men."

They raised their hands to their ears, for never had they heard such
words as these.

"International 4-8818," we asked, "will you report us to the Council and
see us lashed to death before your eyes?"

They stood straight of a sudden and they answered:

"Rather would we die."

"Then," we said, "keep silent. This place is ours. This place belongs
to us, Equality 7-2521, and to no other men on earth. And if ever we
surrender it, we shall surrender our life with it also."

Then we saw that the eyes of International 4-8818 were full to the
lids with tears they dared not drop, they whispered, and their voice
trembled, so that their words lost all shape:

"The will of the Council is above all things, for it is the will of
our brothers, which is holy. But if you wish it so, we shall obey you.
Rather shall we be evil with you than good with all our brothers. May
the Council have mercy upon both our hearts!"

Then we walked away together and back to the Home of the Street
Sweepers. And we walked in silence.

Thus did it come to pass that each night, when the stars are high and
the Street Sweepers sit in the City Theatre, we, Equality 7-2521, steal
out and run through the darkness to our place. It is easy to leave the
Theatre; when the candles are blown and the Actors come onto the stage,
no eyes can see us as we crawl under our seat and under the cloth of
the tent. Later it is easy to steal through the shadows and fall in line
next to International 4-8818, as the column leaves the Theatre. It is
dark in the streets and there are no men about, for no men may walk
through the City when they have no mission to walk there. Each night, we
run to the ravine, and we remove the stones we have piled upon the iron
grill to hide it from men. Each night, for three hours, we are under the
earth, alone.

We have stolen candles from the Home of the Street Sweepers, we have
stolen flints and knives and paper, and we have brought them to this
place. We have stolen glass vials and powders and acids from the Home of
the Scholars. Now we sit in the tunnel for three hours each night and
we study. We melt strange metals, and we mix acids, and we cut open the
bodies of the animals which we find in the City Cesspool. We have built
an oven of the bricks we gathered in the streets. We burn the wood we
find in the ravine. The fire flickers in the oven and blue shadows dance
upon the walls, and there is no sound of men to disturb us.