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Show -249- you can stay there and hand them to us." Both children ran to perform this pleasant task. He turned to the Professor. "How about a drink?" he asked. "Yes," the Professor replied, "bourbon and xater." He xas looking forxard to the opening of the gifts almost as much as the children xrere. His txro granddaughters were on t h e i r knees, assembling the packages into small stacks. Pussy Galore, who had disappeared when the company arrived, had returned and appeared to be a s s i s t i ng the children, leaping upon the smaller packages as they xrere moved about. When the Professor took his seat in the chair by the ceramic ashtray, the cat s t r o l l e d over to him and threatened to leap into his lap. He xaved her axay. She xas an oddly built creature, with long back legs and a t a i l that lifted straight into the a i r . When she sat in the Professor's lap* her t a i l struck him d i r e c t l y in the mouth, a sensation he did not p a r t i c u l a r l y enjoy. Rejected by him noxr, she turned and batted a glass ball hanging from one of the loxrer branches of the t r e e. The presents a l l assembled, the children sat back on their heels and called to t h e i r father. He came in, a drink in one hand for the Professor, another for himself. The txro women followed. All took places around the t r e e . The black dog moved from behind the chair and stretched out by the |