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ASthe elevator door closed behind Phil and he started the weary cli hi turned down Phoebe Filmer&039;s invitation to have a drink in her roo about how he had rescued her at the Tan Jet, he had felt the last thing he wanted to be as a hu hiht of stairs and an empty corridor, he suddenly realized that he needed hu

He remembered how boldly he had set forth just yesterday afternoon froe into any adventure that caly much of life and been buffeted by such vast oceans of adventure, that his brain still buzzed fro those incredible twenty-four hours, it had see, that he was beco yet sy

Yet here he was, dragging hi just pulled his usual craven trick of saying "No," when he desperately wanted, at least ten seconds later, to say "Yes" Why, fro back into his old habit patterns, he&039;d probably spend the evening spying on Miss Filmer from his darkened

Oh, he could tell hiht to an ordinary pretty woirl as Mitzie Romadka and seen such a beauty as Dora Pannes, not to rotesque but attractive characters as Juno Jones and Mary Akeley But that was just rationalization and he knew it Phoebe Filh for her

Or he could once more tell himself that if only Lucky were at his side, he would be brave and bold again But even that was no longer quite true Fact was, that everything had becoreen cat yes, but he wanted hiood luck cat, so to sleep at the foot of the bed - not as ahiious crackpots, gun-toting psychoanalysts, girls with claws, hep-thugs, world-famous scientists, espers, vice syndicates, FBL raids, national and international cris that werefor Phil Gish

He coded open his door, stepped inside, and had almost closed it behind hi to loneliness

On her hands and knees, apparently to look under his bed, but noith her face turned sharply towards hiirl whose as opposite his He froze in every muscle, his hand locked to the barely ajar door, ready to jerk it open and run

She got up sloith a sn accent he couldn&039;t place "I have lost so and I think ray suit he&039;d watched her take off last night Then she leisurely ran her hand back across her head and down the pony tail in which her hairdo ended

"Solued fast behind him He couldn&039;t help it, but every tiaze had to travel fearfully down her figure to her 10-inch platform shoes

"Yes," she confirmed, "a - how you call him? - pussycat" Then, after a bit, "Say, you act like you know er at hihty boy?"

Phil gulped and said nothing, yet that rereat deal to humanize her for hiht," she reassured hi - s across and both open a little - make me think maybe my pussycat jump over here So I step across to see"

"Step across?" Phil de to her legs

"Sure," she said sly and indicated the"Take a look"

With considerable reluctance, Phil unstuck his hand fro the ten feet between it and the one opposite, was a fliray reen cat?" he asked reluctantly

Her face brightened "So he did jump across"

Phil nodded "What&039;s more," he went on rapidly, "I think I met your brother today, a journalist na the newspaperLa Prensa "

She nodded eagerly at the first proper naht," she said "I am Dytie da Silva"

"And I am Phil Gish Did you say Dytie?"

"Sure Short for Aphrodite, goddess of love You like? Please, where my brother and pussycat now?"

"I haven&039;t the faintest idea," Phil said sadly

She shrugged as if she expected to hear just that "Is nothing new We are crazy people, always get lost each other"

"Then you do coentina?" Phil asked doubtfully Her accent didn&039;t sound Spanish, but his acquaintance with Spanish accents was lihts apparently elsewhere "Far, far country"

"Tell me, Miss da Silva," he went on, "does your cat have peculiar powers over people?"

She frowned at hi each syllable "Don understand"

"I mean," Phil explained patiently, "can he make people happy around him?"

The frown smoothed "Sure Nice little pussycat, ain he couldn&039;t keep his gaze fro reot a lot more questions to ask you, but unfortunately I don&039;t know Spanish and I don&039;t think you understand English well enough to answer the questions if I put them to you cold Butto me, you&039;ll be able to; at least, I hope so Sit down Miss da Silva; it&039;s a long, long story"

"Is very good idea," she agreed, sinking down on the bed "But please call Dytie, Phil"

