exotic
Gulliver's Travels
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Swift, Jonathan / Ambrus, Victor G. / Riordan, James, PUBLISHER: Oxford University Press, USA, Embark on a journey with one of the greatest world travelers of all time. Ride with him across the South Seas to the miniature island of Liliput, where people grow no taller than six inches high. Round the Cape of Good Hope to the land of Brobdingnag, home of giants tall as church steeples, and sail on to the exotic lands of Laputa, Luggnagg, Glubbdubdrip, and more. Share Gulliver's incredible adventures, from his singlehanded defeat of an entire naval fleet (albeit one whose ships are toy boat-sized), to his harrowing abduction by a giant eagle, to his unfortunate dunking in a reservoir-sized pot of cream by a jealous dwarf These are the stories of Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift's classic tale of fantastic adventures in far-off lands, brilliantly retold by James Riordan in rich, vivid prose that captures all the whimsy and satire of the original in the modern language of today's children. The illustrations by noted artist Victor Ambrus are rich and colorful, delicate in detail, strong in composition, and permeated with humor. And the insightful--often scathing--social commentary that Swift wove into his original tale remains intact, providing fascinating reading for adults as well as children.
Zenn Scarlett (Strange Chemistry)
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Schoon, Christian, PUBLISHER: Strange Chemistry, Zenn Scarlett is a bright, determined, occasionally a-little-too-smart-for-her-own-good 17-year-old girl training hard to become an exoveterinarian. That means she's specializing in the treatment of exotic alien life forms, mostly large and generally dangerous. Her novice year of training at the Ciscan Cloister Exovet Clinic on Mars will find her working with alien patients from whalehounds the size of a hay barn to a baby Kiran Sunkiller, a colossal floating creature that will grow up to carry a whole sky-city on its back. But after a series of inexplicable animal escapes from the school and other near-disasters, the Cloister is in real danger of being shut down by a group of alien-hating officials. If that happens, Zenn knows only too well the grim fate awaiting the creatures she loves. Now, she must unravel the baffling events plaguing her school, before someone is hurt or killed, before everything she cares about is ripped away from her and her family forever. To solve this mystery - and live to tell about it - Zenn will have to put her new exovet skills to work in ways she never imagined, and in the process learn just how powerful compassion and empathy can be.
Russia: A Journey to the Heart of a Land and Its People
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Dimbleby, Jonathan, PUBLISHER: BBC Books, Russia is a country in transition. It is a land of exotic treasures with a culture rich in world-famous artists, writers and musicians. It is a swiftly modernizing economy yet still a place of corruption, suppression, and secrecy, shaking off its recent, bloody past of Communist dictatorship. Russia may no longer be seen to rival America, but with control over a huge portion of the world's remaining non-renewable energy resources, it is a rapidly rising energy super-power. Yet, shrouded in myth and ice, it is little understood by the rest of world. Travelling thousands of miles, Jonathan journeys from Kaliningrad in the west to Provideniya in the east to discover modern Russia. Passing through some of the most extreme landscape on earth, several climates and across seven time zones, he visits places "spectacular, infamous, secret" that witnessed defining moments in Russia's extraordinary history. The people that inhabit this vast landmass are as fascinating and diverse as the landscape. Caught between Asia and Europe, they are a mix of ethnicities, a product of Russian expansionism and their turbulent past. In this book and the groundbreaking television series it accompanies, Jonathan looks at how Russia's past has shaped her current identity and investigates what modern Russia means to her people now.
