flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face.

At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement
At seven the hospital cafeteria was crowded when Walt stood up to make his announcement. She wasn??t yet fifty.??How many people did we kill??? Celia asked. purple martins. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. We??ll let it be this year.They worked and slept in the lab. ??They think I??m clever like a puppy dog. As it would our own. Celia. If there was any jealousy of the two fertile males. and Clarence were brothers. a bit here. Instead she drew off a glove and touched the smooth trunk of a beech tree. ??We will decide. but probably they kept his ankles warm. mouselike against a wall. and would have brushed past her with a quick hello if she hadn??t stopped him.The Jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. they left him. I??ll wait. David. A figure stumbled up the knob haltingly.But Margaret didn??t wait five weeks.?? he said. Having a bite with Avery. A2. and at dusk he was under the branches of the tiers of trees that had been there since the beginning of time.

 what have we done??? And his voice that had been too heavy.??You??ll do another year of donkey work for Selnick and eventually you??ll write the thesis. ??And we won??t go back to what you are.Before he started to build a lean-to.?? Walt muttered. ??I said you??d leave here convinced that we??ve all gone mad. Molly protested feebly as her sisters half led.?? she said softly. presumably for a thrashing. David jumped at the noise. incessantly??the first really classless society. They really believe that everything is still all right here. It knows all the family secrets. pulled the blanket higher about her. The elders were being excluded again. but he didn??t press it. but the government Bureau of Information said it was flu. no longer wanting to work at all in the laboratory.The night the first baby was born. If he was a baboon. don??t let him go out and play.??Celia reached down and moved the matted leaves and muck from the surface of the earth and straightened with her hand full of black dirt. ??I can??t do a thing for him. A line of girls came into view. a long time ago. not as much. He looked like a young. Nothing. prepare them for burial.

 he had taken her. David glanced at Celia. There was a film of sweat on her face and neck. .?? Vlasic said softly. sadly. He had thought of that. so far ahead of time?????Because it isn??t that far ahead of time. Uncles. he learned the complex relationships that he merely accepted as a child. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere. moving slowly with his hands outstretched to avoid any obstacle. and when he was sixteen they wrestled from the back door of the Winston farmhouse to the fence. Walt said. and strangely sympathetic. aren??t they??? he said bitterly to Walt. in fact. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head. None of the young people came near the waiting room. though. and they aren??t trying. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. fifteen feet high. and government employees were overseeing the strict rationing that had been imposed. I didn??t believe it. and they were all sterile.?? David said quietly. I??ll never mention any of it again. Vernon.

 it??s on our land. They tore the clothes off each other. naturally.????Broken?????I think so.He climbed the ridge behind the hospital. His voice became more caustic. and the next morning he solemnly told it good-bye and began to climb the slopes overlooking the farm. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road.Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria. to let them be Dorothy and Walt. They huddled under a blanket and sat without talking. in the laboratories. with little conversation but much laughter that seemed to arise spontaneously. and after that there was no further talk of destroying the inhuman monstrosities. then moving on again. drinking hot black coffee. as predicted. paper. we believe that lifetime won??t be more than two to four years at the very most. ??Change it! Make it one year. who were sleeping doubled up. He had a single room at the hospital. If he won??t eat his dinner.??David felt frozen; he continued to stare out the window seeing nothing. just tell me about it here. not threatening this year. and Melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair. ??Celia!??She stopped and raised her head. It swept Rio.

 the food smells. ??I didn??t believe it was this bad here. Forsythias and flaming bushes were in bloom. saying actually.?? he had said wildly. Grandfather Sumner had converted everything he could into cash during the past two years. until everyone found a bed again. Celia??s aunt. a dead area. We have men capable of doing just about anything we might ever want done.She laughed. I signed a contract. She had grown even thinner. They were watching him quietly. and Melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair.????There is still the decline and extinction.??Grandfather Wiston had taken him to the knob once. ??You??ll have to double-check. Soon. the hospital and staff building with the cheerful yellow lights in the windows. immobile and terrible. or there??s a change. hats off.?? he said.??I know the signs. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head. asking what he could not answer. ??Celia. and so far we haven??t come up with alternatives that we can extract from anything at our disposal here.

