Edith had emerged from her sack and was standing before the male.
"Do I look like a nightmare?" she demanded.
"No. More like a skinned rabbit--ouch! What did you do that for?" He
rubbed his face where she struck him with her digits.
"There!" Edith said. "_Now_ do you think it's a dream?"
"I never did," he replied mildly. "I've never dreamed in my life. I
was just breaking it to you easy. It was real enough--even the blank
spaces. I wonder--"
"You wonder what?"
"What their reason was for capturing us and then letting us go. It
doesn't make sense. They wouldn't grab us just for fun. They're
obviously intelligent, and probably thought we would be useful to them.
But they turned us loose. So we couldn't be useful except maybe for
amusement--but that doesn't jell. No. They've done something to us.
They've let us go for a reason."
* * * * *
"Stop analyzing!" Edith said. "Why don't you just get scared, like I
am!"
"I _am_," he said, "but I like to figure things out. If I know what
frightens me, it doesn't bother me so much."
"Do that while we're on the way home. Get your clothes on and let's get
out of here! Right away!"
"We have to pack."
"Oh, leave it! Let's get out while we can!"
"I don't think we're in any danger," he said.
"Well--I don't want to stay here a minute longer!"
"All right. We'll go. But we'll pack first. Look at it logically. They
had us cold. We didn't escape. We were _let_ go. So why, if they didn't
want us then, should they want us now?"
"Unless they can get us any time they want us."
"You have a point there, but if that's the case, they can get us
anyway. So let's pack."
"You can pack if you want to. I'm leaving!" Edith pulled the opening to
the tent and slipped out.
"Edith!" Donald cried. "Wait!"