WHEN THEY HAD GONE, Harshaw started to give instructions to Duke- theninstead said grumpily, .What are you looking sour about?“.Boss, when are we going to get rid of that ghoul?“.’Ghoul’? Why, you provincial lout!“.Okay, so I come from Kansas. You won’t find any cases of cannibalism inKansas-they were all farther west. I’ve got my own opinions about who is alout and who isn’t . . . but I’m eating in the kitchen until we get rid of him.“Harshaw said icily, .So? Don’t put yourself out. Anne can have your closingcheck ready in five minutes . . . and it ought not to take you more than tenminutes to pack up your comic books and your other shirt.“Duke had been setting up a projector. He stopped and straightened up. .Oh, Ididn’t mean that I was quitting.“.It means exactly that to me, son.“.But-I mean, what the hell? I’ve eaten in the kitchen lots of times.“.So you have. For your own convenience, or to keep from making extra workfor the girls. Or some such. You can have breakfast in bed, for all of me, ifyou can bribe the girls to serve it to you. But nobody who sleeps under myroof refuses to eat at my table because he doesn’t want to eat with otherswho eat there. I happen to be of an almost extinct breed, an old-fashionedgentleman-which means I can be a real revolving son of bitch when it suitsme. And it suits me right now . . . which is to say that no ignorant,superstitious, prejudiced bumpkin is permitted to tell me who is, or is not, fitto eat at my table. If I choose to dine with publicans and sinners, that is mybusiness. But I do not choose to break bread with Pharisees.“Duke turned red and said slowly, .I ought to pop you one-and I would, ifyou were my age.“.Don’t let that stop you, Duke. I may be tougher than you think and if I’m not,the commotion will probably bring the others in. Do you think you can handlethe Man from Mars?“.Him? I could break him in two with one hand!“ .Probably ... if you could lay ahand on him.“ .Huh?“.You saw me try to point a pistol at him. Duke-where’s that pistol? Before yougo flexing your biceps, stop and think-or whatever it is you do in place ofthinking. Find that pistol. Then tell me whether or not you still think you canbreak Mike in two. But find the pistol first.“Duke wrinkled his forehead, then went ahead setting up the projector. .Somesort of sleight-of-hand. The films will show it.“Harshaw said, .Duke. Stop fiddling with that projector. Sit down. I’ll take careof it after you’ve left and run off the films myself. But I want to talk to you afew moments first.“.Huh? Jubal, I don’t want you touching this projector. Every time you do, youget it out of whack. It’s a delicate piece of machinery.“.Sit down, I said.“.But-.

　　.It’s my projector, Duke. I’ll bust the damned thing if it suits me. Or: I’ll getLarry to run it for me. But I do not accept service from a man alter he hasresigned from my employ.“.Hell, I didn’t resign! You got nasty and sounded off and fired me- for noreason.“.Sit down, Duke,“ Harshaw said quietly. .Either sit down ... and let me try tosave your life-or get off this place as fast as you can and let me send yourclothes and wages after you. Don’t stop to pack; it’s too risky. You might notlive that long.“.What the hell do you mean?“.Exactly what I say. Duke, it’s irrelevant whether you resigned or were fired;you terminated your employment here when you announced that you wouldno longer eat at my table. Nevertheless I would find it distasteful for you to bekilled on my premises. So sit down and I will do my best to avoid it.“Duke looked startled, opened his mouth-closed it and sat down. Harshawwent on, .Are you Mike’s water brother?“.Huh? Of course not. Oh, I’ve heard such chatter-but it’s nonsense, if youask me.“.It is not nonsense and nobody asked you; you aren’t competent to have anopinion about it.“ Harshaw frowned. .That’s too bad. I can see that I am notonly going to have to let you go-and, Duke, I don’t want to fire you; you do agood job of keeping the gadgetry around here working properly and therebysave me from being annoyed by mechanical buffoonery I am totallyuninterested in. But I must not only get you safely off the place but I mustalso find out at once who else around here is not a water brother to Mike . . .

　　and either see to it that they become such-or get them off the place beforeanything happens to them.“ Jubal chewed his lip and stared at the ceiling.

　　.Maybe it would be sufficient to exact a solemn promise from Mike not to hurtanyone without my specific permission. Mmmm . . . no, I can’t risk it. Toomuch horse play around here-and there is always the chance that Mike mightmisinterpret something that was meant in fun. Say if you-or Larry, rather,since you won’t be here- picked up Jill and tossed her into the pool, Larrymight wind up where that pistol went, before I could explain to Mike that itwas all in fun and Jill was not in danger. I wouldn’t want Larry to die throughmy oversight. Larry is entitled to work out his own damn foolishness withouthaving it cut short through my carelessness. Duke, I believe in everyone’sworking out his own damnation his own way . . . but nevertheless that is noexcuse for an adult to give a dynamite cap to a baby as a toy.“Duke said slowly, .Boss, you sound like you’ve come unzipped. Mikewouldn’t hurt anybody-shucks, this cannibalism talk makes me want to throwup but don’t get me wrong; I know he’s just a savage, he doesn’t know anybetter. Hell, Boss, he’s gentle as a lamb. He would never hurt anybody.“.You think so?“.I’m sure of it.“.So. You’ve got two or three guns in your room. I say he’s dangerous. It’sopen season on Martians, so pick a gun you trust, go down to the swimmingpool, and kill him. Don’t worry about the law; I’ll be your attorney and Iguarantee that you’ll never be indicted. Go ahead, do it!“.Jubal ... you don’t mean that.“.No. No, I don’t really mean it. Because you can’t. If you tried it, your gunwould go where my pistol went-and if you hurried him you’d probably go withit. Duke, you don’t know what you are fiddling with- and I don’t either exceptthat I know it’s dangerous and you don’t. Mike is not .gentle as a lamb’ andhe is not a savage. I suspect we are the savages. Ever raise snakes?“.Uh ... no.“.I did, when I was a kid. Thought I was going to be a zoologist then. Onewinter, down in Florida, I caught what I thought was a scarlet snake. Knowwhat they look like?“.I don’t like snakes.“.Prejudice again, rank prejudice. Most snakes are harmless, useful, and funto raise. The scarlet snake is a beauty-red, and black and yellow-docile andmakes a fine pet. I think this little fellow was fond of me, in its dim reptilianfashion. Of course I knew how to handle snakes, how not to alarm them andnot give them a chance to bite, because the bite of even a non-poisonoussnake is a nuisance. But I was fond of this baby; he was the prize of mycollection. I used to take him out and show him to people, holding him backof his head and letting him wrap himself around my wrist.

