[Illustration: _When Black Eyes needed a nap--everybody slept!_]

 BLACK EYES _and the_ DAILY GRIND

 By MILTON LESSER

 _The little house pet from Venus didn't like New York, so New York had to change. _

He liked the flat cracking sound of the gun. He liked the way it slappedback against his shoulder when he fired. Somehow it did not seem a partof the dank, steaming Venusian jungle. Probably, he realized with asmile, it was the only old-fashioned recoil rifle on the entire planet. As if anyone else would want to use one of those old bone-crackingrelics today! But they all failed to realize it made sport much moreinteresting. 

"I haven't seen anything for a while, " his wife said. She had a young, pretty face and a strong young body. If you have money these days, youcould really keep a thirty-five-year-old woman looking trim. 

Not on Venus, of course. Venus was an outpost, a frontier, a hot, wet, evil-smelling place that beckoned only the big-game hunter. He said, "That's true. Yesterday we could bag them one after the other, as fastas I could fire this contraption. Today, if there's anything bigger thana mouse, it's hiding in a hole somewhere. You know what I think, Lindy?"

"What?"

"I think there's a reason for it. A lot of the early Venusian hunterssaid there were days like this. An area filled with big lizards and catsand everything else the day before suddenly seems to clear out, for noreason. It doesn't make sense. "

"Why not? Why couldn't they all just decide to make tracks for someplaceelse on the same day?"

He slapped at an insect that was buzzing around his right ear, thenmopped his sweating brow with a handkerchief. His name was Judd Whitney, and people said he had a lot of money. Now he laughed, patting hiswife's trim shoulder under the white tunic. "No, Lindy. It just doesn'twork that way. Not on Earth and not on Venus, either. You think there'sa pied-piper or something which calls all the animals away?"

"Maybe. I don't know much about those things. "

"No. I don't think they went anyplace. They're just quiet. They didn'tcome out of their holes or hovels or down from the trees. But why?"

"Well, let's forget it. Let's go back to camp. We can try againtomor--look! Look, there's something!"

Judd followed her pointing finger with his eyes. Half-hidden by thecreepers and vines clinging to an old tree-stump, something was watchingthem. It wasn't very big and it seemed in no hurry to get away. 

"What is it?" Lindy wanted to know. 

"Don't know. Never saw anything like it before. Venus is still anunknown frontier; the books only name a couple dozen of the biggestanimals. But hell, Lindy, that's not _game_. I don't think it weighsfive pounds. "

"It's cute, and it has a lovely skin. "

Judd couldn't argue with that. Squatting on its haunches, the creaturewas about twenty inches tall. It had a pointed snout and two thin, longears. Its eyes were very big and very round and quite black. They lookedsomething like the eyes of an Earthian tarsier, but the tarsier werebloody little beasts. The skin was short and stiff and was a kind ofsilvery white. Under the sheen, however, it seemed to glow. A diamond iscolorless, Judd thought, but when you see it under light a whole rainbowof colors sparkle deep within it. This creature's skin was like that, Judd decided. 

"If we could get enough of them, " Lindy was saying, "I'd have the mostunusual coat! Do you think we could find enough, Judd?"

"I doubt it. Never saw anything like it before, never heard of anythinglike it. You'd need fifty of 'em, anyway. Let's forget about it--toosmall to shoot, anyway. "

"No, Judd. I want it. "

"Well, I'm not going to stalk a five-pound--hey, wait a minute! I taughtyou how to use this rifle, so why don't you bag it?"

Lindy grinned. "That's a fine idea. I was a little scared of some ofthose big lizards and cats and everything, but now I'm going to take youup on it. Here, give me your gun. "

Judd removed the leather thong from his shoulder and handed the weaponto her. She looked at it a little uncertainly, then took the clip ofshells which Judd offered and slammed it into the chamber. The littlecreature sat unmoving. 

"Isn't it peculiar that it doesn't run away, Judd?"

"Sure is. Nothing formidable about that animal, so unless it has ahidden poison somewhere, just about anything in this swamp could do itin. To survive it would have to be fast as hell and it would have tokeep running all the time. Beats me, Lindy. "

"Well, I'm going to get myself one pelt toward that coat, anyway. Watch, Judd: is this the way?" She lifted the rifle to her shoulder andsquinted down the sights toward the shining creature. 

