"Me? I never touched you, you jerk!"
"The hell you didn't. Look at that damn knife!"
Opening his eyes, Mr. Kemper looked at the pieces of knife blade
scattered at the boy's feet and, a little to one side, the broken
stick. He smiled and settled back on the bench, listening to the
argument. The boys shouted and waved their arms, but that was all. As
for their invective, he felt it lacked originality; he tired of it
quickly. He got up from the bench and walked toward them. The argument
stopped.
They looked at him with cold arrogant eyes. "Hello," he said.
They looked away. "You hear something, man?" said the blond boy.
"Not a thing, Jack, not a thing," the other answered.
The smile on Mr. Kemper's face was his best, his friendliest; it had
taken him hours of practice in front of mirrors. "_Apes, your fathers
were not arrogant when they died screaming on our spears. They were
not bold when our hunting cats ripped their bellies._" Aloud he said,
"You know, I'm a stranger around here and I thought you might be able
to help me. Just what is it that's going on at the lion cage at three
o'clock today?"
"We ain't heard nothing about no lion's cage, dad. We got our own
troubles."
"Yeah, our own troubles. Get lost, dad."
"It sounded very interesting, something about a big hassle in the
cages."
The boys lifted their eyebrows and looked sidelong at each other. The
blond one said, "I told you to get lost, dad. Take five. You know,
depart away from here."
Mr. Kemper said, "Well, thanks anyway," and was still smiling as he
left them.
* * * * *
It was hotter when he reached the main enclosure, but still cool by his
standards. At a refreshment stand he ordered a hot dog with mustard.
As he waited, leaning against the counter, he saw the man in the tweed
jacket among a group of people walking toward the elephant yard. He
paid for the hot dog, picked it up, and walked along the path, keeping
the jacket in sight.
The man in tweed went by the elephants, past the giraffes and the
zebras, then around the south wing of the building. Up the walk toward
the aviary he went, with Kemper not too far behind. At the top of the
hill the man stopped in front of the aviary. It was a wide enclosure
fenced by bars thirty feet high. In the larger section were the myriad
ducks, cranes, gulls and other harmless birds; walled off from these
were eagles, vultures, and condors squatting on carved balconies. From
the hilltop there was a fine view of the zoo grounds below. The man in
the tweed jacket turned, apparently to look down the hill, but instead
looked squarely at Mr. Kemper standing a few feet away.
Neither of them said anything. The man in tweed seemed embarrassed.
Mr. Kemper took a bite of the hot dog and chewed reflectively. After
a while he said, "I suppose I ought to recognize you, but I don't.
Council of Science, no doubt."
The man answered stiffly: "Ulbasar, of the First Science Council. Lord
Kjem, you are under arrest."
"You'd better use words; it's less liable to make anyone suspicious.
You might have dressed a little more intelligently, too."
Ulbasar ran his hand over his jacket lapels. "But it's cold. How do you
stand it in that light shirt?"
"Very simple; I'm wearing long underwear."
"Well, you've obviously been here much longer than I have."
"Yes," said Kemper. "I've been here quite a while."
They didn't speak again for several minutes. In front of them some
girls pressed against the mesh screen that reinforced the bars, eyeing
a pompous small duck. "Let's go," said one of the girls. "These birds
are too disgusting. I mean, they're so ugly!"
"She thinks the birds are ugly," said Mr. Kemper. Laughing, he turned
to Ulbasar. "Well, what do you think of the scavenging little ape of
our marshland now?"