"That's him!"

The group of young people who had been waiting around the main lobby of the Toronto Hilton converged in an excited flurry of brandished autograph books and pictures around the figure coming out of one of the elevators. Marty Hayes forced his five-foot-five body to stand firm in the face of the possible threat to his physical well-being and stared at them through his thick-rimmed spectacles with the hang-dog look that had made him famous. "Hey, easy does it, kids," he cautioned as he penned his name across one of the books. "I can't stand being crowded. It plays hell with my claustrophobia."

"You don't have claustrophobia," a grinning, red-headed boy chided. "We know that's not for real."

"It's real," Marty said as he returned a signed photograph to a well-endowed blond girl who was gazing at him rapturously. "My younger brother used to have to put together my easy-to-make presents for me. That was how my inferiority complex started. I've had a morbid fear of Father Christmas ever since."

"We enjoyed the show last night," another girl said, passing him a pen. "Do you know when you're going back home to Los Angeles? Will you be spending any extra time here now your run's through?"

"I have to go back tomorrow ... I think. I'm not sure. I get depressed if I try and plan too far ahead. My doctor said I ought to rest because he thought I had a heart condition. When I asked if I could have a second opinion, he said maybe it was a hernia." As Marty signed the last of the autographs, he caught sight of the rotund figure of his manager, Abe Fennerwitz, standing outside the door of the coffee shop, his tanned scalp reflecting the light between the two patches of wrinkly hair that surmounted his ears. Abe was wearing a tartan jacket and chewing the unlit butt of a cigar. Marty gave an almost imperceptible nod to the hotel security man who was hovering discreetly in the background near the elevators. The security man moved forward and began ushering the fans firmly but good-naturedly back into the center of the lobby. "Okay people, I guess we have to call it a day. Mr.. Hayes has a busy schedule this morning. It was nice seeing you all, but time's getting on."

"Thanks, Marty."

"It was nice talking to you."

"Come back to Canada soon."