"Yeah, that's the way. Only relax. Relax. Shoulder's so tense you'reliable to dislocate it with the kick. There--that's better. "

Now Lindy's finger was wrapped around the trigger and she rememberedJudd had told her to squeeze it, not to pull it. If you pulled thetrigger you jerked the rifle and spoiled your aim. You had to squeeze itslowly. .. . 

The animal seemed politely interested. 

Suddenly, a delicious languor stole over Lindy. It possessed her all atonce and she had no idea where it came from. Her legs had been stiff andtired from the all-morning trek through the swamp, but now they feltfine. Her whole body was suffused in a warm, satisfied glow ofwell-being. And laziness. It was an utterly new sensation and she couldeven feel it tingling at the roots of her hair. She sighed and loweredthe rifle. 

"I don't want to shoot it, " she said. 

"You just told me you did. "

"I know, but I changed my mind. What's the matter, can't I change mymind?"

"Of course you can change your mind. But I thought you wanted a coat ofthose things. "

"Yes, I suppose I do. But I don't want to shoot it, that's all. "

Judd snorted. "I think you have a streak of softness someplace in thatpretty head of yours!"

"Maybe. I don't know. But I'd still like the pelt. Funny, isn't it?"

"Okay, okay! But don't ask to use the gun again. " Judd snatched it fromher hands. "If you don't want to shoot it, then I will. Maybe we canmake you a pair of gloves or something from the pelt. "

And Judd pointed his ancient rifle at the little animal preparing tosnap off a quick shot. It would be a cinch at this distance. Even Lindywouldn't have missed, if she hadn't changed her mind. 

Judd yawned. He'd failed to realize he was so tired. Not an aching kindof tiredness, but the kind that makes you feel good all over. He yawnedagain and lowered the rifle. "Changed my mind, " he said. "I don't wantto shoot it, either. What say we head back for camp?"

Lindy gripped his hand impulsively. "All right, Judd--but I had abrainstorm! I want it for a pet!"

"A pet?"

"Yes. I think it would be the cutest thing. Everyone would look andwonder and I'll adore it!"

"We don't know anything about it. Maybe Earth would be too cold, or toodry, or maybe we don't have anything it can eat. There are liable to bea hundred different strains of bacteria that can kill it. "

"I said I want it for a pet. See? Look at it! We can call it BlackEyes. "

"Black Eyes--" Judd groaned. 

"Yes, Black Eyes. If you don't do this one thing for me, Judd--"

"Okay--okay. But I'm not going to do anything. You want it, you takeit. "

Lindy frowned, looked at him crossly, then sloshed across the swamptoward Black Eyes. The creature waited on its stump until she came quiteclose, and then, with a playful little bound, it hopped onto hershoulder, still squatting on its haunches. Lindy squealed excitedly andbegan to stroke its silvery fur. 

 * * * * *

A month later, they returned to Earth. Judd and Lindy and Black Eyes. The hunting trip had been a success--Judd's trophies were on their wayhome on a slow freighter, and he'd have some fine heads and skins forhis study-room. Even Black Eyes had been no trouble at all. It atescraps from their table, forever sitting on its haunches and staring atthem with its big black eyes. Judd thought it would make one helluvalousy pet, but he didn't tell Lindy. Trouble was, it never did anything. It merely sat still, or occasionally it would bounce down to the floorand mince along on its hind-legs for a scrap of food. It never uttered asound. It did not frolic and it did not gambol. Most of the time itcould have been carved from stone. But Lindy was happy and Judd saidnothing. 

They had a little trouble with the customs officials. This becausenothing unknown could be brought to Earth without a thoroughexamination. 

At the customs office, a bespectacled official stared at Black Eyes, scratching his head. "Never seen one like that before. "

"Neither have I, " Judd admitted. 

"Well, I'll look in the book. " The man did, but there are no thoroughtomes on Venusian fauna. "Not here. "

"I could have told you. "

"Well, we'll have to quarantine it and study it. That means you and yourwife go into quarantine, too. It could have something that's catching. "

"Absurd!" Lindy cried. 

"Sorry, lady. I only work here. "

"You and your bright ideas, " Judd told his wife acidly. "We may bequarantined a month until they satisfy themselves about Black Eyes. "

The customs official shrugged his bony shoulders, and Judd removed atwenty-credit note from his pocket and handed it to the man. "Will thischange your mind?"

