“Troublemakers?” Muir hedged, facing the overwhelming crowd that now was peering curiously into Dzung’s house.

“No.” Condley stepped in front of Muir and pushed his way toward the cyclo. “They’re too happy.”

The gathered crowd waved and cheered them on as the cyclos rattled and clattered away from Dzung’s house. The men at their tables and the women in the doorways in the next road were no longer surprised by their presence, offering them friendly but perfunctory waves as they passed. The small shops and eating places of the side street seemed tamer, more cosmopolitan after the narrow alleyways in the heart of the district. Nguyen Tat Thanh Street and even the cluttered ugliness of the bridge that took them back into District One offered a measure of openness and hope. And the busy boulevard of Nguyen Hue Street with its mix of ferment and growth might just as well have been Manhattan.

Muir was quiet and ponderous on the way back, even seeming to relax into the bouncing cyclo seat. Condley was lost in his own reverie, a deep frustration fed by the stark image of Dzung’s new child, rash-covered and too frail to cry. Along Nguyen Hue Street the two rode side by side. Finally Muir reached some resolution. He called to Condley over the noise of the traffic.

“We can’t save everyone, Brandon.”

“We can’t save anyone.”

“Then why did you take me back there?”

“They needed a good laugh, Professor. They never saw an orange luau shirt before.”

“You’re a rogue, Brandon, but in a way you’re a saint.”

“Don’t get carried away. I’ve killed a lot of people.”

“More than you’ve saved?”

“Give me a few minutes. I haven’t done the balance sheets on that one.”

“Well, let me answer for you.”

“Be careful, Professor, you’ve never seen me in action.”

“I just did. And it was brilliant. Almost Christlike in its power and simple humility, Brandon. Brilliant.”

Muir eyed him carefully, letting that thought sink in. Finally he slapped the side rails of the cyclo as if they were the arms of his desk chair back in Hawaii. “You’re on a mission. I can see why this is so much more than bones to you.”

“I’m going to get Dzung out of there,” said Condley. “I’m buying a car, and I’m making him my driver. And then we’re going to start a little business. When he’s not driving me, I’m going to let him hire the car out and drive other people. He’ll start making some real money, then he can ask for a better place to live.”

“You make me feel quite humble.”

Condley grinned. “Then I guess it’s the perfect time to ask you for a loan?”