"Almost every family has a cabin: along the sea cliffs, at a mountain lake or out on the moors, where friends are entertained. This is great fun, especially for the children.

During the day and sometimes at night we walk out, often alone, to enjoy the solitude. The andorils' have learned not to bother us. The toctacs2 sometimes set up elaborate ambushes, which we take pains to avoid. One day out on the moor I came upon an enormous master andoril, sitting on a rock. He must have been twelve feet tall, with curving black shoulder horns and a crest of five bones. He watched very closely as I walked past, with about a hundred feet between us. I knew he would like nothing better than to eat me, and he knew that I knew. He also knew that I would not kill him unless he attacked me, and therefore sat quietly, wondering whether I'd make a better roast than a stew. I could see every detail of his face, which was disconcerting, since I felt that I could read his thoughts."

Zaraide Laverty gasped: "Weren't you frightened?"

' Andorils: large vicious andromorphs. Because of the difficulties of research, their habits remain obscure.

2 Toctacs are two-legged wolves.

"In a way. But I had my handgun ready, and there was no real danger. If I were out walking by night, I'd be wearing a sensor harness against ambushes. Here at Araminta, of course, I don't bother with such things."

"Youy out to walk at night? Alone?"

Wayness laughed.

"Sometimes I swim, when the sea is calm-especially when Lorca and Sing are up."

Glawen, looking sidewise, saw Aries jerk up his head and fix a hooded stare upon Wayness. After a while Aries lowered his head and for a period pretended to take notes. Then, after a moment, he surreptitiously glanced up again, to study Wayness more carefully.

Vervice Offaw, one of the Fortunate Five, in her relations with Wayness, tended to use a cool condescension. She said now: "You must find Riverview House dull and over civilized after all your exciting battles with the elements, not to mention andorils. Are you bored living here?"

Professor Dace said lazily: "Allow me to offer a judgment which Wayness herself might be too charitable to make. She has spent considerable time on Earth where true over civilization is not unknown, and I seriously doubt if she thinks of Riverview House in those terms. Dull? The Conservator frequently entertains guests from both Stroma and off-world. I suspect that Wayness finds Riverview House both stimulating and pleasantly placid, though never dull.

Araminta Station may well seem a languid little backwater, where all the styles and fads are ten years out of date."

Vervice decided that she hated Professor Dace more thoroughly than any man she had ever met.

Wayness smiled at the remark.

"Riverview House is certainly peaceful. I have more time to myself than ever before, which I find that I like."

Ottillie Veder asked: "What of love affairs at Stroma? Who arranges your marriages?"

"Arranged marriages are unusual at Stroma.1 Love affairs?

They are very common."

Professor Dace straightened up in his chair.

"And on this note we shall excuse Wayness, before the questions become over personal

' As often as not, at Araminta Station young men and women marry to their own inclinations, even, despite family pressure, with collaterals. Nonetheless, when Agency status is at stake, the Housemaster will do his best to arrange an advantageous marriage.

Early in the evening the Bold Lions gathered at the Old Arbor, to drink a goblet or two of wine, gossip, formulate plans and discuss space yachts. Almost all brought books, as if they intended to study, but little was ever accomplished in this direction.

The conversation veered to a topic of general interest: how to judge a girl's erotic proclivities from a study other mannerisms, signs, signals and physical characteristics.

Each of the Bold Lions had given thought to the subject and each contributed his own insights. Several of the group, almost as an article of faith, asserted that breast dimension infallibly corresponded with erode enthusiasm.

Ling Diffin tried to justify the theory on the basis of psychological compulsion: "It's only sensible. A girl looks down and can't see her feet by reason of an extraordinary bust, so she tells herself: "Oh my word! Everywhere I go I brandish these truly notable sex symbols! Whether I realize it or not, I must be a real five-star high-output performer!

No other explanation is valid! So why fight it?" The obverse situation, when the girl can see not only her feet, but her ankles and heels as well, exerts the negative influence."

"Scholarly but absurd," said Uther Offaw.

Kiper Laverty said: "Girls are curious creatures, but their motives yield to close observation. I learn all I need to know by watching how a girl twitches her fingers, especially her little fingers."

"Total nonsense!" said Kirdy Wook.

"Why would a girl attempt such subtle refinements? She's got better things to wave than her little finger."

Shugart Veder said, somewhat ponderously: "In my opinion, there are no valid shortcuts; one must study the whole picture."

"Possibly yes, possibly no," said Aries.

"Still, I can pick out a sizzler at a distance of fifty yards, simply by watching the way she walks."

Uther Offaw shook his head.

"In this case I must side with Shugart. Personally, I keep a schematic image in my notebook, and I synthesize information from several key parameters. I have never known the system to be at fault."

Aries put on a patronizing grin.

"Specifically, then: how do you and your index rate, let's say, Ottillie, zero being a dead fish and ten a real go-for-broke steamer?"

"As I recall, my figures indicate that Ottillie can he had, by the right man in the right place at the right time."

"Very informative,"" said Aries.

"What is the line on Wayness?"

Uther frowned.

"In this case, I am not satisfied with my figures. She puts out too many contradictory signals. At first I thought she was prim; now I find her strangely attractive."

"It's not strange at all," said Kiper.

"In those tight pants she's practically edible."

"Quiet, Kiper," said Shugart.

"You curdle the moral atmosphere."

Kirdy Wook addressed Kiper: "I thought that you were a proponent of the 'twitching finger' theory."

"I looked at her fingers first," said Kiper.

"Then I changed."