Ernie, following instructions on the card, walked to a little white building near the Washingable Monument, stepped inside, handed a man his Other World card, then walked through a door, felt sick at his stomach, came out to the streetcar line to Melinee and home.
When he got there, it was almost daylight, and the front door was locked. He climbed through an upstairs window, looked through the laundry chute, saw nothing and returned to his bed. Melinee was still sleeping soundly.
He wrestled with his pillow a while. Then the alarm went off.
The rest was simple. At breakfast he told her he was taking the day off.
"Darling, why on Earth?"
"We're moving," he said.
"But why?"
"There was an explosion in the night. I think it was gas escaping."
"We might have died!" she cried.
Ernie closed his eyes. "Go look in the hall, dear, and tell me what you see."