“That is right.”
Walter sighed. “I knew it. That plain, blank wall, without a single piece of furniture against it. And made of something different from the other walls. If I persist in sitting with my back to it, what then? You will kill me?—I ask hopefully.”
“We will take a-way your books.”
“You’ve got me there George. All right I’ll face the other way when I sit and read. How many other animals besides me are in this zoo of yours?”
“Two hun-dred and six-teen.”
Walter shook his head. “Not complete, George. Even a bush league zoo can beat that— could beat that, I mean, if there were any bush league zoos left. Did you just pick at random?”
“Ran-dom sam-ples yes All spe-cies would have been too man-y. Male and female each of one hun-dred and eight kinds,”
“What do you feed them? The carnivorous ones, I mean.”
“We make food Syn-thet-ic.”
“Smart,” said Walter. “And the flora? You got a collection of that, too?”