"I should say not! You can't bribe me, Mr. Whitney! You can't--" The manyawned, stretched languidly, smiled. "No, sir, you can keep your money, Mr. Whitney. Guess we don't have to examine your pet after all. Mightycute little feller. Well, have fun with it. Come on, move along now. "And, as they were departing with Black Eyes, still not believing theirears: "Darn this weather! Makes a man so lazy. .. . "

It was after the affair at the customs office, that Black Eyes utteredits first sound. City life hasn't changed much in the last fifty years. Jet-cars still streak around the circumferential highways, theirwhistles blaring. Factories still belch smoke and steam, although thenew atomic power plants have lessened that to a certain extent. Crowdsstill throng the streets, noisy, hurrying, ill-mannered. It's one ofthose things that can't be helped. A city has to live, and it has tomake noise. 

But it seemed to frighten Lindy's new pet. It stared through the jet-carwindow on the way from the spaceport to the Whitneys' suburban home, itsblack eyes welling with tears. 

"Look!" Judd exclaimed. "Black Eyes can cry!"

"A crying pet, Judd. I knew there would be something unusual about BlackEyes, I just knew it!"

The tears in the big black eyes overflowed and tumbled out, rolling downBlack Eyes' silvery cheeks. And then Black Eyes whimpered. It was only abrief whimper, but both Judd and Lindy heard it, and even the driverturned around for a moment and stared at the animal. 

The driver stopped the jet. He yawned and rested his head comfortably onthe cushioned seat. He went quietly to sleep. 

 * * * * *

A man named Merrywinkle owned the Merrywinkle Shipping Service. That, initself, was not unusual. But at precisely the moment that Black Eyesunleashed its mild whimper, Mr. Merrywinkle--uptown and five milesaway--called an emergency conference of the board of directors anddeclared:

"Gentlemen, we have all been working too hard, and I, for one, am goingto take a vacation. I don't know when I'll be back, but it won't bebefore six months. "

"But C. M. , " someone protested. "There's the Parker deal and the Gilettecontract and a dozen other things. You're needed!"

Mr. Merrywinkle shook his bald head. "What's more, you're all takingvacations, with pay. Six months, each of you. We're closing downMerrywinkle Shipping for half a year. Give the competition a break, eh?"

"But C. M. ! We're about ready to squeeze out Chambers Parcel Co. ! They'llget back on their feet in six months. "

"Never mind. Notify all departments of the shut-down, effectiveimmediately. Vacations for all. "

 * * * * *

"Who shut off the assembly belt?" the foreman asked mildly. He was not amild man and he usually stormed and ranted at the slightest provocation. This was at Clewson Jetcraft, and you couldn't produce a singlejet-plane without the assembly belt, naturally. 

A plump little man said, "I did. "

"But why?" the foreman asked him, smiling blandly. 

"I don't know. I just did. "

The foreman was still smiling. "I don't blame you. "

Two days later, Clewson Jetcraft had to lay off all its help. They putads in all the papers seeking new personnel but no one showed up. Clewson was forced to shut down. 

 * * * * *

The crack Boston to New York pneumo-tube commuter's special pulled to abone-jarring stop immediately outside the New York station. Some angrycommuters pried open the conductor's cab, and found the man snoozingquite contentedly. They awakened him, but he refused to drive the trainany further. All the commuters had to leave the pneumo-train and edgetheir way along three miles of catwalk to the station. No one was veryhappy about it, but the feeling of well-being which came over them allnipped any possible protest in the bud. 

 * * * * *

Black Eyes whimpered again when Judd and Lindy reached home but afterthat it was quiet. It just sat on its haunches near the window andstared out at the city. 

The quiet city. 

Nothing moved in the streets. Nothing stirred. People remained at homewatching local video or the new space-video from Mars. At first it was agood joke, and the newspapers could have had a field day with it, hadthe newspapers remained in circulation. After four days, however, theysuspended publication. On the fifth day, there was a shortage of food inthe city, great stores of it spoiling in the warehouses. Heat and lightfailed after a week, and the fire department ignored all alarms a daylater. 

But everything did not stop. School teachers still taught their classes;clerks still sold whatever goods were left on local shelves. Librarianswere still at their desks. 

Conservatives said it was a liberal plot to undermine capital and demandhigher wages; liberals said big business could afford the temporarylayoff and wanted to squeeze out the small businessman and labor unions. 

Scientists pondered and city officials made speeches over video. 

