leave because of illness in your family. Okay?»

Jill felt sudden relief. She had buried all worry about her own welfare; nevertheless down inside was a heavy lump caused by what she had done to her professional standing. «Oh, Jubal, thank you!» She added, «I'm not delinquent in watch standing yet; today was my day off.»

«Good. What do you want to do?»

«I haven't had time to think. Uh, I should get in touch with my bank and get some money — » She paused, trying to recall her balance. It was never large and sometimes she forgot to —

Jubal cut in. «If you do, you will have cops pouring out of your ears. Hadn't you better stay here until things level off?»

«Uh, Jubal, I wouldn't want to impose on you.»

«You already have. Don't worry, child; there are always freeloaders around here. Nobody imposes on me against my will, so relax. Now our patient: you said you wanted him to get his “rights.” You expected my help?»

«Well … Ben said — Ben seemed to think you would help.»

«Ben does not speak for me. I am not interested in this lad's so-called rights. His claim to Mars is lawyers' hogwash; as a lawyer myself I need not respect it. As for the wealth that is supposed to be his, the situation results from other people's passions and our odd tribal customs; he has earned none of it. He would be lucky if they bilked him of it — but I would not scan a newspaper to find out. If Ben expected me to fight for Smith's “rights” you have come to the wrong house.»

«Oh.» Jill felt forlorn. «I had better arrange to move him.»