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"Don&039;t bother We believe he&039;s got his own tongue too That the matter, Blackie?" He reached out his hand Kiave another of his low chuckles

Rixende began to shake uncontrollably Crown exa his outstretched hand to turn her head toward hi froe

"Spar swore the cat could talk," Keeper babbled "I&039;ll - "

"Quiet," Crown said He put the pouch to Rixende&039;s lips, squeezed until her shaking subsided and it was empty, then flicked the crumpled pliofil, Keeper," Crown said flatly

"Spar!"

The latter dipped into his lost-and-found nook, saying quickly, "No little black bags, coroner, but we did find this one the lady Rixende forgot last Playday night," and he turned back holding out soe, and closed with draw strings

Crown took and swung it slowly in a circle For Spar, who couldn&039;t see the strings, it was likeshade We&039;re certain we lost the little black bag here, or had it lifted Youthe Bat Rack a tent for dips, Keeper?"

"Spar - ?"

"We&039;re asking you, Keeper"

Shoving Spar aside, Keeper groped frantically in the nook, pulling aside the cages of moonmist and moonbrew pouches He produced est - an electric hand-fan and a bright red footglove They hung around Keeper in a ju and had scrabbled his hands for a fullain, "That&039;s enough The little black bag was of no ied with a face doubly blurred It must be surrounded by a haze of sweat He pointed an arht be inside that one!"

Crown opened the bag, began to search through it, changed hisa flick Its remarkably numerous contents came out and moved slowly aloft at equal speeds, like an arular order Crown scanned the toward Keeper "Return Rix&039;s stuff to it and have it ready for us the next ti his are to her ear, he turned and kicked off powerfully for the aft hatch After he had been out of sight for several seconds, there was a general sigh, the three brewos put out new scrip-wads to pay for another squirt Suzy asked for a second double dark, which Spar handed her quickly, while Keeper shook off his daze and ordered Spar, "Gather up all the floating trash, especially Rixie&039;s, and get that back in her purse On the jump, lubber!" Then he used the electric hand-fan to cool and dry himself

It was aafter objects too small for Spar to see Once he had theer or sniff which hich

When his ihts went back to Sleepday night Had his vision of vamps and olves been dreas had been abroad in force If only he had better eyes to distinguish illusion from reality! Kim&039;s "Sssee! Sssee shshsharply!" hissed in his hter? Or closer?

After a weary tiathered and he went back to sweeping and Kiressed, the Bat Rack gradually grew less bright, though so gradually it was hard to tell

A few more customers calu up to

As tiry, as Spar had known he would after groveling before Crown He tried to throw out the three brewos, but they produced more crumpled scrip, which closest scrutiny couldn&039;t prove counterfeit In revenge he short-squirted the to ask him nervously, "That cat of yours - he scratched Crown, didn&039;t he? We&039;ll have to get rid of hiht be a witch cat, relue of the e free froobbled appetizers and drank moonmist with tomato juice He sprayed the Bat Rack with so the boxed scrip and coins but gave up the job with a slarimace fixed on Suzy

"Spar!" he called "Take over! And over-squirt the brewos on your peril!"

Then he locked the cash box, and giving Suzy a ful jerk of his head toward the scarlet starboard hatch, he pulled hi toward Spar, she wearily followed

As soon as the pair were gone, Spar gave the brewos an eight-second squirt, waving back their scrip, and placed two ses - of fritos and yeast balls - before theed froht to corpse white There was a faint, distant roar, followed sos The new light made Spar uneasy He served two more suck-and-dives and sold a pouch of moonmist at double purser&039;s prices He started to eat an appetizer, but just then Kim swam in to show hian to dread the onset of real withdrawal syed itself along the ratlines froreen hatch On the aloft side of the bar there appeared a visage in which the blur of white hair and beard al the blurs of gray eyes

"Doc!" Spar greeted, his one, and instantly handed out a chill pouch of three-star moonbrew Yet all he could think to say in his exciteht, eh, Doc? Vamps and - "