　　.One day I got a chance to show my collection to the herpetologist of theTampa zoo-and I showed him my prize first. He almost had hysterics. My petwas not a scarlet snake-it was a young coral snake. The American cobra . . .

　　the most deadly snake in North America. Duke, do You see my point?“.I see that raising snakes is dangerous. I could have told you.“.Oh, for Pete’s sake! I already had rattlesnakes and water moccasins In mycollection. A poisonous snake is not dangerous, not any more than a loadedgun is dangerous-in each case, if you handle it properly. The thing that madethat coral snake dangerous was that I hadn’t known what it was, what it coulddo. If, in my ignorance, I had handled it carelessly, it would have killed me ascasually and as innocently as a kitten scratches. And that’s what I’m trying totell you about Mike. He seems as gentle as a lamb-and I’m convinced that hereally is gentle and unreservedly friendly with anyone he trusts. But if hedoesn’t trust you-well, he’s not what he seems to be. He seems like anordinary young male human, rather underdeveloped, decidedly clumsy, andabysmally ignorant...but bright and very docile and eager to learn. All ofwhich is true and not surprising, in view of his ancestry and his strangebackground. But, like my pet snake, Mike is more than he appears to be. IfMike does not trust you, blindly and all out, he can be instantly aggressiveand much more deadly than that coral snake. Especially if he thinks you areharming one of his water brothers, such as Jill-or me.“Harshaw shook his head sadly. .Duke, if you had given way to your naturalimpulse to take a poke at me, a few minutes ago when I told you somehomely truths about yourself, and if Mike had been standing in that doorwaybehind you . . . well, I’m convinced that you would have stood no chance atall. None. You would have been dead before you knew it, much too quicklyfor me to stop him. Mike would then have been sorrowfully apologetic overhaving .wasted food’-namely your big, beefy carcass. Oh, he would feel guiltyabout that; you heard him a while ago. But he wouldn’t feel guilty about killingyou; that would just be a necessity you had forced on him . . . and not amatter of any great importance anyhow, even to you. You see, Mike believesthat your soul is immortal.“.Huh? Well, hell, so do I. But-.

　　.Do you?“ Jubal said bleakly. .I wonder.“.Why, certainly I do! Oh, I admit I don’t go to church much, but I was broughtup right. I’m no infidel. I’ve got faith.“.Good. Though I’ve never been able to understand .faith’ myself, nor to seehow a just God could expect his creatures to pick the one true religion Out ofan infinitude of false ones-by faith alone. It strikes me as a sloppy way to runan organization, whether a universe or a smaller one. However, since you dohave faith and it includes belief in your own immortality, we need not troublefurther over the probability that your prejudices will result in your earlydemise. Do you want to be cremated or buried?“.Huh? Oh, for cripe’s sake, Jubal, quit trying to get my goat.“.Not at all. I can’t guarantee to get you off my place safely as long as youpersist in thinking that a coral snake is a harmless scarlet snake-any blunderyou make may be your last. But I promise you I won’t let Mike eat you.“Duke’s mouth dropped open. At last he managed to answer, explosively,profanely, and quite incoherently. Harshaw listened, then said testily, .Allright, all right, but pipe down. You can make any arrangements with Mike youlike. I thought I was doing you a favor.“ Harshaw turned and bent over theprojector. .I want to see these pictures. Stick around, if you want to, until I’mthrough. Prob’ly safer. Damn!“ he added. .The pesky thing savaged me.“.You tried to force it. Here-. Duke completed the adjustment Harshaw hadmuffed, then went ahead and inserted the first film cartridge. Neither of themre-opened the question of whether Duke was, or was not, still working forJubal. The cameras were Mitchell servos; the projector was a Yashinontabletop tank, with an adapter to permit it to receive Land Solid-Sight-Sound4 mm. film. Shortly they were listening to and watching the events leading upto the disappearance of the empty brandy case.

　　Jubal watched the box being thrown at his head, saw it wink out in midair.

　　.That’s enough,“ he said. .Anne will be pleased to know that the camerasback her up. Duke, let’s repeat that last bit in slow motion.“.Okay.“ Duke spooled back, then announced, .This is ten-to-one.“The scene was the same but the slowed-down sound was useless; Dukeswitched it off. The box floated slowly from Jill’s hands toward Jubal’s head,then quite suddenly ceased to be. But it did not simply wink out; under slowmotionprojection it could be seen shrinking, smaller and smaller until it wasno longer there.

　　Jubal nodded thoughtfully. .Duke, can you slow it down still more?“.Just a sec. Something is fouled up with the stereo.“.What?“.Darned if I can figure it out. It looked all right on the fast run. But when Islowed it down, the depth effect was reversed. You saw it. That box wentaway from us fast, mighty fast-but it always looked closer than the wall.

　　Swapped parallax, of course. But I n............