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main stem of evolution—Nature's failures...
    They came at length to a small cage, occupied by a solitary curious creature which stood erect upon two legs though it appeared to be designed to use four.
    "This," said the guide, "is one of our most puzzling finds. We have not yet been able to classify it into any known category. There has been such a rush that the specialists have not as yet had time to accord it the attention it deserves. Obviously, it comes from an advanced date, for it bears some fur, though this is localized in patches, notably on the head and face...
    "It is particularly adept upon two feet, which points to a long line of development. And yet, for all we know of it, the creature might have occurred fully developed and without any evolution—though of course you will realize that such a thing could not possibly happen...
    "Among the other odd facts which our preliminary observation has revealed is that, although its teeth are indisputably those of a herbivore, it has carnivorous tastes— altogether a most puzzling creature. We hope to find others before the examination of the Valley is ended...
    The creature raised its head and looked at them from sullen eyes. Its mouth opened but instead of the expected bellow there came from it a stream of clattering gibberish which it accompanied with curious motions of its forelimbs.
    The interest of some of the class was at last aroused. Here was a real mystery about which the experts could as yet claim to know little more than themselves. The young Sadul, for instance, was far more intrigued by it than he had been by those monsters with the polysyllabic names. He drew closer to the bars, observing it intently.
    The creature's eyes met his own and held them. More queer jabber issued from its mouth. It advanced to the front of the cage, coming quite near to him. Sadul held his ground—it did not look dangerous. With one foot it smoothed the soil of the floor, then squatted down to scrabble in the dirt.
    "What's it doing?" asked someone.
    "Probably scratching for something to eat," suggested another.
    Sadul continued to watch with interest. When the guide moved the party on he contrived to remain behind unnoticed. He was untroubled by the presence of other spectators, since most of them had gravitated to watch the larger reptiles feed.
    After a while the creature rose to its feet again and extended one paw towards the ground. It had scrawled a series of queer lines in the dust. They made neither pattern nor picture. They did not seem to mean anything. Yet there was something regular about them.
    Sadul looked blankly at them and then back to the fact of the creature. It made a quick movement towards the scrawls. Sadul continued to stare blankly. It advanced, smoothed out the ground once more with its foot and began to scrabble again. Sadul wondered whether or not he should move on. He ought, he knew, to have kept together with the rest. Magon might be nasty about it. Well, he'd stay just long enough to see what the creature was doing this time.
    It stood back and pointed again. Sadal was amazed. In the dirt was a drawing of a Takonian such as himself. The creature was pointing first to himself and then back to the drawing.
    Sadul grew excited. He had made a discovery? What was this creature which could draw? He had never heard of such a thing. His first impulse was to run after the fest and tell them. But he hesitated and curiosity got the better of him.
    Rather doubtfully, he opened the bag at his side and drew out his writing tablet and stylus. The creature excitedly thrust both paws through the bars for them and sat down, scratching experimentally with the wrong end of the stylus. Sadul corrected it, then leaned close to the bars, watching over its shoulder.
    First the creature made a round mark in the middle of the tablet, then it pointed up. Sadul looked up at the ceiling, but quite failed to see anything remarkable there. The creature shook its head impatiently.