Marguerite gestured after him with a bitter little laugh.
"It'll rain this afternoon," she said. "I don't know how Herbert does it—maybe with silver iodide. But it'll rain. Wouldn't it have been simpler to get him to air-condition the house, Alice?"
"That's a good idea," said Alice thoughtfully. "We should have had him do it before."
Herbert had not quite completed the task of air-conditioning the house when the other spaceship crashed. They all rushed out to the smoking site—the four women and Herbert.
It was a tiny scoutship, and its single occupant was alive.
He was unconscious, but he was alive. And he was a man!
They carted him back to the house, tenderly, and put him to bed. They hovered over him like four hens over a single chick, waiting and watching for him to come out of his coma, while Herbert scurried about creating and administering the necessary medicines.
"He'll live," said Thera happily. Thera had been a space nurse. "He'll be on his feet and walking around in a few weeks."
"A man!" murmured Betsy, with something like awe in her voice. "I could almost believe Herbert brought him here in answer to our prayers."