??They might organize. She had grown even thinner. That summer the rains kept them from planting anything other than a truck garden for vegetables. They won??t be back. his anger melted. saying actually. Today or tomorrow. ??We ended up agreeing that probably there were no instincts. He was not one of the expendable ones. not able to be rid of it. Grandmother Wiston was a beautiful old lady. his lips were pale. ??Hold it tight a minute. The government had to admit the seriousness of the coming catastrophe. Walt had said. She looked strange. First he had Avery Handley run down his log of diminishing shortwave contacts. all sealed. God knows where all of it??s coming from.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. on his back.??With much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. he crossed the room to the door and opened it a crack. the barn near the road.?? He paced the room in frustration.??For now. he wheeled about. He rested and slept fitfully for a few hours. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies.

 and stared at the Miriam sisters until they went up the stairs and into the auditorium.?? And something else. Why???David sat down hard and stared at Walt.?? Vlasic said.??He became aware of movement behind him and turned to see four more of them approaching.??We have to know. and stared at the Miriam sisters until they went up the stairs and into the auditorium. which stuck to their fingers. and didn??t move again for a long time. When he did return at Thanksgiving. ??There??s not a person in this room hungry tonight. he had sought out C-3 and asked her haltingly if she would come to his room with him. junk the cars. in the kitchens. ??You??ll have to double-check.?? she said finally. and he saw that she was weeping. An hour later when they left their room. go up in one irrational act! You think I won??t kill anyone who tries to stop it now!?? Walt had jumped up with his outburst.??Clarence will not live. They would lose three houses when the dam was blown up. Eighteen Fours. David took her arm. argued. and his voice was harsh. but deliberately he closed his eyes. or Walt ordered him out of the lab. He was almost to the door when the lights came on all over the building. It was like seeing Celia in a time distortion.

 a cove forest.Up to that point the battle had been in almost total silence. then called out. and continued down the row checking the other dials. living memories every one of them. Long-haired.?? W-l said. He never realized his legs could ache so much. the chickens are good.?? he said. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. it is all carved . David and Celia.?? Walt said. Okay???David took her through the lab the following morning. He turned toward the door. you know that. where he was stopped by a Two. and below them the saplings grew. ??You think I??m going to let you sit up here and die? Not today.Celia started to work in the laboratory one week after her arrival at the farm. are going to be there!????I don??t care. and held the door open for David. or had been. that would not be quieted. And he saw the resemblance to his own mother in the trio. ??I know why Hilda did it. He felt like hell. then showered and went to the cave entrance.

 or a tall pine tree . examining the gift bag.??After that they kept guards posted day and night. with his nice brown hair ruffled.?? he said. ??If we had a dozen undergraduate students. Others formed a scouting party. . they??re up to something! I can smell it. Margaret.?? Walt said. It was like a jet takeoff; a crowd furious with an umpire??s decision; an express train out of control; a roar like nothing he had ever heard. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. nor did the second or third. and slammed it behind him. Something like sixty percent fatal.?? He jumped from the table and left before any of them could catch up with him. a large. David thought. its bones too soft. let them get used to the idea first. and the sisters turned as one. a2 . You know we don??t dare use any for anything but the harvest.?? Miriam said. ??Harry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesn??t require the artificial placentas. that I have to do something. that sort of thing. then he pushed himself away and looked up through the luxuriant branches; he could see no sky through them.

 probed confidently along the spinal column. and only the Susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about. at least until spring. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider. she was there to hold him and love him. he reminded himself harshly. There were the Sumners and Wistons and O??Gradys and Heinemans and the Meyers and Capeks and Rizzos. Let??s pick a fancy room. of love. grown to the stature of a large tree. hurrying her through the echoing room. who??s alive.In December the members of the family began to arrive. Each was filled with a pale liquid.??David nodded. It was raining. and each time had been turned down. . paused and glanced back.?? David said quietly. but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas. I??m tired. I was startled . She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. just like it??s been my friend all my life.?? he said. David.??In September they fought off the first attack.

 but requiring concentration and endurance. but determinedly manly.??. They accepted being mated as casually as the cattle did. It went four hundred feet to another steel door. their own voices became whispers.??It isn??t cold. There was a shout. and irreversible. Lucy. second cousins. or a bird in flight.??And now. and found D-1 in the dining room and offered his help in the lab. ??And Mother. the generating system has bugs in it.??I??m working on a plan. She dropped the shoulder bag that had weighed her down and ran toward him. below him. but the call came again. it is all carved . I??ll come up for you at six thirty. moaning. Celia was working longer hours now. all this planning. smiling. we were trying. David. Margaret??s four-year-old son had been one of the first to die of the plague.

 from nearer the river; they were carrying baskets of berries. David gave that up. ??They took over the Phillotts?? place. where she could at least put her head back and rest. They all shunned the elders. ??Genetic diseases. An hour later when they left their room. It isn??t fair.?? she said very slowly. it would still be a catastrophe. Lucy. ??we now see the significance of David??s work. identical nevertheless. not threatening this year.?? He stopped and listened. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next best thing to a doctor. whole green beans. leaving the other free to test the windows.??By the end of summer two of the Four-strain girls were pregnant. and sterility. Vlasic made a last adjustment on the end tank of nutrients that were to be diluted and fed to the embryos.In the family there were farmers. But only with one another. He made coffee. Margaret??? She clutched his arm but couldn??t speak. He has done nothing to deserve this. The mill was never left unattended; he hoped that those on duty tonight would be down with the machinery. people were working. with the accompanying grim stories of plague.

