d in front of the others and
made a speech, a melodious speech full of liquid sounds that were
neither quite vowels nor consonants. He didn't have the slightest idea
of what the individual words meant. But the significance of the speech
as a whole was clear enough. As it came to an end, they presented him
with more food and flowers.

Bradley cleared his throat. And then, with as deep and impressive a
voice as he could manage, he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me
great pleasure to accept your nomination. I promise you that if elected
I shall keep none of my promises."

It was his first speech to them, and he enjoyed making it so much that
every time he saw them during the next few days--they settled down to
coming twice a day, morning and night--he made it again, with
variations, listing the wonderful things he would do for them if elected
to the office.

After awhile, as he began to enjoy the ceremony for its own sake, he
didn't mind at all putting the helmet on for two short periods every
day. Having so little contact with them, he could learn their language
only very slowly. He could distinguish the word for flowers from that
for food, although he himself could pronounce neither. He knew the names
of a few plants, a few parts of the body. And he learned a few names of
people. The red-green haired old man was, as close as he could make the
sounds, Yanyoo. He took the trouble to notice that the prettiest girl
was Aoooya.

* * * * *

At first everything had been exceedingly peaceful. But about a week
after his arrival--he couldn't be sure exactly how many days had passed,
because he hadn't kept count--he learned of some of the dangers they
faced.

It was while they were holding the morning ceremony that the thing came
out of the forest. At first he thought that a tree had moved. It was
green, with reddish blotches like clusters of needle leaves, and it
seemed to ooze forward toward them from among the trees. Aoooya noticed
it first, and pointed and screamed. It was the size of a tiger, thought
Bradley, and might be even more dangerous. He had difficulty keeping
his eyes on the rapidly moving creature through the goggles of his
helmet. He was aware of gleaming eyes, of two rows of dull green teeth,
and of muscles that rippled under the green fur.

Several of the men had little blowpipes, through which they released a
shower of darts. But the darts bounced off the fur, and the