ings," he assured him. "We are showing you the marvels of our civilization knowing how you will react to them. And now let us take you to one of our vacation cities."
Before them there now appeared a scene that somehow brought a smile to everyone. Again, they were in a city, but even less of a city than the other had seemed to be. Everything here was arranged with ingenuity, with freshness and daring. The houses were striped and dotted in gay colors, the landscaping had been done with an eye for novelty.
But the most apparent fact was that the people were all aloft! It seemed as if no one was on foot, and the whole population had found wings. And this was true, for each Quennian wore an odd little pair of metal wings upon his back, wings that flashed with blinding speed. The air was filled with laughter and singing, and people darted about in pursuit of each other, or came swooping down to the gay houses or seemed to be practicing complicated, magnificent maneuvers.
"We have lately perfected this fascinating art," said Lito, laughing at the spectacle. "It has taken our vacationists by storm, and they have almost given up every other form of sport. This is our city of fliers, and there are more vacationists here than at any resort we have, and we have three resorts for every workaday city."
It was an irresistible scene, almost more than it was possible to watch without at once feeling the compulsion to forget everything else and join the robust, beautiful people in the sky. Just then, several young girls swooped low and Mike, who had been looking on open-mouthed, made a grab for one of them. It looked as if he had caught her ankle, but she flashed back and escaped. The Quennians seemed horrified at the action, but Mike only scowled.
"What the hell is this?" he said. "I coulda sworn I had her, but she just wasn't there."
Sammy snickered. "He's girl-crazy," he said to the scientists. "He's alla time chasing the dames. Got trouble with his dimensions."
"I only got trouble with one girl," said Mike, "and if you keep away, I ain't gonna have that either. Fine friend you are."
"Lay off my ties," Sammy said. "Your girl is wild about them."
"Yeah? Who sezz?"
"Passa bottle, please," said Sammy. "Ooops! Beg pardon. I had it alla time in my pocket."
THE Quennians silently watched the two men trying to balance themselves, their eyes and expressions inscrutable. Sammy had almost finished the bottle, and he thrust his tongue out and gulped in huge breaths of air. Finally, Lito said:
"There is almost no time left, and there are still one or two things to be seen." His voice was subdued as he added, "There are greater miracles in Quenna than those you have seen. Our genius is not entirely concerned with leisure and beauty. Here!"
The gay city was gone. Again they were in a building. Here the pastel colors of the walls were broken by arched windows, and there was a constant bustle of activity around them. The beginnings of a thought came to Sammy, the recurring surprise at the little attention that had been paid to them wherever they had gone, but the thought wandered away. Certainly here there seemed to be too much to do for anyone to stop and gape at the visitors, whoever they were.
"We are in a hospital," said Lito.
