call and tell him that he's failed. That ought to throw him into enough of a panic so things will get interesting."

They waited, but not as long as they had expected to. Manning was just about to go make his call when they heard a ship coming in to land. A moment later, there was a soft note from the door announcer. Manning went and threw it open.

The fourth Algolian stood there. He was all of eight feet tall, his body not much thicker than a man's leg. Again there were the three legs and the four eyes, but they were quite different in appearance from those of the others. And this one, Manning noticed when he turned partly sideways had his hair in the back, looking somewhat like a rooster's tail. He was dressed entirely in black and there was a solemn expression on his thin face.

"Mr. Melvin Draco?" he asked in a melancholy voice.

"Yes." Manning said.

"I regret to intrude upon your moment of tragedy, Mr. Draco, but there are certain traditions we must carry on, painful though they be. But I want you to know that my heart goes out to you in your hour of grief and I stand ready to remove much of the burden from your shoulders."

"Who are you?" Manning asked.

"Encycla Grave, of the Happy Asteroid Mortuary. Now there are a few trifling—" He caught a glimpse of Fanya in the background and broke off. "Ah, I see there is someone with you. A relative, perhaps...."

"Oh, that's my wife," Manning said.

There was sheer amazement on the Algolian's face. "Surely you jest, sir? It is hardly possible you could have remarried so quickly, to say nothing of the fact that it would be in extremely bad taste—"

"But I haven't remarried," Manning said patiently. "This is my only wife. We arrived from Terra only a few days ago. Now what was it you wanted to see me about?"

"I don't understand," the Algolian said in some agitation. "Your wife—oh, dear, this is terrible. You must excuse me...." He turned and ran for his ship, his long legs twinkling over the ground. It took him only a minute to reach it and then the ship was lancing up into the sky.

Inside the house, Manning and Fanya laughed together.

"He'll report back to his friend, the happiness boy," Manning said, "and by the time I call, Mr. 

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