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was virtually spellbound, looking at him. Suddenly he seemed twice the size he had been before.
     
    Then he stepped across to help her up. "You all right, Niobe? I heard your scream and I got out of that class-"
     
    "Cedric-you never told me you could fight like that!"
     
    He shrugged. "You told me I'd be through with that."
     
    Now she remembered. He had liked to fight. She had presumed it to be mere mischief. She looked around at the four. Some mischief! "Perhaps I spoke prematurely. Just what kind of fighting did you do?"
     
    "Well, I was bare-knucks champ of my district, junior division. But you were right; I had to put aside childish things when I got married."
     
    "Childish things!" she echoed, shaking her head. In her spot memory she saw him again, shrugging off a solid blow to the stomach; saw the two youths almost jerked off their feet as he drew his arms together, then flung like rag dolls to the ground. Now she felt the amazing power of those arms, as he held her steady. She should have gotten the hint when he had shown her how to split wood, for his strength had been there then. "And I called you a bonnie boy!"
     
    Now a crowd was gathering, and the Prof she had talked to before appeared. "What happened here?"
     
    The bottle-youth struggled to his feet. "He set upon us!" he cried, pointing at Cedric. "For no reason!"
     
    Niobe's mouth dropped open at the audacity of this lie. But she realized that there had been no witnesses to the initial part of this incident-just her and the fouryouths. The word of four against the word of one.
     
    "Shall we see?" the Prof inquired, as if unconcerned. He spied the bottle and picked it up, frowning. "Good- a drop remains. We shall invoke the water magic."
     
    He brought out a little dish containing a film of mold, set it carefully on the ground, and upended the bottle over it. A driblet of wine descended into the dish.
     
    There was a pause. Then a reddish glow developed at the dish. It expanded rapidly, and there were roils of vapor in it, as the wine was vaporized in the magic pattern stimulated by the potent mold. An enchantment of water, certainly; Niobe was fascinated. She had known of such magic, but had never before actually observed it.
     
    "Move back, give room," the Prof warned. "We do not want to interfere with the re-creation."
     
    They all moved back, even the youths, who seemed to be completely intimidated by the Profs presence. The vapor diffused into the entire area, and stabilized, lending a reddish cast to the air. Then it swirled and coalesced into a ghostly image: a woman seated on the bench. "This is a ten-minute spell," the Prof explained. "It should be enough."
     
    "But I don't think the wine was here yet," Cedric said. "It had to have come with them."
     
    "That is why the picture is fuzzy," the Prof agreed. "You did not suppose my magic was vague, did you, lad?
     
    The wine was distant, but the magic is here; it is recreating a still scene until further definition is possible."
     
    Several minutes passed. No one moved. All were absorbed by the promise of the water magic.
     
    Then, abruptly, the image brightened. The woman became Niobe, in color, though tinged with the red of the wine's eye. The four youths barged into the scene, ghostly yet clear. The early stages of the molestation were re-enacted. Niobe felt Cedric wince as the wine was poured over her figure's head; he had the same bad associations that she did.
     
    "So this is your 'no reason,'" the Prof murmured, glancing at the youths.
     
    At the height of the struggle, Cedric entered the picture. Now, seeing him more objectively, Niobe was even more impressed with his demeanor. He had indeed been growing; he seemed inches taller than he had been the day of his marriage, and was now a young giant of a man. He was so handsome in his righteous anger that a nimbus seemed to surround him. Or was that the wine-haze?
     
    Niobe saw now that Cedric had actually invited them to grab his