"Something, " one of them observed, "has hit our city. Work that requiresanything above a modicum of sound has become impossible; in regards tosuch work people have become lazy. No one can offer any validsuggestions concerning the malady. It merely exists. However, if a stopis not put to it--and soon--our fair city will disintegrate. Somethingis making us lazy, and that laziness can spell doom, being a compulsivelack of desire to create any noise or disturbance. If anyone believes hehas the solution, he should contact the Department of Science at once. If you can't use the video-phone, come in person. But come! Every hourwhich passes adds to the city's woes. "

Nothing but scatter-brained ideas for a week, none of them worthconsideration. Then the bespectacled customs official who had bypassedquarantine for Black Eyes, got in touch with the authorities. He hadalways been a conscientious man--except for that one lapse. Maybe thequeer little beast had nothing to do with this crisis. But then again, the customs official had never before--or since--had that strangefeeling of lassitude. Could there be some connection?

A staff of experts on extra-terrestrial fauna was dispatched to theWhitney residence, although, indeed, the chairman of the Department ofScience secretly considered the whole idea ridiculous. 

The staff of experts introduced themselves. Then, ignoring the protestsof Lindy, went to work on Black Eyes. At first Judd thought the animalwould object, but apparently it did not. While conditions all about themin the city worsened, the experts spent three days studying Black Eyes. 

They found nothing out of the ordinary. 

Black Eyes merely stared back at them, and but for an accident, theywould have departed without a lead. On the third day, a huge mongrel dogwhich belonged to the Whitneys' next-door neighbors somehow slipped itsleash. It was a fierce and ugly animal, and it was known to attackanything smaller than itself. It jumped the fence and landed in JuddWhitney's yard. A few loping bounds took it through an open window, ground level. Inside, it spied Black Eyes and made for the creature atonce, howling furiously. 

Black Eyes didn't budge. 

And the mongrel changed its mind! The slavering tongue withdrew insidethe chops, the howling stopped. The mongrel lay down on the floor andwhined. Presently it lost all interest, got to its feet, and left as ithad come. 

Other animals were brought to the Whitney home. Cats. Dogs. A lion fromthe city zoo, starved for two days and brought in a special mobile cageby its keeper. Black Eyes was thrust into the cage and the lion gaveforth with a hideous yowling. Soon it stopped, rolled over, and slept. 

 * * * * *

The scientists correlated their reports, returned with them to theWhitney house. The leader, whose name was Jamison, said: "As closely aswe can tell, Black Eyes is the culprit. "

"What?" Lindy demanded. 

"Yes, Mrs. Whitney. Your pet, Black Eyes. "

"Oh, I don't believe it!"

But Judd said, "Go ahead, Dr. Jamison. I'm listening. "

"Well, how does an animal--any animal--protect itself?"

"Why, in any number of ways. If it has claws or a strong jaw and longteeth, it can fight. If it is fleet of foot, it can run. If it is bigand has a tough hide, most other animals can't hurt it anyway. Umm-mm, doesn't that about cover it?"

"You left out protective coloration, defensive odors, and things likethat. Actually, those are most important from our point of view, forBlack Eyes' ability is a further ramification of that sort of thing. Your pet is not fast. It isn't strong. It can't change color and it hasno offensive odor to chase off predatory enemies. It has no armor. Inshort, can you think of a more helpless creature to put down in thoseVenusian swamps?"

After Judd had shaken his head, Dr. Jamison continued: "Very well, BlackEyes should not be able to survive on Venus--and yet, obviously thecreature did. We can assume there are more of the breed, too. Anyway, Black Eyes survives. And I'll tell you why. 

"Black Eyes has a very uncommon ability to sense danger when itapproaches. And sensing danger, Black Eyes can thwart it. Your creaturesends out certain emanations--I won't pretend to know what theyare--which stamp aggression out of any predatory creatures. Neither ofyou could fire upon it--right?"

"Umm-mm, that's true, " Judd said. 

Lindy nodded. 

"Well, that's one half of it. There's so much about life we don'tunderstand. Black Eyes uses energy of an unknown intensity, and theresult maintains Black Eyes' life. Now, although that is the case, youranimal did not live a comfortable life in the Venusian swamp. Because noanimal would attack it, it could not be harmed. Still, from what youtell me about that swamp . .. 

"Anyhow, Black Eyes was glad to come away with you, and everything wentwell until you landed in New York. The noises, the clattering, thecontinual bustle of a great city--all this frightened the creature. Itwas being attacked--or, at least that's what it must have figured. Result: it struck back the only way it knew how. Have you ever heardabout sub-sonic sound-waves, Mr. Whitney, waves of sound so low that ourears cannot pick them up--waves of sound which can nevertheless stir ouremotions? Such things exist, and, as a working hypothesis, I would sayBlack Eyes' strange powers rest along those lines. The whole city isidle because Black Eyes is afraid!"

