as urbanity."

"I've heard of it, yes; even though you never did believe I ever had
any. You _talk_ a good game of urbanity, but your brand of it would
never carry you _that_ far...."

She paused. He remained silent. She went on.

"Of course, it does put a lot of pressure on me to develop myself."

"I'm glad you used the word 'develop' instead of 'treat.'"

"Oh, sometimes--at rare intervals--I'm not exactly dumb. But you
knew--you _must_ have known--what a horrible risk you took in making me
as tremendously powerful as you are."

* * *

"Some, perhaps, but very definitely less risky than not doing it."

"Getting information out of you is harder than pulling teeth. Clee
Garlock, I want you to tell me _why!_"

"Very well." Garlock's jaw set. "You've had it in mind all along that
this is some kind of a lark; that you and I are Gunther Tops of the
universe. Or did that belief weaken a bit when we met Baver 14WD27?"

"Well, perhaps--a little. However, the probability is becoming greater
with every planet we visit. After all, _some_ race has to be tops. Why
_shouldn't_ it be us?"

"_What_ a logic--excuse me, skip it...."

"Oh, you really _meant_ it when you said you weren't going to fight with
me any more?"

"I'm going to try not to. Now, remembering that I don't consider your
premise valid, just suppose that when we visit some planet some day, you
get your mind burned out and I don't--solely because I had something I
could have given you and wouldn't. What then?"

"Oh. I thought that was what you ... but suppose I can't...."

"We won't suppose anything of the kind. But that wasn't all that was on
your mind. Nor most."

"How true. Those Primes. The women. Honestly, Clee, I never saw--never
imagined--such a bunch of exhibitionistic, obstreperous, obnoxious,
swell-headed, hussies in my whole life. And every day it was borne in on
me more and more that I was--am--exactly like the rest of them."

Garlock was wise enough to say nothing, and Belle went on: "I've been
talking a good game of licking myself, but this time I'm going to _do_
it."

She jumped up and doubled her fists. "If you can do it, I can," she
declared. "Like the ancient ballad--'Anything you can do I can do
better.'" She tried to be jaunty, but the jauntiness did not ring quite
true.

"That's an unfortunate quotation, I'm afraid. The trouble is, I
haven't."

"Huh? Don't be an idiot, Clee. You certainly have--wh