ept for that instantly-dismissed thrill
of surprise at being the actual target of an attack, that she had
thought of either of them. "Orange-yellow? It could be a ... a fumapty,
perhaps, but I've no idea, really. You see, such things are none of our
business."

She thought at him, a half-shrug, half-grimace of mild distaste--not at
the personal contact with the man nor at the savage duel; but at even
thinking of either the guardian or the yellow monster--and walked away
into the crowd.

Garlock's attention flashed back to the fighters. The yellow thing's
neck had been stretched to twice its natural length and the guardian had
_eaten_ almost through it. There was a terrific crunch, a couple of
smacking, gobbling swallows, and head parted from body. The orange beak
still clashed open and shut, however, and the body still thrashed
violently.

Shifting his grips, the guardian proceeded to tear a hole into his
victim's body, just below its breast-bone. Thrusting two arms into the
opening, he yanked out two organs--one of which, Garlock thought, could
have been the heart--and ate them both; if not with extreme gusto, at
least in a workmanlike and thoroughly competent fashion. He then picked
up the head in one hand, grabbed the tip of a wing with another, and
marched up the street for half a block, dragging the body behind him.

He lifted a manhole cover with his two unoccupied hands, dropped the
remains down the hole thus exposed, and let the cover slam back into
place. He then squatted down, licked himself meticulously clean with a
long, black, extremely agile tongue, and went on about his enigmatic
business quite as though nothing had happened.

Garlock strolled around a few minutes longer, but could not recapture
any interest in the doings of the human beings around him. He had filed
away every detail of what had just happened, and it had so many bizarre
aspects that he could not think of anything else. Wherefore he flagged
down a "taxi" and was taken out to the _Pleiades_. Belle and Lola were
in the Main.

* * *

"I saw the _damndest_ thing, Clee!" Lola exclaimed. "I've been gnawing
my fingernails off up to the knuckles, waiting for you!"

Lola's experience had been very similar to Garlock's own, except in that
her monster was an intense green in color and looked something like a
bat about four feet long, with six-inch canine teeth and several
stingers....

"Did you find out the nam