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"But I would," Jot said.
"Yes, I would," Tittle agreed.
The two of them gestured with their four little hands. Suddenly the Gorgon stood in the chamber, regal
in a black dress and veil. "Humfrey!" she exclaimed. "Are you finished here yet?"
"I am plea-bargaining with the Demon X(A/N)TH," he said, "to mitigate the sentence on Rose. I have
offered to spend time in Hell equivalent to the time she is released from Hell, but-"
The Gorgon's veiled eyes narrowed. "So you can spend time with her both in and out of Hell?" she
asked. "Neither of you much noticing where you are? "
"Yes, that's it," Jot said.
"He's a cunning one," Tittle said.
The Gorgon's veiled gaze focused on them. "Children?"
"They are the present form of the Demon," Lacuna explained.
The Gorgon refocused on Humfrey. "Well, I'll have none of this. I'll visit Hell instead."
Humfrey looked surprised, but Lacuna was catching on to his ways. He had anticipated this, too, and
was maneuvering both the Gorgon and the Demon into agreement with his compromise. "I would not
ask you to-"
The Gorgon looked at the children. "If I resided in Hell, would I be allowed to pursue my career in
dream pictures?"
"If the Night Stallion asked for you," Jot said.
"Hell is a bad dream, after all," Tittle agreed.
"But-" Humfrey said.
"Then I'll do it," the Gorgon said.
"I agree," Jot said.
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"She can sub for you," Tittle agreed.
Humfrey looked amazed. "If that is the way you feel-"
"I will make the bargain," Jot said firmly.
"The Gorgon can sub for your wife in Hell," Tittle added, nailing it down.
"Then I am constrained to agree," Humfrey said, spreading his hands as if outflanked.
Lacuna saw that Humfrey's plan had worked. He had avoided the rigged contest and obtained the release
of Rose half time, without running afoul of the problem of having two live wives in Xanth at the same
time. He had outsmarted the all-powerful Demon.
Jot turned toward her. "I wouldn't say that," he said.
Tittle also turned toward her. "I would say he just makes sense," she said.
Lacuna was aghast. The Demon knew what was in their minds! So Humfrey had not prevailed by
trickery but by offering the Demon a good compromise.
Jot extended his hand, and a rolled scroll appeared in it. "Here is the Agreement," he said.
Tittle extended her hand, and a huge feathered quill appeared in it. "Sign it," she said.
Jot unrolled the scroll and held it against the wall, covering part of Lacuna's ongoing printed narrative.
Tittle gave Humfrey the feather.
Lacuna peered over Humfrey's shoulder to read the scroll. It said, in script more elaborate than she could
render:
It is hereby Agreed that Good Magician Humfrey shall be allowed to exchange one wife for another in
Hell, et cetera and so forth,
There was a decorative line below, separating the text from the space for signature. Humfrey squinted at
it through his spectacles, then shrugged and signed.
Then Jot took the quill and signed: Demon
Tittle took it and signed Xanth. Then she handed the quill to Lacuna.
"But I'm not part of this!" Lacuna protested.
"You have to witness it," the Gorgon explained. "I can't; I'm a relative."
Oh. Lacuna brought the quill to the paper. But something nagged her. "I'm not sure that-"
"Sign it," Humfrey said shortly.
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So, doubtfully, Lacuna signed it too.
"Well, that's that," Jot said.
"Yes, that's that," Tittle agreed.
"So let's get on with the exchange," Humfrey said.
"What exchange?" Jot asked.
"Yes, what?" Tittle added.
"The exchange of wives," Humfrey said. "As agreed."
Jot and Tittle exchanged one glance. "I think he didn't read the small print," Jot said.
"Yes, I think he didn't," Tittle agreed.
"Small print?" the Gorgon asked, her veil twisting in perplexity.
Jot extended his hand, and a big magnifying glass appeared in it. "Use this," he said.
"Yes, read the small print," Tittle said.
Humfrey took the glass and held it over the decorative line. The line expanded, and turned out to be two
lines of very small print, now legible:
But only in the Changes of Moon On days beginning with Letter N
" 'But only in the Changes of Moon, on days beginning with Letter N,' " Lacuna read aloud, getting it
right for her own text. "But when does the moon change?"
"And what day of the week begins with the letter JV?" the Gorgon asked. She looked at Humfrey.
"Dear, this is nonsense."
"Tough udder," Jot said smugly.
"You signed," Tittle said smugly.
Humfrey shrugged. "Did you suppose I got to be the Magician of Information without understanding the
concept of small print?" he asked. "It can merely modify, not reverse the contract; that's according to the
rules demons follow. We have only to interpret it."
"Well, go home and interpret it," Jot said.
"Yes, and stop bothering me," Tittle added.
Humfrey waggled a finger at them. "Not until I have completed my mission. If I leave beforehand, I will
default." He turned to the Gorgon. "You interpret the Changes of Moon." Then he turned to Lacuna.
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"You find the days beginning with N. "
Lacuna exchanged two glances with the Gorgon. Then both fell to concentrating. Lacuna thought about
the days of the week, and found none that began with N. There were two beginning with 5, two with T,
and one each with F, M and W. There was a month beginning with N, NoRemember, but no day. Yet it
seemed that there had to be a day. What could it be?
Then she suffered a blinding inspiration. There were" N days-if the days of the month were numbered
alphabetically! The ninth and the nineteenth.
"Lacuna has gotten her notion," Humfrey remarked, blinking as the flash of light faded.
Then a flashbulb went off just above the Gorgon's head, making Lacuna blink. The other part of it had
been solved.
"The moon changes every month, just like a woman," the Gorgon said. "So it's every month."
"On the ninth or nineteenth," Lacuna added.
"And what is today?" Humfrey inquired as if bored.
"The ninth of OctOgre," Lacuna said.
"Then what in Hell's annex are we waiting for?" Humfrey demanded irritably.
Jot and Tittle exchanged half a glance and half a shrug. It was evident that the Demon's little trick had
been found out. He had tried to out wait Humfrey and not succeeded; so he had tried to fool him with
the appearance of the little twins, and not succeeded; so he had tried to pose an unanswerable question
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