As hard as he tried, Oversoul Seven couldn’t understand George’s reaction. Why would George prefer that fraud was involved in the first place? And why was George growing more jovial by the minute? Finally Seven said, “You don’t think there was any miracle at all, then?”

“Hell no, you’re too gullible and well-meaning,” George said, still laughing, but more softly. He swung back and forth gently, studying the toe of his right shoe as if the answers were contained within it. “Look,” he said. “That Christ chap had to be in on this, too. Twin One shows me his lousy gums, then Twin Two shows me his healthy ones and says that that “Christ” healed him. But where do they expect to go with it from here? Miracles! Boy, was I ever taken in.”

“I don’t suppose you believe in the soul either, huh?” Seven asked, a trifle plaintively.

George stood up to stretch his legs. “I believe in teeth and gums,” he said, grinning. “And they don’t lie.”

Within the context of the relationship between himself and George, Seven could only say so much; and he didn’t even know how to say that, he thought miserably. But he looked at George with just the slightest touch of severity and replied, “There’s more to life than teeth and gums, though.”

And at once he saw that he’d hurt George’s feelings, because George sat back down on the swing, slapped Seven lightly but disapprovingly on the shoulder and said, “Yeah? Well, listen. Being a dentist may not be the most heroic profession in the world—as you’ll find out yourself before too long. But I’ll tell you one thing: People are damn grateful when a bad tooth is extracted, or you get rid of a pain. And that’s real. It may not be philosophic, but it’s a very practical help to people when they’re suffering. So I leave the question of souls to the ministers or priests or whatever. And I still say that gums are honest. They don’t lie.”

Again Seven just stared; he was learning more about George every minute.

George grinned and said, “You surprised? Anyhow, that’s why a con game like that makes me mad—giving people false hopes. Though hell, I can understand the motives involved! I think I’ll just play along to see what they plan next before I lower the boom.”

“You’ll have to find Gregory’s twin first,” Seven said.

“And I was thinking how great it was that the kid’s attitude had changed so for the better, miracle or no,” said George, starting to laugh again. “Instead—two kids. Well, the joke’s on me, I guess.”