In his exploration of Mars, of Venus, of the Jovian moons, Judd Whitneyhad seen enough of extra-terrestrial life to know that virtuallyanything was possible, and Black Eyes would be no exception to thatrule. 

"What do you propose to do?" Judd demanded. 

"Do? Why, we'll have to kill your creature, naturally. You can set avalue on it and we will meet it, but Black Eyes must die. "

"No!" Lindy cried. "You can't be sure, you're only guessing, and itisn't fair!"

"My dear woman, don't you realize this is a serious situation? Thecity's people will starve in time. No one can even bring food in becausethe trucks make too much noise! As an alternative, we could evacuate, but is your pet more valuable than the life of a great city?"

"N-no. .. . "

"Then, please! Listen to reason!"

"Kill it, " Judd said. "Go ahead. "

Dr. Jamison withdrew from his pocket a small blasting pistol used by theDepartment of Domestic Animals for elimination of injured creatures. Headvanced on Black Eyes, who sat on its haunches in the center of theroom, surveying the scientist. 

Dr. Jamison put his blaster away. "I can't, " he said. "I don't want to. "

Judd smiled. "I know it. No one--no _thing_--can kill Black Eyes. Yousaid so yourself. It was a waste of time to try it. In that case--"

"In that case, " Dr. Jamison finished for him, "we're helpless. Thereisn't a man--or an animal--on Earth that will destroy this thing. Waita minute--does it sleep, Mr. Whitney?"

"I don't think so. At least, I never saw it sleep. And your team ofscientists, did they report anything?"

"No. As far as they could see, the creature never slept. We can't catchit unawares. "

"Could you anesthetize it?"

"How? It can sense danger, and long before you could do that, it wouldstop you. It's only made one mistake, Mr. Whitney: it believes thenoises of the city represent a danger. And that's only a negativemistake. Noise won't hurt Black Eyes, of course. It simply makes theanimal unnecessarily cautious. But we cannot anesthetize it any morethan we can kill it. "

"I could take it back to Venus. "

"Could you? Could you? I hadn't thought of that. "

Judd shook his head. "I can't. "

"What do you mean you can't?"

"It won't let me. Somehow it can sense our thoughts when we thinksomething it doesn't want. I can't take it to Venus! No man could, because it doesn't want to go. "

"My dear Mr. Whitney--do you mean to say you believe it can _think_?"

"Uh-uh. Didn't say that. It can sense our thoughts, and that's somethingelse again. "

Dr. Jamison threw his hands up over his head in a dramatic gesture. "It's hopeless, " he said. 

 * * * * *

Things grew worse. New York crawled along to a standstill. People beganto move from the city. In trickles, at first, but the trickles becametorrents, as New York's ten million people began to depart for sanerplaces. It might take months--it might even take years, but the exodushad begun. Nothing could stop it. Because of a harmless little beastwith the eyes of a tarsier, the life of a great city was coming to anend. 

Word spread. Scientists all over the world studied reports on BlackEyes. No one had any ideas. Everyone was stumped. Black Eyes had noparticular desire to go outside. Black Eyes merely remained in theWhitney house, contemplating nothing in particular, and stoppingeverything. 

Dr. Jamison, however, was a persistent man. Judd got a letter from himone day, and the following afternoon he kept his appointment with thescientist. 

"It's good to get out, " Judd said, after a three hour walk to theDepartment of Science Building. "I can go crazy just staring at thatthing. "

"I have it, Whitney. "

"You have what? Not the way to destroy Black Eyes? I don't believe it!"

"It's true. Consider. Everyone in the world does not yet know of yourpet, correct?"

"I suppose there are a few people who don't--"

"There are many. Among them, are the crew of a jet-bomber which has beenon maneuvers in Egypt. We have arranged everything. "

"Yes? How?"

"At noon tomorrow, the bomber will appear over your home with one ofthe ancient, high-explosive missiles. Your neighbors will be removedfrom the vicinity, and, precisely at twelve-o-three in the afternoon, the bomb will be dropped. Your home will be destroyed. Black Eyes willbe destroyed with it. "

Judd looked uncomfortable. "I dunno, " he said. "Sounds too easy. "

"Too easy? I doubt if the animal will ever sense what is going on--notwhen the crew of the bomber doesn't know, either. They'll consider it amighty peculiar order, to destroy one harmless, rather large and ratherelaborate suburban home. But they'll do it. See you tomorrow, Whitney, after this mess is behind us. "

"Yeah, " Judd said. "Yeah. " But somehow, the scientist had failed toinstill any of his confidence in Judd. 

