eelahs, m'fweh_," warned Mapfarity. "If you alarm the other guards,
you will embarrass them. They will be forced to do their duty and
recapture you. And the Jail-breaker would be reprimanded because he
had fallen down on his job. He might even get a demotion."

Rastignac was so upset that his Skin, reacting to the negative fields
racing over the Skin and the hormone imbalance of his blood, writhed
away from his back.

"What are we, a bunch children playing war?"

Mapfarity growled, "We are all God's children, and we mustn't hurt
anyone if we can help it."

"Mapfarity, you eat meat!"

"_Voo zavf w'zaw m'fweh_," admitted the Giant. "But it is the flesh of
unintelligent creatures. I have not yet shed the blood of any being
that can talk with the tongue of Man."

Rastignac snorted and said, "If you stick with me you will some day do
that, _m'fweh_ Mapfarity. There is no other course. It is inevitable."

"Nature spare me the day! But if it comes it will find Mapfarity
unafraid. They do not call me Giant for nothing."

Rastignac sighed and walked ahead. Sometimes he wondered if the
members of his underground--or anybody else for that matter--ever
realized the grim conclusions formed by the Philosophy of Violence.

The Amphibians, he was sure, did. And they were doing something
positive about it. But it was the Amphibians who had driven Rastignac
to adopt a Philosophy of Violence.

"_Law_," he said again. "Let's go."

The three of them walked out of the huge courtyard and through the
open gate. Nearby stood a short man whose Skin gleamed black-red in
the light shed by the two glowworms attached to his shoulders. The
Skin was oversized and hung to the ground.

The King's man, however, did not think he was a comic figure. He
sputtered, and the red of his face matched the color of the skin on
his back.

"You took long enough," he said accusingly and then, when Rastignac
opened his mouth to protest, the Jail-breaker said, "Never mind, never
mind. _Sa n'apawt_. The thing is that we get you away fast. The
Minister of Ill-Will has doubtless by now received word that an
official jail-break is planned for tonight. He will send a company of
his mucketeers to intercept you. By coming in advance of the appointed
time we shall have time to escape before the official rescue party
arrives."

"How much time do we have?" asked Rastignac.

The King's man said, "Let's see. After I escort you through the rooms
of the Duke, the