Astounding Science Fiction (British edition) — page 46: what you’re looking at

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

44 ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION many of their lumbering operations, though, and they might not stick around that long. Ill talk it over with Ranji.” “O.K. PIL see you tonight.” “Wait!” She whirled. ““What?”’ ‘“‘Down there, to the right—another nibbly, and he’s in a hurry!” Behind the sunlit wall of leaves, in the rustling dimness, she could just make out the newcomer. He ran with his legs extended and his body high, without the fore-and-aft seesawing of the nibblies’ slower gaits. And he ran fast, with his nose curled down. The group they had watched before stopped grazing, but they did not scatter and hide. They stood calmly in a circle, as they had before, except that this time they made room for the newcomer to join them. They stood for over a minute with their noses to- gether, shuffling a little in place. Chang kept her eye on the new one; when the huddle broke up he was not the one who left it. One of the others dashed off, just as fast, in the direction from which he had come. As for the newcomer himself, he fell to grazing with the herd—completely unruffled. Chang looked away for a moment, then back again; she couldn’t identify him among the group of round, green- brown bodies. Balch whistled softly. ‘“Communi- cations they have! Chang, you re- member those quadrupeds we call wolves? From our second report?” “Of course. You thought they preyed on the nibblies and other such vegetarians. Do you think this was a warning that wolves are in the neigh- borhood?”’ “That’s what I had But—” 2 “But why did one of our friends head back in the same direction? Why did the rest of them ignore the whole incident? Four is a strange world, Balch.” “That it is. We'll definitely take those movies.”” He stood up beside her. “Have that report ready before we leave, Chang. And don’t be reti- cent.”” He grinned at her, then sud- denly bent his face down close to hers, in mind. connicloooks.c© nn