ts out, and natch he steps in it. We are
scramming through that crowd like mad, and we are in the clear. But we
hear them squeaks behind us for a long time. They are follyin' the
glowing footprints my bum is leaving to point the way.

He emptied the last bottle of beer, holding it upended for a long time
waiting for the final laggard drop to detach itself. He stalled over
his drink, waiting for me to ask him what happened, so I did. He put
on his most wounded expression, and I knew then that he'd suffered a
mortal blow--to his purse.

Yeah, we got away, I made my bum trun away his flashy shoes so they
couldn't track us by them. We walked all the way back to Neopolis, the
people city. All kinds of plain and fancy rumors beat us there, so the
Colony Cops put us in protective custody until they got the straight
story.

Nobody ever saw another Martian. It seems that they got some trick
notions about theirselves. They are proud because they can walk on the
ground and don't have to fly, so they got a hearty contemp for things
that fly, like them insecks which they used for house lights.

Now, them insecks is dopes too and would give anything if they could
walk like the Martians. And the Martians know the insecks can think a
little, and it makes them feel good to have the insecks looking up to
them. Lord knows nobody else does.

So when my bum lifted their bum up in the air and spun him around like
a pinwheel it was a big insult to them. They took it that my bum was
as much as telling them that he didn't think they was any better than
them insecks flying around over the ring. And the insecks took it as a
invite to come down and try the Martians racket so that's why they all
flop into the ring and the lights go out. They was trying to walk.

That's more than the Martians can take. They swarm into the ring and
kill all the insecks. They'da killed us too, but I got smart brains
and we didn't hang around asking for it.

And now they won't have nothing to do with no people from Earth on
account of they have lost so much smoosh, the way they look at it.

We got no take from that bout. And the Colony Administrator lifts all
our scratch--said we'd gummed up Martian trade and he'da trun us in
the clink too only he didn't want to see no more of us. He wouldn'ta
even give us fare back to Earth except he said he didn't want us
anywhere on Mars.

"So that," the little promoter concluded sadly, "is why I don't like
Mars and