Shareholders may not take kindly to a boss who has turned down a fair offer for the company—although Microsoft may yet return to the fray and bid for Yahoo! at a later date.

But Nannie had another lover, in fact a score of them from among the neighboring young settlers, but one in particular who bid fair to be Billy's most dangerous rival.

In a statement Wednesday, Microsoft reiterated its bid is fair and pointed out the antitrust problems likely to prevent Google and Yahoo from working together.