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xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <strong>THE</strong> O<strong>THE</strong>R <strong>WORLD</strong> xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx<br />
With his strange device, the flier hurled the spear into the charging bull!<br />
They weren’t cat hides, but<br />
something else, something incredible. A fur<br />
so luxurious, with such subtle <strong>co</strong>loring and<br />
quality, that the buyers were stunned. A man<br />
stepped forward, held one of the skins up<br />
and stroked it with his hand, and it was<br />
indeed as if a fabulous jewel were being<br />
shown. Fur men came to the spot,<br />
magnetized by such a fur as they hadn’t<br />
dreamed existed.<br />
A fur man said: “Who owns that<br />
dyeing process? My firm will pay plenty for<br />
it.”<br />
The man who was holding up the<br />
pelt studied the fur closely.<br />
“Not dyed,” he said.<br />
“You’re crazy. There’s no animal with<br />
fur like that.”<br />
They gathered around the table.<br />
They were not passing the skins about, but<br />
touching them reverently.<br />
“How much did you say?” a man<br />
asked the flier.<br />
“Five thousand a skin.”<br />
“Dollars?”<br />
“Yes.”<br />
The other laughed. “Be yourself, guy.<br />
Chinchilla is the most expensive fur in the<br />
world, and it doesn’t bring that.”<br />
The aviator did not seem impressed.<br />
“And what makes Chinchilla <strong>co</strong>st?”<br />
“Scarcity. The animals are getting<br />
rare—”<br />
“Not as rare as these.” The flier held<br />
up his hand and silence fell; they listened to<br />
him speaking in his strangely difficult fashion.<br />
“You see here,” he said, “a <strong>co</strong>llection of skins<br />
which is <strong>co</strong>mplete. And by <strong>co</strong>mplete, I mean<br />
that in this pile here are all the skins of this<br />
animal that you will find in the world, and<br />
there will be no more such skins. Never. I<br />
have twenty-seven skins here, and there will<br />
never be any more.”<br />
“You mean,” put in a new voice, “that<br />
no more of that particular fur you’ve got there<br />
will ever <strong>co</strong>me on the market?”<br />
“Exactly,” said the flier.<br />
“Why not?”<br />
The flier seemed, judging from his<br />
hesitation, reluctant about answering that<br />
question.<br />
“Because,” he said finally, “there are<br />
no more of the animals. I killed and skinned<br />
them all. Their pelts are here.”<br />
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