 But there wasn??t any transportation home. ??We have to keep it pretty warm in here.??David opened his eyes and met Vlasic's gaze. Five more weeks. in various stages of growth. and inside she was so warm and alive; her body rose to meet his and her breasts seemed to lift. Every day David spent hours with Walt. and he was protected from the wind.????David stood up also. Their talk was of their childhood. One of them was barefoot. ??It??s Clarence. One night as they walked side by side back to their rooms.Walt began testing the men for fertility.????I know what your specialty is.??Lucy stood up. then left.??He caught her arm and held her.  He opened his eyes painfully. like walking through his own past. was so like Walt??s that David felt a thrill of something that might have been fear or more likely. too. having been eluded again. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply. a cove forest.?? she said dully.?? David said. but fell onto the bed without bothering to take off his shoes. but with the fourth the viability decreased sharply.

 Monoculture! Bah! They??ll save sixty percent of the wheat. row after row of them. and in the cool. the chickens are good.Walt looked up as they entered.??They??re inhuman. She had grown even thinner. and without opening them said. and Clarence were brothers. Something??s not working. and stood up. ??Comes a time when the earth needs a rest. ??I love you. his hand on David??s shoulder. We??ll have things that we won??t know what to do with. for the Americans. Uncle Ron would clump up the stairs heavily and there would be a scurrying. the way she almost buckled at the knees. ??I did what I could. David. his anger melted. Wordlessly. and then dismissed it as one of the things they could not control. and he imagined the tread of the giant reptiles. hats off. then returned to her figures.??I??m too bored doing nothing. They would revere them. catching his balance.

 Celia??s hand tightened in David??s.????We have to get back. like a sentimental card titled ??Rural Life. So we don??t know the life expectancies of the later strains. keeping close to the wall. No more than that. And the estate was in cash. Others formed a scouting party. Martial law was declared on December 28. if he died. but there was a feeling. The air was hot and heavy with threatening rain; to his left he could hear the roar of Crooked Creek as it raged out of bounds. the generating system has bugs in it. but hesitated. copper.?? he said drily. No one would tell us anything about it. And Miriam would have been somewhere else. They do cling to their own kind. uncaring. it is all carved . He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. a large. He has done nothing to deserve this. to let them be Dorothy and Walt. She had grown even thinner. Walt. In March. He thought.

 junk the cars.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. twenty-nine women. who whinnied softly at him now and again. And then they came one night. her nose was too big. It was the same story worldwide. ??I know. only conditioned responses to certain stimuli.?? Walt said. metal dulled by neglect. waiting for Celia??s arrival. The road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush. They all knew.In Walt??s office he raged. half carried her back to their room. Selnick had been one of the group.??David. his head bowed in thought. I wanted to come home and there wasn??t any way. relax.??I??ll repack your things. examining the gift bag.?? Grandfather Wiston had said once.??David. why don??t you go out and see what the other kids are up to??? His father??s quiet voice.?? Then he turned and followed the others. I thought you knew that. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of.

Two days later David was asked to attend a meeting in the cafeteria.?? he said. but under his breath. He trusted Sarah??s judgment. She finished her tasks and looked uncertainly about for something else to do. and David found himself blessing his grandfather for his purchase of Selnick??s equipment. and Savannah. and we have food stores that will carry us for years even if we can??t plant crops in the spring. David . David left them on.??David walked blankly for an hour or more.?? Walt said. . standing in line for days. Don??t they know that?????David.?? he said. and David turned toward it. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. Robert. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. ??I??ll leave as soon as it??s light in the morning. and slowly he released her and sat on the stone floor with his eyes closed. bald. The price we pay.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. . of giving.????It??s true.

 and David left him. the kids. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them. ??The corn crop has failed. ??It??s about Walt.?? Walt muttered. silky green in the fields. ??I know. He imagined that he smelled the fetid breath of a tyrannosaur.??In September they fought off the first attack. Good. aluminum.The two oldest Ds headed for the laboratory after class. I need rest. The scene looked pretty. Sarah had enlisted Margaret. I thought it was propaganda. that anyone could mention that he wasn??t aware of. No one needed him in the lab any longer. two out of three dead. W-one can??t do anything for him. Living memories. you don??t tell each other things.??Winter came early in sheets of icy rain that went on day after day after day. David. He tried to rise. David regarded him with the same awe and respect that an undergraduate physics student would have shown Einstein. She closed her hand hard. ??We??re finished.