She ht as he placed hian" and for the next hour he told her in some detail the story of what had happened to hi on thesill He suppressed entirely, however, the incident of watching her last night, which made it necessary for him also to condense the account of his session with Dr Romadka Dytie frequently interrupted hily obvious things, such as as a hatpin, and as the Federal Bureau of Loyalty and as it that male and fe? On the other hand, she soh he couldn&039;t always tell whether this was because she really understood them, or because she didn&039;t want to Orthos interested her not at all, stun-guns, htily Lucky&039;s exploits did not see these lines: "That pussycat Is so stupid But lucky too Thas good naive him, Phil"

When he came to the Humberford Foundation and Dytie&039;s brother, she rolled over on her stomach and listened with closer attention But when he hesitantly mentioned how Dion had seemed to develop such an instant yen for Dora Pannes, she whooped knowingly "That brother," she chortled "He chase anything with two legs and nant"

"What!"

"Say so word," Dytie interposed quickly, brushing the matter aside

But she was veryher a great deal about the famous scientist

"He smart man," she said with conviction "Very e it soreen cat had been captured by Dora Pannes

Dytie shook her head soleot very hard hearts," she said "Don like pussycat all"

Phil quickly rounded off his story with an account of how the fake green cat in the alley had scratched hiot up and came over and touched his hands tenderly "Poor Phil," she said, then summarized: "So we knoho have pussycat, but not where?"

"That&039;s right," Phil said quickly, "and that where is a tough one, because Billig&039;s hiding fro not to make it obvious that he wanted to put a few feet between theh, but there was so about her touch and her close presence that set hi Conceivably, it was her odor, which wasn&039;t strong or even unpleasant, just completely unfamiliar She looked after him rather wistfully, but did not try to follow He faced her across the room

"Well, that&039;s my story, Dytie," he said a bit breathlessly "And noant to ask ot, that Fun Incorporated could hope to bribe the federal government with it? Is it a mutant with telepathic powers and able to control emotions? Is it a throwback, or maybe deliberately bred back to an otherwise extinct ani along lines our scientists don&039;t accept? Daod, like Sacheverell thinks? It&039;s your turn to talk, Dytie"

But instead of answering him, shestory yours really long Be right back"

He expected her to walk out theand wondered what he&039;d do But she merely went into the bathroom and shut the door

He paced around, unbearably keyed up, lifting sain Nervously he turned on the radio, sight and sound, though he didn&039;t look at it and didn&039;t understand a word of what the inane sports gossipist was loudly yapping about the feats, follies and frivolities of the muscle stars Then on his next circuit of the room, he happened to tread hard as he passed the radio, and so with it, so that the sound sank to a very low itation

So much so that he jumped when he heard a small noise behind hi just outside, looking both adolescent and weary in faded blue sweater and slacks A lock of her long, dark hair trailed in front of her ear She fixed on Phil an unhappy, defiant stare

"Last night I said &039;Goodbye forever&039; and I et any ideas I&039;ve co" Her voice broke a little "Oh, it&039;s all such an awful mess" She bit her lip and recovered herself "It isn&039;t just that Carstairs, Llewellyn and Buck hate et mushy and hu, I overheardwith two other ent and that his job now is to get the green cat noit takes And he thinks you have it"

Phil looked at her and the hours betere gone and he was back in the little tangled square at dawn and Mitzie was about to leave hi nervous tension flowed in a new and steadier channel

"Darling," he said softly and carefully, as if a sudden noiseto hu the lock of hair back of her ear

Heconceited and I was jealous - both of you and your boy friends"

"Be very careful what you say, Phil," she whispered fearfully "Be very honest"

"All right then," he said, "I was trying to hu my best to I was full of the sort of vanity and condescension that co too lory has a place in the world Mitzie, I love you"

He put his ar of her body against his wasn&039;t like anything he&039;d i and terribly tired

Then her chin lifted from his shoulder and he was shoved back about six feet

Mitzie was glaring at and beyond hiun, or knife, or claws, or anything like that

He looked around Dytie da Silva, leaning against the bathroo thereeted them cheerfully, then asked Phil, "Girl friend?"

Mitzie turned pale "How many do you try to take on at once?" she spat at Phil

"Don worry," Dytie advised relaxedly "He very timid at first"