The Tower Menagerie: The Amazing 600-Year History of the
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Hahn, Daniel, PUBLISHER: Jeremy P. Tarcher, The strange six-hundred-year history of the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London. From a polar bear who fished the Thames nightly for his dinner to elephants who drank only wine, the inhabitants of the southwest corner of the Tower of London were a strange and rowdy bunch. No less strange was the cast of characters that visited them: William Blake, Chaucer, and Samuel Pepys, to name a few. Daniel Hahn's fascinating history of the Tower of London's Royal Menagerie tells the story of the thousands of exotic creatures who found a home in one of the world's most forbidding and infamous fortresses. "The Royal Menagerie" began with a wedding gift: three leopards from King Henry III's new brother-in-law, Frederick the Holy Roman Emperor, in . Soon after, a huge Norwegian polar bear joined them. Over the next six hundred years, the Tower played host to lions, ostriches, elephants, and other unusual animals that astonished London. Brimming with unforgettable stories (the lion who kept a spaniel as a pet; ostriches who were fed a steady diet of rusty nails; lions who, their keepers claimed, could tell whether a woman was a virgin) and beautiful historical illustrations, "The Tower Menagerie" provides an intriguing, lively survey of our changing attitudes toward animals, as well as a hugely entertaining journey through six centuries of British history.
The Perfect Fruit: Good Breeding, Bad Seeds, and the Hunt
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Brantley, Chip, PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, The creation story of the "perfect fruit," delving into the world of the demanding farmers, brilliant obsessives, and food fanatics who create the fruits we love. Is it possible to create the perfect piece of fruit--a fruit that cannot be improved upon? Since the dawn of agriculture, people have been obsessively tinkering to develop fruits that are hardier, prettier, and better tasting. Today, consumers have sophisticated palates and unparalleled access to the best fruits from around the world, and many of them believe that in California's San Joaquin Valley, a fruit breeder may have developed the perfect fruit: a sweet, juicy, luscious plum-apricot hybrid known as a pluot. In "The Perfect Fruit," Chip Brantley goes in search of what it takes to trick nature into producing gustatory greatness--and to bring it to a market near you. The story begins with Floyd Zaiger, a humble and wily octogenarian who is arguably the greatest fruit breeder in the world. From there, it stretches both back and forward: back through a long line of visionaries, fruit smugglers, and mad geniuses, many of whom have been driven to dazzling extremes in the pursuit of exotic flavors; and forward through the ranks of farmers, scientists, and salesmen who make it their life's work to coax deliciousness out of stubborn and unpredictable plants. The result is part biography, part cultural history, and part horticultural inquest--a meditation on the surprising power of food to change the way we live.
The King of Someplace Hot
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: McCrea, A. J., PUBLISHER: Authorhouse, In a land without law, how far do you go to protect the innocent? The year is . On the remote Caribbean island of St. Stephie a seaplane delivers a tall man clad in a pale linen suit. Paul Summers is fleeing a lifetime of lost battles. Released from his marriage and career he's living out his Jimmy Buffett-inspired dream of escaping to "saint somewhere, southeast of disorder" and hence his arrival at the Hotel Caribe Billfish Club, a resort as exotic and elegant as it's location on the distant edge of the islands. While napping on the sands of a turquoise cove Summers is woken by the lilting English of Lark Johnson, an Oxford-educated marine biologist of African descent, who asks "Why did they hurt you?," referring to scars Summers bears. That night the resort sponsors a grand fiesta. There Paul is introduced to Nikki Saunders, former supermodel, now owner-operator of Tiki Charters, a diving and big-game fishing operation, and her sidekick Yolanda "Yoyo" Magana. And on a subsequent moonlit night as Summers and Niki initiate their romance they discover the shark-mauled body of Ophelia Johnson, 14, sister to Lark. When Summers discovers that sharks were the least of the girl's problems, murders begin to bloom like jasmine. What develops is a Force 5 hurricane of political intrigue, corruption and violent confrontation. And for Summers to find his "one particular harbor," he must survive the storm.
