seldon looked up. a young man was standing before him, looking down at him with an expression of amused contempt. next to him was another young man--a bit younger, perhaps. both were large and appeared to be strong. they were dressed in an extreme of trantorian fashion, seldon judged--boldly clashing colors, broad fringed belts, round hats with wide brims all about and the two ends of a bright pink ribbon extending from the brim to the back of the neck.

in seldons eyes, it was amusing and he smiled.

the young man before him snapped, "whatre you grinning at, misfit?" seldon ignored the manner of address and said gently, "please pardon my smile. i was merely enjoying your costume."

"my costume? so? and what are you wearing? whats that awful offal you call clothes?" his hand went out and his finger flicked at the lapel of seldons jacket--disgracefully heavy and dull, seldon himself thought, in comparison to the others lighthearted colors.

seldon said, "im afraid its my outworlder clothes. theyre all i have." he couldnt help notice that the few others who were sitting in the small park were rising to their feet and walking off. it was as though they were expecting trouble and had no desire to remain in the vicinity. seldon wondered if his new friend, hummin, was leaving too, but he felt it injudicious to take his eyes away from the young man who was confronting him. he teetered back on his chair slightly.

the young man said, "you an outworlder?"

"thats right. hence my clothes."

"hence? what kind of words that? outworld word?"

"what i meant was, that was why my clothes seem peculiar to you. im a visitor here."

"from what planet?"

"helicon."

the young mans eyebrows drew together. "never heard of it."

"its not a large planet."

"why dont you go back there?"

"i intend to. im leaving tomorrow."

"sooner! now!"

the young man looked at his partner. seldon followed the look and caught a glimpse of hummin. he had not left, but the park was now empty except for himself, hummin, and the two young men.

seldon said, "id thought id spend today sight-seeing."

"no. you dont want to do that. you go home now."

seldon smiled. "sorry. i wont."

the young man said to his partner. "you like his clothes, marbie?"

marbie spoke for the first time. "no. disgusting. turns the stomach."

"cant let him go around turning stomachs, marbie. not good for peoples health."

"no, not by no means, alem," said marbie.

alem grinned. "well now. you heard what marbie said."

and now hummin spoke. he said, "look, you two, alem, marbie, whatever your names are. youve had your fun. why dont you go away?"

alem, who had been leaning slightly toward seldon, straightened and turned. "who are you?"

"thats not your business," snapped hummin.

"youre trantorian?" asked alem.

"also not your business."

alem frowned and said, "youre dressed trantorian. were not interested in you, so dont go looking for problems."

"i intend to stay. that means there are two of us. two against two doesnt sound like your kind of fight. why dont you go away and get some friends so you can handle two people?"

seldon said, "i really think you ought to get away if you can, hummin. its kind of you to try to protect me, but i dont want you harmed."

"these are not dangerous people, seldon. just half-credit lackeys."

"lackeys!" the word seemed to infuriate alem, so that seldon thought it must have a more insulting meaning on trantor than it had on helicon.

"here, marbie," said alem with a growl. "you take care of that other motherlackey and ill rip the clothes off this seldon. hes the one we want. now--"

his hands came down sharply to seize seldons lapels and jerk him upright.

seldon pushed away, instinctively it would seem, and his chair tipped backward. he seized the hands stretched toward him, his foot went up, and his chair went down.

somehow alem streaked overhead, turning as he did so, and came down hard on his neck and back behind seldon.

seldon twisted as his chair went down and was quickly on his feet, staring down at alem, then looking sharply to one side for marbie. alem lay unmoving, his face twisted in agony. he had two badly sprained thumbs, excruciating pain in his groin, and a backbone that had been badly jarred. hummins left arm had grabbed marbies neck from behind and his right arm had pulled the others right arm backward at a vicious angle. marbies face was red as he labored uselessly for breath. a knife, glittering with a small laser inset, lay on the ground beside them.

hummin eased his grip slightly and said, with an air of honest concern, "youve hurt that one badly."

seldon said, "im afraid so. if he had fallen a little differently, he would have snapped his neck."

hummin said, "what kind of a mathematician are you?"

"a heliconian one." he stooped to pick up the knife and, after examining it, said, "disgusting--and deadly."

hummin said, "an ordinary blade would do the job without requiring a power source.--but lets let these two go. i doubt they want to continue any further."

he released marbie, who rubbed first his shoulder then his neck. gasping for air, he turned hate-filled eyes on the two men. hummin said sharply, "you two had better get out of here. otherwise well have to give evidence against you for assault and attempted murder. this knife can surely be traced to you."

seldon and hummin watched while marbie dragged alem to his feet and then helped him stagger away, still bent in pain. they looked back once or twice, but seldon and hummin watched impassively.

seldon held out his hand. "how do i thank you for coming to the aid of a stranger against two attackers? i doubt i would have been able to handle them both on my own."

hummin raised his hand in a deprecatory manner. "i wasnt afraid of them. theyre just street-brawling lackeys. all i had to do was get my hands on them--and yours, too, of course."

"thats a pretty deadly grip you have," seldon mused.

hummin shrugged. "you too." then, without changing his tone of voice, he said, "come on, wed better get out of here. were wasting time."

seldon said, "why do we have to get away? are you afraid those two will come back?"

"not in their lifetime. but some of those brave people who cleared out of the park so quickly in their eagerness to spare themselves a disagreeable sight may have alerted the police."

"fine. we have the hoodlums names. and we can describe them fairly well."

"describe them? why would the police want them?"

"they committed an assault--"

"dont be foolish. we dont have a scratch. theyre virtually hospital bait, especially alem. were the ones who will be charged."

"but thats impossible. those people witnessed the fact that--"

"no people will be called.--seldon, get this into your head. those two came to find you--specifically you. they were told you were wearing heliconian clothes and you must have been described precisely. perhaps they were even shown a holograph. i suspect they were sent by the people who happen to control the police, so lets not wait any longer."

hummin hurried off, his hand gripping seldons upper arm. seldon found the grip impossible to shake and, feeling like a child in the hands of an impetuous nurse, followed.

they plunged into an arcade and, before seldons eyes grew accustomed to the dimmer light, they heard the burring sound of a ground-cars brakes.

"there they are," muttered hummin. "faster, seldon." they hopped onto a moving corridor and lost themselves in the crowd.