dy cried.

"Sorry, lady. I only work here."

"You and your bright ideas," Judd told his wife acidly. "We may be
quarantined a month until they satisfy themselves about Black Eyes."

The customs official shrugged his bony shoulders, and Judd removed a
twenty-credit note from his pocket and handed it to the man. "Will this
change your mind?"

"I should say not! You can't bribe me, Mr. Whitney! You can't--" The man
yawned, stretched languidly, smiled. "No, sir, you can keep your money,
Mr. Whitney. Guess we don't have to examine your pet after all. Mighty
cute little feller. Well, have fun with it. Come on, move along now."
And, as they were departing with Black Eyes, still not believing their
ears: "Darn this weather! Makes a man so lazy...."

It was after the affair at the customs office, that Black Eyes uttered
its first sound. City life hasn't changed much in the last fifty years.
Jet-cars still streak around the circumferential highways, their
whistles blaring. Factories still belch smoke and steam, although the
new atomic power plants have lessened that to a certain extent. Crowds
still throng the streets, noisy, hurrying, ill-mannered. It's one of
those things that can't be helped. A city has to live, and it has to
make noise.

But it seemed to frighten Lindy's new pet. It stared through the jet-car
window on the way from the spaceport to the Whitneys' suburban home, its
black eyes welling with tears.

"Look!" Judd exclaimed. "Black Eyes can cry!"

"A crying pet, Judd. I knew there would be something unusual about Black
Eyes, I just knew it!"

The tears in the big black eyes overflowed and tumbled out, rolling down
Black Eyes' silvery cheeks. And then Black Eyes whimpered. It was only a
brief whimper, but both Judd and Lindy heard it, and even the driver
turned around for a moment and stared at the animal.

The driver stopped the jet. He yawned and rested his head comfortably on
the cushioned seat. He went quietly to sleep.

* * * * *

A man named Merrywinkle owned the Merrywinkle Shipping Service. That, in
itself, was not unusual. But at precisely the moment that Black Eyes
unleashed its mild whimper, Mr. Merrywinkle--uptown and five miles
away--called an emergency conference of the board of directors and
declared:

"Gentlemen, we have all been working too hard, and I, for one, am going
to take a vacation. I don't know when I'll be back, but it won't be
before six mon