the safe-cracker laughing at him from the door of his cell. He saw—and he beat madly with hands and feet and head. Like a maddened insect he whirled along the four walls of the dungeon, clawing, butting, rasping his teeth against the smooth impassive surface. Finally, exhausted, he stopped, crouching in the centre of the cell. And after a while he laughed, a harsh laugh that rebounded dully from the walls of steel.
Then a hand fell on his shoulder; he felt the little cell-mate squatting by his side. His right hand went across his body; a small, hard paw seized it—and for hours, there, in the darkness, the two crouched silently side by side, hand in hand, without saying a word. At times 9009 laughed harsh and loud, and then the grip upon his hand tightened.
