Drawers closed his eyes to shut out the horror of the scene. Then he slowly opened them and gaped with astonishment to see a little golden man floating casually down to the ground, and alighting with scarcely a jar. Then he understood! The gravitational pull of this world was not very exacting. Few falls could be fatal here. The golden people had little to fear on that score.
Then a gigantic wall of auspicious strength and thickness bordering the city caught Drawers' eye. It seemed to inject a discordant note.
Questioningly Drawers turned to the golden man and asked. "What is the reason for that enormous wall?"
A sad, haunted look entered the expressive eyes of the little man. For a moment he did not answer, then replied.
"Perhaps, in your land you have no Griffs."
"Long ago, there were no violent forms of life on this planet. There were no cities with thick walls about them, and the people of our race lived luxuriously, cradled in the gentle arms of nature. Our home was wherever we happened to be at the time. Art and knowledge flourished and our people were content. Then, one day, an earthquake of violent proportions rocked the land. Great rifts were torn in the ground. And from subterranean caverns, of which we had no knowledge, emerged terrible monsters who lived on flesh and preyed upon my people unceasingly.
"We have never had strife of any kind on this world. Weapons have always been unknown. There was no way we knew to fight back. In desperation we built great walls around the cities to keep these great monsters away. Only when the sun is at its height do we dare emerge and gather food or wander through the forests we love so much. Sun hurts the Griffs' eyes and they prefer to do their hunting at night or on cloudy days.
"Gradually the Griffs have been dying out for lack of food. They are carnivorous and have systematically eliminated most of the lower animal life from our world. My race, except for occasional mishaps have been virtually beyond their reach. There are only a few of them left now, but they prowl perpetually about the walls of the city searching for an opportunity to enter and wreak havoc, or to catch some one of my race as they pass a particularly gloomy spot in the forest."