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“Stout fellow!”

“I knew he’d attack me and probably beat me up, but I thought that perhaps if I put up a show of courage they’d respect me. There was something like that in Sentries of the Sky a year or so ago—but of course you’d have missed that episode; you were up here. Anyhow, as I expected, he hit me. And then I hit him....” He smiled reminiscently into his cup of tea.

“And then?”

“I beat him,” Clarey said simply. “I still can’t figure out how I did it. I think it must be because my muscles are heavier-gravity type.” He smiled again. “And I beat him good. He couldn’t dance at the temple for weeks.”

The colonel’s jaw dropped. “He’s a temple dancer?”

“Chief temple dancer. I was a little worried about that, because I didn’t want to get in bad theologically. So I went to the priest and apologized for any inconvenience I might have caused. He said not to worry; Mundes had had it coming to him for a long time and his one regret was that he hadn’t been there to see it. Then we touched toes and he said he liked to see a young fellow with brawn who also took an interest in cultural pursuits like reading. He trusted I’d have a beneficial effect on the youth of the village. And then he asked me to fill in for Mundes as chief temple dancer until he—ah—recovered. It’s a great honor, you know!” he said sharply, as the colonel seemed more moved to mirth than awe. “But I’ve never been much of a dancing man and that’s what I told him.”