Seven nodded but he wiggled uncomfortably. A sense of menace suddenly assailed him. He looked around. The back dining room was brightly lit. Beyond it, out the second story windows, the yard was disappearing in twilight. Then someone said, “Here’s the smartassed dude’s place,” and Seven looked up in surprise. “What?” he asked.

George raised his bushy brows. “Nobody said anything.”

“Uh. I must be hearing things,” Seven replied, and he smiled brilliantly.

In his confusion it took Seven a minute to realize what had happened. He’d forgotten that humans heard only spoken conversation, though he tried to keep it in mind; and according to the rules, he had paid attention only to words. But in the instant that he forgot, he’d picked up someone’s thoughts—and they didn’t belong to George….

“Uh, I thought I heard something downstairs,” Seven said finally.

“Naw. It’s just the house; it makes noises all the time,” George replied, helping himself to some dessert.

“What would anyone want to steal down there?” Seven asked, insistent.

“A few drugs in my office, is all. Now and then some joker breaks into a dentist’s or doctor’s office.” Unconcerned, George said, “Come on. There’s no one down there. Besides the car’s out there. So anybody could tell that we were home….”

But Seven was now following the menacing thoughts from room to room downstairs, from the back to the front of the house. He finally located them in George’s office.

And for once, Oversoul Seven didn’t have the slightest inkling of what to do. The thoughts he “heard” told him that the man downstairs was full of hate and rage; but also full of indecision, scared to death. If he told George about the intruder, Seven thought anxiously, he’d have to play by physical rules. The police would be called, the thief caught; for he was a thief … even now he was picking the lock of George’s drug cabinet. Seven started coughing to hide his confusion, and to give himself time to think.

“Oh, I’ll get you some water,” said George. Seven coughed harder. George stood up and slapped him on the back. Seven, suddenly realizing what a body felt like when it was slapped, stopped coughing. “Uh. I’m all right,” he said, blushing.

“Look,” George said. “Let me do up the dishes. You go down and relax. Got a bedroom for the night all ready. Then we’ll have a couple of beers.”

“Super,” Seven exclaimed, getting up so quickly that George looked startled. But Seven was still aware of the intruder.