Adventures in the Far Future & Tales of Outer Space — page 162: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

some obscure mother-symbol for me. Or has she always been one, for the whole race of us? A sea gull cried harshly overhead and soared from view. The sunset was smoldering away and dusk rose like fog out of the ground. Julith came running back to him, her face indistinct in the gloom. She was breathing hard, and he couldn’t tell if the catch in her voice was laughter or weeping. “I'd better be getting home,” she said. THEY FLEW slowly back. The town was a yellow twinkle of lights, warmth gleaming from windows across many empty kilometers. Jorun set the girl down outside her home. “Thank you, good sir,” she said, curtseying. “Won’t you come in to dinner?” “Well-” The door opened, etching the girl black against the ruddiness inside. Jorun’s luminous tunic made him like a torch in the dark. “Why, it’s the starman,” said a woman’s voice. “| took your daughter for a swim,” he explained. “I hope you don’t mind.” “And if we did, what would it matter?” grumbled a bass tone. Jorun recognized Kormt; the old man must have come as a guest from his farm on the outskirts. “What could we do about it?” “Now, Granther, that’s no way to talk to the gentleman,” Said the woman. “He’s been very land. Won’t you come eat with us, good sir?” Jorun refused twice, in case they were only being polite, then accepted gladly enough. He was tired of cookery at the inn where he and Zarek boarded. “Thank you.” CORniclooo SS CO