"Holy smoke!" Marc cried, "they're sending in tanks!"
"Everybody grab something!" Floss said hysterically. "A lady must defend herself to the end!"
"And then what?" Toffee inquired bitterly.
Already, the trees and bushes at the end of the clearing were starting to thrash about with frenzied agitation. A tree crashed to earth and, plowing over it, in a veering rush, came the yellow sight-seeing bus. The driver, markedly foggy of eye, leaned his head out the window.
"The cops!" he yelled. "They're after me! They've been chasing me to hell and gone all over the place!" With a great grinding of brakes, the bus jolted to a stop. "I gotta get outa here!" He peered down at Marc. "Which way do I go, mister?"
"Hey, wait!" Toffee said. "We've all got to get out of here!" She ran around to the door of the bus. "Open up!"
There was a crush of humanity as nudists and thugs alike struggled to climb into the palpitating bus.
"Snap into it!" the driver barked. "They're comin' in droves, those cops, and they're all sore as hell!"
Marc and Toffee stumbled to the rear of the bus and dropped into adjoining seats.
"At least we've got a running start," Toffee said breathlessly.
"Toward what, though?" Marc asked dismally. "The law thinks I'm an undesirable and my wife thinks I'm a homicidal maniac. Have I thanked you sufficiently for your wonderful help in this affair?"
"At least I tried," Toffee said. "You might show a little gratitude for that."
But Marc wasn't listening. He was gaping at the others as they climbed aboard and fell into their seats up ahead.
"In all this excitement--and with all those nudists around--I didn't notice."
"The elixir is wearing off. Now, everybody's in their underwear! Except the nudists, of course."
"Well, at least," Toffee sighed, "you can keep your eyes open now."
"I'm not so sure," Marc said. "You should see Hotstuff's underwear--begonias on a field of purple."
"No!" Toffee said delightedly. "I suppose even he has his poetic side."
The conversation stopped short as the bus leaped ahead, throwing the passengers back in their seats.
"We'll try to circle around them!" the driver called out. "Hang on!"
There was a crash as the bus lunged back into the foliage. Branches lashed frenetically at the windows and skittered back into the distance. There was a communal scream as a large oak loomed before the windshield, but the driver, pulling frantically at the wheel, managed to send the bus swerving around it. Presently, the leaping, bucking vehicle fought its way clear of the wilds and emerged onto the green expanse of the lawns.