store
with Neff, and he had a virtual monopoly in Ulma County.

Neff swung the great door back into place with its _whoosh--thunk_
that sealed in air, sound and nearly a hundred thousand dollars in
currency. He levered the bolts into place and spun the expensive
combination lock.

The vault, tucked away in the front, left-hand corner of the old frame
warehouse expressed Neff's distrust and contempt for mankind. Concrete
and steel. Bed, shower, toilet and desk. In this walk-in cash box he
was fireproof, bomb-proof, theft-proof and, most important of all,
people-proof. There he consorted unmolested with the one mammal on
earth he found interesting--John, the brown rat.

He slid the broad warehouse door closed behind him with a cacophony of
dry screeches and padlocked it. The dusty street was deserted except
for a black sedan which two-wheeled the corner a block away and sped
toward him. Neff dropped his pistol back in its holster. "Now, what
the hell--?"

He waited on the splintery platform, a huge man, ugly of face,
shortlegged and long-bodied with a belly swollen from regular
overeating. His shaved head swivelled slowly as the police car leaned
into a skid-stop.

Officer Collin Burns got out and stared up at the motionless statue in
sweat-dust stained denims. Burns was half Neff's 56 years, tall and
thin. He wore gray, a silver star and a big black hat. He said, "I'll
take your gun, Erd."

"Now what? I got a permit."

"Not any more. It's revoked."

"For why?"

"There were witnesses this afternoon."

"Witnesses? What in hell are you--oh, no! Not that damned dog?"

"The puppy belonged to a little girl. You can't claim self-defense
this time."

"He was coming down here chasing the cats away every day."

"So you shot him, like you did Greeley's collie."

"Cats count for more. You know well as I do, you can't control the
rats around a warehouse without cats."

"You've shot five men, too, Erd. Three of them are dead."

"I was cleared, you know damned well! Self-defense."

"You're too handy with that pistol. Anyway, I didn't file this
complaint. It was the child's mother, and she made it stick with the
chief. Give me the gun, Erd."

"You got a warrant for my arrest?"

"No, but I will have in an hour if you insist."

"I got a perfect right to protect my property."

"Not with a gun. Not any more."

"I just get these punks convinced, and now you want to turn loose on
me again. Who put you up to this