ge black altar, a tiny woman with silver hair and a long thyrsus in
her right hand.

Nothing stirred but the mosaic squares in the walls. The colors danced
here; otherwise, everything was frozen, everything was solid.

Even the air hung suspended, stationary.

Mr. Milton left the temple....

* * * * *

There was a table and a woman on the table and people all around the
woman on the table. Mr. Goeblin did not go a great distance from the
doorway: he rubbed his eyes and stared.

It was an operating room. There were all the instruments, some old, most
old, and the masked men and women with shining scissors and glistening
saws in their hands. And up above, the students' aperture: filled seats,
filled aisles.

Mr. Goeblin put his other hand about the doorknob.

A large man stood over the recumbent figure, his lusterless eyes
regarding the crimson-puce incision, but he did not move. The nurses did
not move, or the students. No one moved, especially the smiling
middle-aged woman on the table.

Mr. Goeblin moved....

* * * * *

"Hello!" said Lieutenant Peterson, after he had searched through eight
long aisles of books, "Hello!"

He pointed his gun menacingly.

There were many books with many titles and they all had a fine grey dust
about them. Lieutenant Peterson paused to examine a bulky volume, when
he happened to look above him.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

The mottled, angular man perched atop the ladder did not respond. He
clutched a book and looked at the book and not at Lieutenant Peterson.

"Come down--I want to talk with you!"

The man on the ladder did nothing unusual: he remained precisely as he
had been.

Lieutenant Peterson climbed up the ladder, scowling; he reached the man
and jabbed with a finger.

Lieutenant Peterson looked into the eyes of the reading man and
descended hastily and did not say goodbye....

* * * * *

Mr. Greypoole reentered the living room with a tray of glasses. "This is
apricot wine," he announced, distributing the glasses, "But--where are
the others? Out for a walk? Ah well, they can drink theirs later.
Incidentally, Captain, how many Guests did you bring? Last time it was
only twelve. Not an extraordinary shipment, either: they all preferred
the ordinary things. All but Mrs. Dominguez--dear me, she was worth the
carload herself. Wanted a zoo, can you imagine--a regular