of people, but here there are so many varieties I'm a stranger, could you explain this to me?"

"I can," ventured Pete. "Martos, we're all of us women here. But there's many kinds of women, and people, on this earth. Now to make things fall into a pattern we classify them into a type and give it a name Simplifies things, see. Here at Riley's we're Butch an' Fem, but whatever that means is up to the individual. Gus, you

tell him what Butch-an'-Fem is."

·

"Why shore the Butch is the big one, the strong one, and the Fem, she's frail an' gentle, an' needs some one like me to protect her."

"Humph!" Rick joined in. "Sometimes the Fem's a lot stronger than the Butch, only a smart Fem lets the Butch think she's the strongest."

"Yeh? Who says so?"

"Besides, if you go out showing off your strength, you get roped into doing all the heavy work around the house."

"Not me!"

"Well, that's what I like about the arrangement," said Tommy. "A real McCoy Butch is naturally interested in cars and mechanics and can't stand to be cooped up in a kitchen doin' silly woman's work. But a Fem takes to cooking and sewing natural-like. So all this makes it nice."

"But you like to-" whispered Gwen.

"Shssh!" Tommy blurted, "Don't tell 'em!"

The Thing pondered on this. A pattern there was, but such a caricature of the other pattern that marked the "men and women".

"Not at all original are they?" Mart said to Pate.

(Continued on Page 22)

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