“ibegyourpardon，”saidhereporer，wihgenuinecompuncion“ihadnoinenion…”heouchedhisha–healuminumsovepipehainwhichhecarriedhiswirelessreceiverandransmier“excusemynoakingioff，”hesaid“i’sabiheavywell，asiwassaying，iamherepresenaiveofhehourly…”

“whadoyouwan？”askedhesavage，scowlinghereporerreurnedhismosingraiaingsmile

“well，ofcourse，ourreaderswouldbeprofoundlyineresed…”hepuhisheadononeside，hissmilebecamealmoscoqueish“jusafewwordsfromyou，mrsavage”andrapidly，wihaseriesofriualgesures，heuncoiledwowiresco

ecedoheporablebaerybuckledroundhiswais；pluggedhemsimulaneouslyinohesidesofhisaluminumha；ouchedaspringonhecrown–andane

aeshoupinoheair；ouchedanoherspringonhepeakofhebrim–and，likeajackinhebox，oujumpedamicrophoneandhunghere，quivering，sixinchesinfronofhisnose；pulleddownapairofreceiversoverhisears；pressedaswichonhelefsideofhehaandfromwihincameafainwaspybuzzing；urnedaknobonherigh–andhebuzzingwasinerrupedbyasehoscopicwheezeandcackle，byhiccoughsandsuddensqueaks“hullo，”hesaidohemicrophone，“hullo，hullo…”abellsuddenlyranginsidehisha“ishayou，edzel？primomellonspeakingyes，i’vegoholdofhimmrsavagewillnowakehemicrophoneandsayafewwordswon’you，mrsavage？”helookedupahesavagewihanoherofhosewi

ingsmilesofhis“jusellourreaderswhyyoucameherewhamadeyouleavelondon（holdon，edzel！）soverysuddenlyand，ofcourse，hawhip”（hesavagesaredhowdidheyknowabouhewhip？）“we’reallcrazyoknowabouhewhipandhensomehingaboucivilizaionyouknowhesorofsuff‘whaihinkofhecivilizedgirl’jusafewwords，averyfew…”

hesavageobeyedwihadisconceringlieralnessfivewordsheueredandnomorefivewords，hesameashosehehadsaidobernardabouhearchcommuniysongserofcanerbury“háni！sonsésosená！”andseizinghereporerbyheshoulder，hespunhimround（heyoungmanrevealedhimselfinviinglywellcovered），aimedand，wihallheforceandaccuracyofachampionfooandmouhballer，deliveredamosprodigiouskick

eighminueser，anewediionofhehourlyradiowasonsaleinhesreesoflondon“hourlyradioreporerhascoccyxkickedbymyserysavage，”ranheheadlinesonhefronpage“sensaioninsurrey”

“sensaioneveninlondon，”houghhereporerwhen，onhisreurn，hereadhewordsandaverypainfulsensaion，whawasmorehesadowngingerlyohisluncheon

undeerredbyhacauionarybruiseonheircolleague’scoccyx，fouroherreporers，represeninghenewyorkimes，hefrankfurfourdimensionalconinuum，hefordiansciencemonior，andhedelamirror，calledhaafernoonahelighhouseandmewihrecepionsofprogressivelyincreasingviolence

fromasafedisanceandsillrubbinghisbuocks，“benighedfool！”shouedhemanfromhefordiansciencemonior，“whydon’youakesoma？”

“geaway！”hesavageshookhisfis

heoherrereaedafewsepshenurnedroundagain“evil’sanunrealiyifyouakeacoupleofgrammes”

“kohakwaiyahokyai！”heonewasmenacinglyderisive

“pain’sadelusion”

“oh，isi？”saidhesavageand，pickingupahickhazelswich，srodeforward

hemanfromhefordiansciencemoniormadeadashforhishelicoper

aferhahesavagewaslefforaimeinpeaceafewhelicoperscameandhoveredinquisiivelyroundheowerheshoanarrowinoheimporunaelynearesofhemipiercedhealuminumfloorofhecabin；herewasashrillyell，andhemachinewenrockeingupinoheairwihallheacceleraionhaissuperchargercouldgiveiheohers，infuure，kepheirdisancerespecfullyignoringheiriresomehumming（helikenedhimselfinhisimaginaionooneofhesuiorsofhemaidenofmásaki，unmovedandpersisenamonghewingedvermin），hesavagedugawhawasobehisgardenaferaimeheverminevidenlybecameboredandflewaway；forhoursaasrechheskyabovehisheadwasempyand，buforherks，silen

heweaherwasbreahlesslyho，herewashunderinheairhehaddugallhemorningandwasresing，srechedoualonghefloorandsuddenlyhehoughofleninawasarealpresence，nakedandangible，saying“swee！”and“puyourarmsroundme！”–inshoesandsocks，perfumedimpudensrumpe！buoh，oh，herarmsroundhisneck，helifingofherbreass，hermouh！eerniywasinourlipsandeyeslenina…no，no，no，no！hesprangohisfeeand，halfnakedashewas，ranouofhehouseaheedgeofheheahsoodaclumpofhoaryjuniperbushesheflunghimselfagainshem，heembraced，nohesmoohbodyofhisdesires，buanarmfulofgreenspikessharp，wihahousandpoins，heyprickedhimheriedohinkofpoorlinda，breahlessanddumb，wihhercluchinghandsandheunuerableerrorinhereyespoorlindawhomhehadswornorememberbuiwassillhepresenceofleninahahaunedhimleninawhomhehadpromisedoforgeevenhroughhesabandsmgofhejuniperneedles，hiswincingfieshwasawareofher，unescapablyreal“swee，swee…andifyouwanedmeoo，whydidn’you…”

hewhipwashangingonanailbyhedoor，readyohandagainshearrivalofreporersinafrenzyhesavageranbackohehouse，seizedi，whirlediheknoedcordsbiinohisflesh

“srumpe！srumpe！”heshouedaeveryblowashoughiwerelenina（andhowfranically，wihouknowingi，hewishediwere），whie，warm，scened，infamousleninahahewasdogginghus“srumpe！”andhen，inavoiceofdespair，“oh，linda，forgivemeforgiveme，godi’mbadi’mwickedi’m…no，no，yousrumpe，yousrumpe！”

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