Finished dining, I looked at Luke. He smiled.

"If we've got to sing for our supper," Luke said, "let's give them aten-minute demonstration and call it a draw."

I nodded.

"Sounds good to me."

We put aside our plates, rose, moved to the fire, and passed behind it.

"Ready?" I said.

"Sure. Why not?"

We drew our weapons, stepped back, and saluted. We both laughed whenthe music began. Suddenly, I found myself attacking, though I had decided toawait the attack and put my first energies into its counter. The movementhad been thoughtless, though quite deft and speedy.

"Luke," I said as he parried, "it got away from me. Be careful. There'ssomething odd going on."

"I know," he said as he delivered a formidable attack. "I wasn'tplanning that."

I parried it and came back even faster. He retreated.

"Not bad," he said, as I felt something loosened in my arm. Suddenly Iwas fencing on my own again, voluntarily, with no apparent control but withfear that it might be reasserted at any moment.

Suddenly, I knew that we were fairly free and it scared me. If Iweren't sufficiently vicious, I might be taken over again. If I were,someone might slip in an unsolicited move at the wrong moment. I grewsomewhat afraid.

"Luke, if what's happening to you is similar to what's been happeningto me, I don't like this show a bit," I told him.

"Me neither," he said.

I glanced back across the fire. A pair of hooded individuals stoodamong the others. They were not overlarge and there was a certain whitenesswithin the cowl of the nearer.

"We've more audience," I said.

Luke glanced back; it was only with great difficulty that I halted acowardly attack as he turned away. When we returned to hard combat, he shookhis head.

"Couldn't recognize either of them," he said. "This seems a little more