Batteria tamburo spectrum in acrilico
Vendo batteria acustica Tamburo Spectrum SPDK520PT in Acrilico trasparente (plexiglas) suono potente e scuro. Batteria in buono stato, vendo per esubero strumentazione. Potrei valutare permute ma solo con set stesse misure DRUMCRAFT 8 colore Venice White Maple oppure con MAPEX Saturn IV colore exotic blue o natural. Caratteristiche: Bass Drum: 20"x lugs Floor Tom: 14"x14" 8 lugs Tom Tom: 12"x9" 6 lugs Tom Tom: 10"x8" 6 lugs Snare Drum: 14"x lugs Hardware incluso: 2 pcs. L-Arm Materiale fusto: Fusti realizzati senza saldatura in metacrilato di metile (PMMA) Spessore dipendente dal diametro del fusto Cerchi: Cerchi tripla flangia 2,3mm Cerchi cassa: Cerchi cassa in legno con finitura laccata nera Tipo pelli cassa: Battente: Remo Powerstroke 3 coated con falam Risonante: Tamburo Clear 188u forata con logo Tipo pelli rullante: Battente: Remo Ambassador Coated Risonante: Remo Ambassador Snare Tipo pelli tom: Battente: Remo Ambassador Clear Risonante: Tamburo Clear 250u Tipo pelli floor tom: Battente: Remo Ambassador Clear Risonante: Tamburo Clear 250u Blocchetti tirante: Blocchetto tipo "T-Lug" nuovo design Sistema sospensione tom: Sistema di sospensione RIMS style prezzo del nuovo € . in aggiunta: - tappetino in spugna fonoassorbente ondulata sulla base interna della cassa - spirale di led luminosi colore blu applicati all'interno della cassa che danno un effetto luminescente al set - alcuni falams in omaggio singoli e doppi - custodie morbide: cassa 20, rullante, timpano 14, tom 10, tom 12 Spedizione esclusa a carico dell'acquirente (40 €). Spedisco in privato foto dettagliate. Sergio
BATTERIA TAMBURO SPECTRUM SPDK520PT IN ACRILICO
VENDO BATTERIA TAMBURO SPECTRUM SPDK520PT IN ACRILICO Vendo batteria acustica Tamburo Spectrum SPDK520PT in Acrilico trasparente (plexiglas) suono potente e scuro. Batteria in buono stato, vendo per esubero strumentazione. Potrei valutare permute ma solo con set stesse misure DRUMCRAFT 8 colore Venice White Maple oppure con MAPEX Saturn IV colore exotic blue o natural. Caratteristiche: Bass Drum: 20"x lugs Floor Tom: 14"x14" 8 lugs Tom Tom: 12"x9" 6 lugs Tom Tom: 10"x8" 6 lugs Snare Drum: 14"x lugs Hardware incluso: 2 pcs. L-Arm Materiale fusto: Fusti realizzati senza saldatura in metacrilato di metile (PMMA) Spessore dipendente dal diametro del fusto Cerchi: Cerchi tripla flangia 2,3mm Cerchi cassa: Cerchi cassa in legno con finitura laccata nera Tipo pelli cassa: Battente: Remo Powerstroke 3 coated con falam Risonante: Tamburo Clear 188u forata con logo Tipo pelli rullante: Battente: Remo Ambassador Coated Risonante: Remo Ambassador Snare Tipo pelli tom: Battente: Remo Ambassador Clear Risonante: Tamburo Clear 250u Tipo pelli floor tom: Battente: Remo Ambassador Clear Risonante: Tamburo Clear 250u Blocchetti tirante: Blocchetto tipo "T-Lug" nuovo design Sistema sospensione tom: Sistema di sospensione RIMS style prezzo del nuovo € . in aggiunta: - tappetino in spugna fonoassorbente ondulata sulla base interna della cassa - spirale di led luminosi colore blu applicati all'interno della cassa che danno un effetto luminescente al set - alcuni falams in omaggio singoli e doppi - custodie morbide: cassa 20, rullante, timpano 14, tom 10, tom 12 Spedizione esclusa a carico dell'acquirente (40 €). Spedisco in privato foto dettagliate.
Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Flanagan, Richard, PUBLISHER: Grove/Atlantic, Published in hardcover to outstanding acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, and winner of the prestigious Commonwealth Writers Prize, Gould's Book of Fish is a marvelously imagined epic of nineteenth-century Australia -- a world of convicts and colonists, thieves and catamites, whose bloody history is recorded in a very unusual taxonomy of fish. Widely hailed as a masterpiece and a work of genius, it stands out as one of the best novels of recent years. Billy Gould was a forger and thief sentenced to life imprisonment in a penal colony in Van Diemen's Land -- now Tasmania. After six months he escaped and boarded a whaler for the Americas, but before long his adventures landed him back in prison. The prison doctor Lempriere utilizes Gould's painting talents to create an illustrated taxonomy of the country's exotic sea creatures, which Lempriere madly believes will assure his place in history and the Royal Society. Lost and re-created, destroyed and hidden, Gould's book finally resurfaces in the present day littered with scrawls recording his unutterably strange life -- part freewheeling picaresque, part tragicomedy -- and that of his country, a penal colony, settlement, and magical space populated by generals, visionaries, and madmen. Gould's Book of Fish is a tour de force that questions the reliability of history and science, and the substance of artistic creation. Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called it "a huge, phantasmagorical work that combines magical realism, Joycean language, and Melvillian intonations to examine the legacy of colonialism through the story of a nineteenth-century forger.... It] turns out to be as inventive and visionary in its reimagination ofhistory as Toni] Morrison's masterwork, Beloved."
CUCCIOLI 2 MESI TG MEDIOPICCOLA A MODENA #CANILEMAGRETA
E ogni tanto pare che tocchi anche a noi avere a che fare con il misterioso fenomeno degli scatoloni ripieni di cuccioli abbandonati lungo strade semideserte...scatoloni con chiaramente la targa MadeInSud, per i quali stiamo già indagando con le forze dell'ordine per capire chi c'è dietro questo traffico disgustoso. Ma loro quattro ormai sono qui, e troveremo per loro il meglio, come cerchiamo di fare per qualsiasi nostro cane. Loro sono Goji e Papaya le femmine e Cocco e Kiwi i maschietti, hanno due mesi e sono una futura taglia mediocontenuta, STIMIAMO kg da adulti ma non possiamo averne certezza ovviamente. Ottimo carattere, vivaci e curiosi, un po intimiditi inizialmente ma nulla che non si risolva con due carezze. Si affidano preferibilmente in Emilia Romagna vaccinati, chippati con obbligo di sterilizzazione per Goji e Papaya (gratuita se effettuata in canile). Gli Exotic Puppies vi aspettano al canile-Gattile Punto & Virgola di Magreta di Modena, strada Nuova Pederzona 101. Alessia Alice Enrico COME RAGGIUNGERCI: -DA MODENA tangenziale verso Sassuolo, uscita Baggiovara, destra, dritto per 3 km finchè trovate il canile/gattile a sinistra -DA SASSUOLO tangenziale verso Modena, uscita Baggiovara, sinistra, dritto per 3 km finchè trovate il canile-gattile a sinistra ORARI DI APERTURA: DAL 15 MAGGIO AL 15 SETTEMBRE orario estivo dal lunedì al giovedì dalle 10 alle 12 e dalle 16 alle 18, sabato e domenica dalle 10 alle 13 e dalle 15 alle 18 DAL 15 SETTEMBRE AL 15 MAGGIO orario invernale dal lunedì al giovedì dalle 12 alle 16, sabato e domenica dalle 11 alle 17.
Peppers Peppers Peppers
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Spieler, Marlena, PUBLISHER: Firefly Books, In more than 100 recipes, Peppers Peppers Peppers offers an eclectic mix of sweet and spicy with traditional and contemporary. A colorful celebration of the versatile pepper, Marlene Spieler's recipes are innovative and straightforward -- few have more than a handful of ingredients. From the fiery hot Thai chile pepper to the mildly sweet and familiar red bell pepper, this cookbook accommodates all tastes with recipes originating in North America, the Mediterranean, the Far East, India, the African continent, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe. Opening with a history of the pepper's "discovery" by Columbus and its subsequent introduction to European cooking, Peppers Peppers Peppers includes: extensive information on how to grow, store and dry peppers roasting and preserving peppers a directory of peppers listing all varieties of fresh sweet and chile peppers how to cook with - and safely eat - hot peppers buying and preparing bottled, pickled and powdered peppers recommendations of what to drink with pepper dishes A World Guide to Chiles map mail-order sources of exotic pepper varieties spiciness ratings of the more fiery dishes The recipes include soups, appetizers, salads, poultry, meat, fish, sandwiches, pastries and accompaniments. From the opening "Louisiana Mixed Pepper Gumbo," "Apache Soup" and "Yellow Pepper Soup with Pistou" to the closing "New Mexican Style Chile-Braised Beef," "Bayou Gnocchi," "Thai Mango," and "Papaya and Chile Relish," cooks of all experience levels will find inspiration here. All of the recipes are fundamentally simple to execute: "Orzo with Roasted Chiles," "Chile-Lime Butter and Grated Cheese" takes just 25 minutes; "Moroccan Pepper" and "Tomato Soup," 25 minutes; "Garlic-Roasted Monkfish with Peppers and Saffron Cream" or "Red Pepper and Tomato Souffle," 40 to 50 minutes. From simple, fresh salsas to rich, creamy stews - the pepper is one of the kitchen's most accommodating staples.
