he expected to find in that place.

Raf longed to inspect it, but both aliens brushed by him and pattered
back down the corridor, the discoverer pouring forth a volume of words
to which the officer listened with great intentness. And the Terran
pilot had to hurry to keep up with them.

Something he had seen just before he had left the arena remained in
his mind: a forearm flung out from the supine body of what appeared to
be the largest of the dead things--and on that forearm a bracelet of
metal. Were those things pets! Watchdogs? Surely they were not
intelligent beings able to forge and wear such ornaments of their own
accord. And if they were watchdogs--whom did they serve? He was
inclined to believe that the aliens must be their masters, that the
monsters had been guardians of the treasure, perhaps. But dead
guardians suggested a rifled treasure house. Who and what--?

His mind filled with speculations and questions, Raf trotted behind
the others back to the chamber where they had found the first reptile.
The alien who had brought the discovery to his commander stepped
gingerly through the litter and laid the white rod in a special spot,
apparently the place where it had been found.

At a barked order from the officer, two of the others came forward and
tugged at the creature's mangled head, which had been freed from the
serpent neck, rolling it over to expose the underparts. There was a
broad tear there in the flesh, but Raf could see little difference
between it and those left by the feasters. However the officer,
holding a strip of cloth over his nose, bent stiffly above it for a
closer look and then made some statement which sent his command into a
babbling clamor.

Four of the lower ranks separated from the group and, with their hand
weapons at alert, swung into action, retracing the way back toward the
arena. It looked to Raf as if they now expected an attack from that
direction.

Under a volley of orders the rest went back to the storeroom, and the
officer, noting that Raf still lingered, waved him impatiently after
them.

Inside the men spread out, going from shelf to table, selecting things
with a speed which suggested that they had been rehearsed in this task
and had only a limited time in which to accomplish it. Some took piles
of boxes or other containers which were so light that they could
manage a half-dozen in an armload, while two or three others struggled
pantingly to move a single piece of