"I shall take this one," said a short, stocky, broad-shouldered fellow, in awide-brimmed hat. "She has strong legs. Have her branded and put with theothers."

The slaver's man nodded. They did not even discuss price. I gathered that alimited-lot price must have been agreed upon earlier, perhaps with Ram Seibarhimself. The slaver's man did not seem hesitant to deal with him. I gathered hewas well known in the area. He had bought more than one girl. Though the girlshe purchased were comely, he did not seem, particularly, to be interested inthat. He seemed to be buying them for some other reason.

As one girl, a branded one, was sold from a block down the way another girl, ablonde, was brought forward and flung on her hands and knees on the vacatedblock. A slaver's man then locked the collar on her, with its chain, running tothe block ring. She looked about herself, frightened. A fellow reached forth totouch her thigh. She struck at his hand and scrambled back. "Don't! Don't!" shecried, in English. Almost instantly a slaver's man, a whip raised, was upon her.

The men about the block stepped back, watching, as she, on her side, andtwisting, writhed under her lashing. The slaver's man then folded back theblades of the whip, under their clip, and hooked the whip, by its butt ring, onhis belt. He then knelt her on the block, posing her. When the fellow againreached forth to touch her she did not resist. She had learned that she was thesort of woman whom men might touch when and as they pleased.

She contrasted interestingly with another girl, an auburn-haired girl, on thenext block. The auburn-haired girl, cooperating and without the leastresistance, assumed various postures and attitudes, following the indications ofthe various men about her block. She even permitted herself, without the leastresistance, to be posed, and by hand, for their interest. She knelt now on theblock, back on her heels, her knees spread, her back straight, her head back,her hands behind the back of her head. I had little doubt but what the situationof both of these girls would become even more clear to them once they werebranded.

"Noble Sirs!" called a voice, that of the fellow in the soiled blue-and-yellowshirt who had, earlier, been advertising the sale outside the compound. "NobleSirs," he called. "We are ready for the final auction of the evening!"

This announcement was greeted with a murmur of interest and the men in the hallbegan to move toward the front of the room, to the vicinity of the centralblock. It was near the central block that the fully clothed, apparently lovelyyoung woman was strung up by the wrists. She, it seemed, had been saved forlast. During the course of the evening, from time to time, at irregularintervals, some fifteen or sixteen girls had been offered, in open bidding, tothe crowd. Some of these, at least initially, had been clothed, though often inlittle other than panties and a brassiere. I had stayed to see this woman soldfor I was curious to see if she was as beautiful as the delicate lineaments ofher face suggested. She was a fairskinned, slender, willowy girl. She appearedto be sweetly breasted, with a small waist and lovely, flaring hips, doubtlessnestling a luscious love cradle. She had, small wrists and ankles. They wouldlook well in shackles. I saw that her eyes, when she opened them, in pain andterror, to look out on the crowd, were blue. Her hair was red, and bound back,rather severely, with a ribbon. She squirmed a moment in the bonds, and thenhung still, near the central block. Her body, from what I could see of it, andjudge of it, showed promise. It might prove adequate, I speculated, even forthat of a pleasure slave.

I glanced back, and particularly to the left, at some of the side blocks. Theside blocks were now deserted, the men having drifted forward, except by theiroccupants, now forgotten, kneeling or crouching upon them, their necks in theircollars, fastened by their chains to the block rings. I smiled to myself. Someof the merchandise looked angry; no longer were they the centers of attention;they, though naked and chained, and on slave blocks, had been simply put frommind; they must remain behind, alone, precisely where they were, chained, whilemasters chose to ignore them, bestowing their attention on an item of at leasttemporarily greater interest. Already the merchandise was exhibiting the vanityof slaves. But let them rest content for, when the auction was done, mendoubtless would drift back to their perusal; they would then be again subjectedto the close scrutiny of masters; they would then be examined again, andclosely, to see if they might be of any interest.

"I believe we are ready to proceed," called the gross, corpulent fellow in thesoiled blue-and-yellow shirt. With his kaiila quirt he indicated the suspendedgirl. "We have here the last item to be put up for auction this evening, afairskinned, red-haired barbarian beauty."

"We do not know if she is a beauty or not," called a man. "Strip her! ' "But I hasten to assure you," continued the slaver's man, giving no heed to thefellows enthusiastic contribution, "that the market will remain open for yetanother Ahn following this auction. You are then invited to reconsider with aneye for prospective purchase the trinkets and baubles strewn forth for yourdelectation upon our side blocks."

"On with it!" cried a man. "Let us see her!"

"We have saved this barbarian beauty for last," said the slaver's man. "She willmake a fitting conclusion to the auctions of this evening, such a splendidevening at the house of Ram Seibar! Behold her! Is your interest not whetted?"

I could see, by glancing around, that the interest of several of the men wasindeed whetted.

"Even clothed," laughed the auctioneer, "is your interest not whetted?"

"That it is!" laughed more than one man.

"Let us see her!" called another.

That the woman was being sold last in the auctions does not indicate, per se,that she was the most beautiful. On the other hand, it was undeniable that shewas quite beautiful. Several of the girls I had seen auctioned off during thecourse of the evening, incidentally, had been quite extraordinary.

This woman, at any rate, was surely among the most beautiful. Some of the girlsauctioned earlier had also presented to the buyers initially clothed, to oneextent the other, their clothing then being removed, sometimes sardonically andceremoniously, during the course of their sale. This was the only woman,however, who had been presented before the buyers strung up by the wrists.

"A fair-skinned, red-haired barbarian beauty," called the auctioneer, "highlyintelligent, exquisitely refined and of delicate sensibilities, a woman on herown world doubtless of class and station — but on this world, our world of Gor,only a meaningless piece of slave meat, a girl who will learn to wear a collar,a girl who will learn to serve and obey, a girl who will learn to please, a girlwho will learn that she belongs, and rightfully, to men!

"Let us see her!" called more than one man.

The auctioneer signaled to an attendant who, from aside of the hall, broughtforth a shallow copper bowl, some two feet in diameter, filled with slendercylinders of oil-impregnated wood. In a moment, with a fire-maker, of flint andsteel, he had ignited this wood. The girl looked at it. I do not think, at thattime, she clearly understood its significance.

"Let us see her!" called a man.

"But, of course!" called the auctioneer. He hung the long black kaiila quirt onhis belt.

The woman looked out on the crowd, miserably. She did not understand, fully, Iam sure, what was going to be done to her. She was a barbarian, her freedom onlyrecently terminated. She spoke no Gorean. She had been brought into the hall andstrung up so cruelly by the wrists only after completion of the earlierauctions. Too, I had little doubt that her masters had kept her ignorant oftheir occurrence. She knew little more than the fact that she was beingdisplayed before men, though for what reason and to what end, I conjectured, shescarcely dared speculate.