Then there was sudden silence. They stopped.
Baba hurriedly clicked loudly into the silence, "Friend-pets, friend-pets, bother—"
He did not have time to finish the sentence. Johnny was struck suddenly on the back and sent sprawling on his face. A hundred tiny hands seemed to be pulling at his hair. He felt a rip of cloth and then a sharp pain as a small claw cut into his back. Baba was clicking loudly.
As suddenly as he was struck down, the attack on him stopped. Dazed, he painfully got to his hands and knees.
"Friend-pets, bother us not. Bother us not!" Baba was repeating over and over again as loudly as he could. Johnny's eyes widened.
Surrounding them were hundreds of tiny monkeys no more than eight inches high. Scarlet red in color, they sat perfectly still, their eyes fixed on Johnny and Baba. Sitting high on a nearby bush one of the little apes held a packet of Johnny's food in its tiny hands. Johnny stood up to his full height and a low growl went up from the animals. The monkey with Johnny's packet hurled it at Johnny with surprising strength. Johnny made a quick catch.
"Thank you," Johnny clicked in the marva tongue. The monkeys chattered excitedly. "Thank you, friend-pet."
"Give it something," Baba clicked. "Oh, I'm afraid, Johnny. They hate you so much—I can feel it." Johnny knew why. The skins of these animals were much in fashion for coats back on Earth.
Johnny reached down for his knife to cut the strings of the packet. As the knife came in sight a menacing growl went up. As Johnny and Baba stood there, more and more of the monkeys leaped from the bushes to join the crowd. The whole path was covered; the trees seemed to be filled with red flowers. Some of the new-comers were intent upon rushing Johnny when the knife glittered in the half light. But Baba stopped them with his sharp, repeated commands.
Johnny cut the packet open. Among other things, a large bag of candy was inside. He had raided the cupboard well.