Intelligent Systems and Interfaces
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Mlynek, Daniel / Kandeland, Abraham / Teodorescu, Horia-Nicolai L., PUBLISHER: Springer, The field of intelligent interfaces and systems' has witnessed a rapid growth during the last decade. An impressive number of papers, conference tutorials, and volumes have been devoted to the topic. Ten years ago, intelligent systems constituted a rather exotic topic and many were skeptical as to whether such systems would amount to more than a nice name. Nowadays, intelligent systems represent a powerful tool in many applications, in all industrial fields. Their development evolved on both the horizontal dimension, with a constantly increasing number of applications, and on the vertical dimension, by including more capabilities ranging from sensoric to neurofuzzy systems, intelligent agents, speech and image understanding, and decision making in complex environments. Intelligent Systems and Interfaces represents a comprehensive coverage of the field, including fundamental aspects, software-, sensors-, and hardware-related issues. Moreover, the contributors to this volume offer, beyond a systematic overview of intelligent interfaces and systems, deep, practical knowledge in building and using intelligent systems in various applications. Special emphasis is placed on specific aspects and requirements in applications. Intelligent Systems and Interfaces is intended to be an essential tool for the scientific community in all areas of applied intelligent technologies. The chapters are written by a selected pool of experts in the field of intelligent systems. The contributors thoroughly review the state of the art, explain the problems to be addressed and show how these problems can be solved. Extensive references are included, offering the reader a perspective on the currently available literature and trends. Intelligent Systems and Interfaces is an important reference on intelligent systems, intended for a large audience. Graduate and postgraduate students in computer science, electronics, micro-technology, robotics, and control theory will benefit from this comprehensive, in-depth study of the topic. Engineers from high-tech industries and researchers involved in the design, manufacturing, and use of intelligent interfaces and systems and of related technologies will find many solutions to research and design problems.
Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Fuller, Alexandra, PUBLISHER: Random House Canada, In this tour-de-force sequel to Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, Alexandra Fuller returns to Africa with the story of her unforgettable family. In Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness Alexandra Fuller braids a multi-layered narrative around the Happy Valley-era Africa of her mother's childhood; the grimness of her father's English childhood; and the darker, civil war-torn Africa of her own childhood. Born on the Scottish Isle of Skye and raised in Kenya, Nicola Fuller holds dear the kinds of values most likely to get you hurt or killed in Africa: loyalty to blood, passion for land and a holy belief in the restorative power of all animals. Fuller captures her mother's distinctive voice with remarkable precision, rendering a life story that is as funny, terrifying, exotic and unselfconscious as Nicola herself. We see Nicola and Tim Fuller in their honeymoon period, when East Africa lies before them with all the promise of its liquid equatorial light, even as the British Empire wanes. But in short order, an accumulation of mishaps and tragedies bump up against history until the couple find themselves in a world they hardly recognize. We follow the Fullers as they run from war and unspeakable heartbreak, from Kenya to Rhodesia to Zambia, even returning to England briefly. But just when it seems that Nicola has been broken entirely by Africa, it is the African earth itself that revives her. In the end we find Nicola and Tim at a coffee table under their Tree of Forgetfulness on the banana and fish farm where they plan to spend their final days. In local custom, the Tree is where villagers meet to resolve disputes--and it is here that the Fullers at last find an African kind of peace. Following the ghosts and dreams of memory, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness is Alexandra Fuller at her very best.
