two ex-holdup men out to the car. Ned
climbed in back with them and they clung together like two waifs in a
storm. The robot's only response was to pull a first aid kit from his
hip and fix up a ricochet hole in one of the thugs that no one had
noticed in the excitement.

* * * * *

The Chief was still sitting there with that bloodless look when we
marched in. I didn't believe it could be done, but he went two shades
whiter.

"You made the pinch," he whispered. Before I could straighten him out a
second and more awful idea hit him. He grabbed a handful of shirt on the
first torpedo and poked his face down. "You with China Joe," he snarled.

The punk made the error of trying to be cute so the Chief let him have
one on the head with the open hand that set his eyes rolling like
marbles. When the question got asked again he found the right answer.

"I never heard from no China Joe. We just hit town today and--"

"Freelance, by God," the Chief sighed and collapsed into his chair.
"Lock 'em up and quickly tell me what in hell happened."

I slammed the gate on them and pointed a none too steady finger at Ned.

"There's the hero," I said. "Took them on single-handed, rassled them
for a fall and made the capture. He is a one-robot tornado, a power for
good in this otherwise evil community. And he's bulletproof too." I ran
a finger over Ned's broad chest. The paint was chipped by the slugs, but
the metal was hardly scratched.

"This is going to cause me trouble, big trouble," the Chief wailed.

I knew he meant with the protection boys. They did not like punks
getting arrested and guns going off without their okay. But Ned thought
the Chief had other worries and rushed in to put them right. "There will
be no trouble. At no time did I violate any of the Robotic Restriction
Laws, they are part of my control circuits and therefore fully
automatic. The men who drew their guns violated both robotic and human
law when they threatened violence. I did not injure the men--merely
restrained them."

It was all over the Chief's head, but I liked to think _I_ could follow
it. And I _had_ been wondering how a robot--a machine--could be involved
in something like law application and violence. Ned had the answer to
that one too.

"Robots have been assuming these functions for years. Don't recording
radar meters pass judgment on human violation of automobile regulations?
A robot alcohol detector is bett