 * * * * *

With Lindy, he left home at eleven the following morning, after making athorough list of all their properties which the City had promised toduplicate. Judd did not look at Black Eyes as he left, and the animalremained where it was, seated on its haunches under the dining roomtable, nibbling crumbs. Judd could almost feel the big round eyes boringa pair of twin holes in his back, and he dared not turn around to facethem. .. . 

They were a mile away at eleven forty-five, making their way through thenearly deserted streets. Judd stopped walking. He looked at Lindy. Lindylooked at him. 

"They're going to destroy it, " he said. 

"I know. "

"Do you want them to?"

"I--I--"

Judd knew that something had to be done with Black Eyes. He didn't likethe little beast, and, anyway, that had nothing to do with it. BlackEyes was a menace. And yet, something whispered in Judd's ear, _Don'tlet them, don't let them . .. _ It wasn't Judd and it wasn't Judd'ssubconscious. It was Black Eyes, and he knew it. But he couldn't do athing about it--

"I'm going to stay right here and let them bomb the place, " he saidaloud. But as he spoke, he was running back the way he had come. 

Fifteen minutes. 

He sprinted part of the time, then rested, then sprinted again. He wassomewhat on the beefy side and he could not run fast, but he made it. Just. 

He heard the jet streaking through the sky overhead, looked up once andsaw it circling. Two blocks from his house he was met by a policeman. The entire area had been roped off, and the officer shook his head whenJudd tried to get through. 

"But I live there!"

"Can't help it, Mister. Orders is orders. "

Judd hit him. Judd didn't want to, but nevertheless, he grunted withsatisfaction when he felt the blow to be a good one, catching the stockyofficer on the point of his chin and tumbling him over backwards. ThenJudd was ducking under the rope and running. 

He reached his house, plummeted in through the front door. He foundBlack Eyes under the kitchen table, squatting on its haunches. Hescooped the animal up, ran outside. Then he was running again, andbefore he reached the barrier, something rocked him. A loud series ofexplosions ripped through his brain, and instinctively--Black Eyes'instincts, not his--he folded his arms over the animal, protecting it. Something shuddered and began to fall behind him, and debris scatteredin all directions. Something struck Judd's head and he felt the groundslapping up crazily at his face--

He was as good as new a few days later. 

And so was Black Eyes. 

"I have it, " Judd said to his nurse. 

"You have what, sir?"

"It's so simple, so ridiculously simple, maybe that's why no one everthought of it. Get me Dr. Jamison!"

Jamison came a few moments later, breathless. "Well?"

"I have the solution. "

"You . .. Do?" Not much hope in the answer. Dr. Jamison was a tired, defeated man. 

"Sure. Black Eyes doesn't like the city. Fine. Take him out. I can'ttake him to Venus. He doesn't like Venus and he won't go. No one cantake him anyplace he doesn't want to go, just as no one can hurt him inany way. But he doesn't like the city. It's too noisy. All right: havesomeone take him far from the city, far far away--where there's no noiseat all. Someplace out in the sticks where it won't matter much if BlackEyes puts a stop to any disturbing noises. "

"Who will take him? You, Mr. Whitney?"

Judd shook his head. "That's your job, not mine. I've given you theanswer. Now use it. "

Lindy had arrived, and Lindy said: "Judd, you're right. That _is_ theanswer. And you're wonderful--"

No one volunteered to spend his life in exile with Black Eyes, but thenDr. Jamison pointed out that while no one knew the creature's life-span, it certainly couldn't be expected to match man's. Just a few years andthe beast would die, and . .. Dr. Jamison's arguments were so logicalthat he convinced himself. He took Black Eyes with him into the CanadianNorthwoods, and there they live. 

 * * * * *

Judd was right--almost. 

This was the obvious answer which escaped everyone. 

But scientists continued their examinations of Black Eyes, and theydiscovered something. Black Eyes' fears had not been for herself alone. She is going to have babies. The estimate is for thirty-five littletarsier-eyed creatures. No doctor in the world will be able to doanything but deliver the litter. 

THE END

Transcriber's Note:

 This etext was produced from _If Worlds of Science Fiction_ March 1952. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U. S. Copyright on this publication was renewed. Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without note.