The men contemplated the cat for some length of time in total silence.

" Mmm, yes... he really is impressive, " whispered one of them.

" I'm not doing any mischief, I'm not bothering anyone, I'm just fixing the primus, " said the cat with a hostile scowl, " and I consider it my duty to warn you that a cat is an ancient and inviolable creature."

" Exceptionally fine work, " whispered one of the men, and another said loudly and distinctly, " Well, then, inviolable ventriloquist cat, come over here!

A silk net was unfurled and tossed in the air, but to everyone's utter surprise, the man who threw it missed his target and ensnared only the pitcher, which crashed into jangling pieces.

" Forfeit! " howled the cat. " Hurrah! " Here he put the primus aside, and pulled a Browning from behind his back. In a flash he had it trained

The End of Afwrtment No. 50 291

on the man nearest to him, but before the cat could shoot, there was a flash in the man's hand, and when the Mauser went off, the cat fell headfirst off the mantel onto the floor, dropping his Browning and tossing away his primus.

" It's all over, " said the cat in a weak voice, as he stretched out languidly in a pool of blood. " Leave me be for a second, let me bid the earth farewell. O Azazello, my friend! " groaned the cat, his blood streaming out. " Where are you? " The cat turned his dimming eyes toward the dining room door. " I was outmatched and you did not come to help me. You abandoned poor Behemoth, forsaking him for a glass of admittedly very fine brandy! Ah, well, may my death be on your conscience, but I bequeath you my Browning..."

" The net, the net, the net, " whispered the men anxiously who were standing around the cat. But the net, the devil knows why, got caught in someone's pocket and would not come out.

" The only thing that can save a mortally wounded cat, " said the cat, " is a swig of kerosene..." And, taking advantage of the general confusion, he pressed his lips to the round opening in the primus and drank his fill of kerosene. The blood streaming out from under his left front paw stopped immediately. The cat jumped up, alive and well, tucked the primus under his foreleg, and leapt back onto the mantel. Then, he began crawling up the wall, ripping the wallpaper with his claws, and in two seconds he was high overhead, sitting on the metal curtain rod.

In a flash hands grabbed at the curtain and tore it down together with the rod, letting the sunlight burst into the darkened room. But neither the fraudulently revived cat nor the primus fell down. The cat, still holding on to his primus, managed to swing through the air and land on the chandelier that was hanging in the center of the room.

" Get a ladder! " voices shouted from below.

" I challenge you to a duel! " bellowed the cat, soaring over their heads on the swaying chandelier, the Browning appearing in his paws again, and he set the primus down between the arms of the chandelier. The cat took aim, and, swinging like a pendulum over the heads of the men, opened fire on them. Thunder shook the apartment. Shards of crystal rained down from the chandelier on the floor, the mirror over the fireplace cracked into stars, clouds of plaster dust billowed, empty cartridges bounced over the floor, windowpanes broke, the bullet-ridden primus began to spurt kerosene. Taking the cat alive was now out of the question, and the men shot back at him furiously and accurately, aiming their Mausers at his head, stomach, chest, and back. The shooting caused a panic in the courtyard down below.

But it lasted for only a short time and began to subside of its own accord. The fact was that the shots harmed neither the cat, nor the men who had come to catch him. Not only was no one killed, no one was even wounded; everyone, including the cat, remained completely un-