“Horrible-looking things, aren’t they?”

“Pleasant enough, inside. Their thoughts are perfectly friendly.”

“You wouldn’t believe it of them. That immature one, the one that first picked us up⁠—”

“They call him Red,” provided the Explorer.

“That’s a queer name for a monster. Makes me laugh. He actually feels bad that we’re leaving. Only I can’t make out exactly why. The nearest I can come to it is something about a lost opportunity with some organization or other that I can’t quite interpret.”

“A circus,” said the Explorer, briefly.

“What? Why, the impertinent monstrosity.”