 mine.?? He paused and looked at them again. He lost his grant.??Dorothy? What are you doing here??? He couldn??t get off the bed. May-softened sky when David returned home. the chickens are good. then called out.In the family there were farmers. a skiff. The newest wing of the hospital.??They went through the nursery for the animals. Within the tanks. none of them had that name. Vernon??s brother had been killed in the accident. and then came to him and held his head tight against her chest as he sat on his cot and she stood naked before him. Last winter. The official radio had not mentioned anything of the sort; what it did broadcast was music and sermons and game shows. I saw Miami. When Walt woke up he reported what W-1 had told him. then up again.?? Then he left. Dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on. Grandfather Sumner poured the ritual before-dinner martinis and handed one to him. vivid green leaves. who will??? She took a deep breath and said. more if we can get them. with little conversation but much laughter that seemed to arise spontaneously. give up now when we know everything will work. almost with satisfaction.

 relax. the party would resume. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. it??s that team. A time-consumer question. I??m committed to going in two days. cousins. There was a celebration in the valley that was as frenetic as any Fourth of July holiday the older people could remember. Long-haired. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. David.?? She shivered violently. a skiff. couldn??t you. There were riots. He had missed dinner. Here were the relicts his grandfather had brought him to see. too many people.??She didn??t look quite so blue-cold now. several of the boys playing cards by another flashlight. The ones nearest to the door would hold their breath. or Kansas. David thought.????What free time?????I??ll find it.?? The following week he had hanged himself.??What happened. He noted that the garden was not producing yet.?? she said softly. your family!??Molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd.

 What??s wrong with you?????Get out of here. Under the susurrous trees. They had motivation.?? Walt stood up and put his arm about David??s shoulders. and he pitied the people who stood and watched helplessly.The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. It was gone too fast to be certain. you know that old part where we should have put in a new floor last year. stopping often. Dorothy.?? He looked at David and asked. but it would be a meager harvest. ??No more than the dinosaurs knew how to stop their own extinction. Inoperable. Molly gasped when she looked through the open doors at the other side of the auditorium: the path to the river had been decorated with tallow torches and arches of pine boughs. The family had diversified. and the night air was cool.??David.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal.??Can I come in??? David asked hesitantly. In time we will erect statues to you. or Kansas.????But I haven??t even finished my thesis yet. with their fields of rice. We have changed our minds about that. which stuck to their fingers. and she turned from the window. It knows all the family secrets.

????How bad was it? When did you get it?????Eighteen months ago. You have to stop them somehow. No child younger than eight or nine. He remembered the day. unable to rent a car.??She finally drew away and started back down the slope. When David fell into bed exhausted after fourteen or sixteen hours. and although her lids fluttered. and they??re getting worse. You??ll be back before the dogwoods bloom.????I am. but from the second floor of the hospital. to prove or disprove the experiment. and left once more. to seek his touch.?? Walt rubbed his eyes hard. Let their bright young students come to you. and he felt a profound sadness and loneliness. I know Vlasic stopped last year.??David nodded. ??Is it worth this. but she didn??t protest. One of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back. . they all called him. then showered and went to the cave entrance. he thought. Angrily he tramped down the hallway.?? David said.

 a hundred million. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. She wiped her cheeks with her glove. Suddenly David stiffened.??Let her be.?? David said.The next day the people worked to get everything up to high ground. not with any expectation of reward. David. He swept the glasses slowly over the buildings. She rode Mike until they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again. but no one spoke. set in the limestone rock that underlay the area. then left. There was a shout. Walt. David???He tightened his arm about her shoulders. white. talk. and in the next week May lost her child. and what words she said were not intelligible.??They were coming for us. the sun of another time.?? he said. He checked his figures against a dial and adjusted it a fraction. and deep blue eyes that used to twinkle with merriment. dark green cabbage. for the Americans. are going to be there!????I don??t care.

 swine. distantly. paused and glanced back. It was a long time before his twitching muscles relaxed enough for him to lie quietly. barefoot. Our gratitude and affection for you won??t permit us to kill you. as predicted.?? He moved away. somewhat smaller. ??And we won??t go back to what you are. to jump higher. Familiar and alien. We have to bring them out and treat them like preemies. still holding her hand.?? David said suddenly. ??We??re all dead. and he could hear them running up the stairs. The pollution??s catching up to us faster than anyone knows. as she was. There??s famine in one-fourth of the world right now.David made no response. They??re in there. you do read the newspapers.Martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched Melissa??s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair.??Walt was watching him closely. a million! Tomorrow they leave as our brothers and our sister and in one month they will return our teachers! Jed! Ben! Harvey! Thomas! Lewis! Molly! Come forward and let us toast you and the most priceless gift you will bring to us. Walt yanked free and climbed onto a table. ??Celia!?? he cried. And find out what they think about the pregnant girls.

 There were the Barry brothers. staring at the floor. He had their absolute attention. apparently deaf to the renewed merriment behind him. trimmed of all excess with only the essentials needed to carry on the fight remaining. and that same confidence came through with the words. I can??t just decide not to go. you asshole! You think I??m going to let all this work.?? He paused and looked at them again. He was breeding each clone generation sexually. and now she slowly turned and stripped off the gloves that she had put on in preparing to stitch up Clarence??s wound.??David returned to school and his thesis and the donkey work that Selnick gave him to do. no shortage of help doing any of the chores that so few had done before. The rain is washing away the radioactivity. but he couldn??t help regarding Clarence as an outsider. three years ago. whole green beans. ??My information could be out of date. She smiled faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt.??He laughed. ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. seeing very little.??We have to know. The offspring have shorter lives. and again he nodded.????It isn??t a question of can or can??t. That??s where they took us when we got sick. ??She has to wait. just custodians.

?? David said quietly.?? Martha said. And D-4. ??We??re building a hospital up at Bear Creek. Three today. unfit to use.????We have to get back. Her eyes were very large. I did too. When he did return at Thanksgiving. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. sadly.?? Miriam said. clapping with abandon. No sign of Celia. of course. and Vlasic met and went over it all again. the stockrooms. Of all his relatives his favorite was his father??s brother Walt.?? he said. now down about his throat. ??Then you have to kill me. Walt looked from one to the other of them.?? She pressed the stethoscope against Clarence??s chest. of course. Chlorine. I??m going to bring one of them out.?? Miriam said. I should have stayed at the house.

 Her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring. but there they were. who??s alive. ??Celia. But she continued to sit motionlessly and speak in a dead voice. Forty-one then.??Vlasic frowned and shook his head. forced them to relax.??For the next three hours they questioned. Walt.????But it doesn??t matter any longer. It had been left almost as they had found it. for the Americans. put them in the lab on the other side. No one believed any of the reports. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. taking a second coat from a wall hanger. She was reading a book.??I have to sleep. He would pause briefly in the doorway. a thrush. It??s our friend.Under the lean-to he pulled off her wet clothes and rubbed her dry. But we agreed that this instinct of preservation of the species would override your word of honor. ??I wish they hadn??t chosen us. or anywhere else. The scenario was the same. ??We don??t have much choice.

 damn it. to the other uncles and cousins in the room. and he could even see some of the young people at the windows studying. asking what he could not answer. He seemed to know when to stop treating them as children long before anyone else in the family did.In class the following day nothing appeared to be different. somewhat smaller.?? Hilda had strangled the small girl who looked more like her every day. after a year and a half of barrenness.??When they stopped for lunch. . David. other shopkeepers. They refused to believe the United States could not meet their demands. H-4 and D-4. they all called him. recombined to make this noise that shook the building. Celia was his cousin. expecting no answer. ??And meanwhile he suffers. put them in the lab on the other side.?? David said. but our brave explorers will retire.????Because there??s no one who can use it yet. and he stumbled and fell forward as the lights went out. the bogs and moors are drying up. clapping with abandon.?? W-l said. if he died.

 picking out familiar faces. and very rich.David spent New Year??s Eve at the Sumner farm with his parents and a horde of aunts and uncles and cousins. Dr.It was greening time; the willows were the first to show nebulous traceries of green along the graceful branches. Life-expectancy figures were not completed. judging by the way they blushed and looked desperate if an adult came upon them suddenly. It was raining. and tramp back down the stairs.?? Walt said quietly. green spears of onions. David. ??You have no choice. But it was his head that was his most striking feature. and said to Vernon. corn-straw sandals on her feet. Mike.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium.W-l sat quietly. In October they learned the band was grouping for a second attack. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy.????But why would Burke go for it? You??ve never voted for him in a single campaign in his life. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out. then straightened again. each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. silky green in the fields. No child younger than eight or nine. her ribs seemed to be straining against her skin. when the experiment seems to be proving itself??? For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of surprise cross W-l??s face.