Lady of Hay
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Erskine, Barbara, PUBLISHER: Harper, "Two Women, Eight Hundred Years, and the Destiny They Share" "Barbara Erskine can make us feel the cold, smell the filth, and experience some of the fear of the power of evil men...The author's storytelling talent is undeniable." "-Times of London" With a story as mesmerizing as it is chilling, "Lady of Hay "explores how Jo, a journalist investigating hypnotic regression, plunges into the life of Matilda, Lady of Hay-who lived eight hundred years earlier. As she learns of Matilda's unhappy marriage, her troubled love for Richard de Clare, and the brutal treatment she received from King John, it seems that Jo's past and present are hopelessly entwined. Centuries later, a story of secret passion and unspeakable treachery is about to begin again-and she has no choice but to brave both lives if she wants to shake the iron grip of history. "So well researched and so well written that it is almost impossible to put down. The novel has everything that readers of racy fiction could ask for: beautiful characters, exotic settings, and passion...situations and characters that are so completely convincing that they come to life." "-Philadelphia Inquirer" "Told with hair-raising intensity, this is a gripping tale." "-Daily News" "Barbara Erskine is a superb storyteller." "-Los Angeles Daily News" "Fascinating, absorbing, original-all such praise comes easily when describing Barbara Erskine's "Lady of Hay." But perhaps the most suitable word is hypnotic." "-She" "What Readers are Saying" ""A classic in its own right."" ""An extraordinary story of time travel at its best."" ""The most unputdownable book I have ever come across."" Barbara Erskine is a historian and internationally bestselling author of "Lady of" "Hay "as well as "Time's Legacy," "Kingdom"" of Shadows," "Encounters," "Child of the Phoenix," "Midnight Is a Lonely Place," "House of Echoes," "Distant Voices," "Whispers in the Sand," "Hiding from the Light," and "On the Edge of Darkness." Her first novel blending the historical and the supernatural catapulted her to success, and her novels have been translated into thirty languages.
Cat Bearing Gifts: A Joe Grey Mystery
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Murphy, Shirley Rousseau, PUBLISHER: William Morrow & Company, In this poignant new entry in Shirley Rousseau Murphy's beloved, award-winning series, feline P.I. Joe Grey and his four-legged cohorts are plunged into a nightmarish mystery involving a series of strange events that endangers them and the humans they love The confusing events that early fall in Molena Point began perhaps with the return of Kate Osborne, the beguiling blond divorcee arriving in California richer than sin and with a story as strange as the melodies spun by a modern Pied Piper to mesmerize the unwary. Or maybe the strangeness started with the old faded photograph of a child from a half-century past, and the memories she awakened in the old yellow tomcat. Perhaps that was the beginning of the odd occurrences that stirred through the coastal village, setting the five cats off on new paths.... On the way home from visiting their friend Kate Osborne in San Francisco, tortoiseshell Kit and her elderly housemates, Lucinda and Pedric Greenlaw, are hurt in a terrible car crash on a winding coastal road. The accident is terrifying enough, but then two dangerous men steal the Greenlaws' town car, making off with a secret hoard of jewels and gold--a gift bestowed from Kate's newfound treasure--carefully hidden inside its doors. As paramedics rush the Greenlaws to the emergency room, a badly shaken Kit hides from hungry coyotes in the forested hills above the highway, waiting for Joe, Pan, and their human companions, Ryan and Clyde Damen, to rescue her. Back home in Molena Point, yellow tomcat Misto, discovering a faded photograph of a child living fifty years ago, becomes lost in his memories of that past century--while Joe Grey and his tabby lady prowl an abandoned stone cottage where they've discovered two rough-looking men hiding. The cats smell mildewed money, and soon smell human blood, too, and they wonder: Could these unsettling incidents be tied to the injury of the Greenlaws and to the theft of their car and treasure? Could they be, as well, part of the larger mystery involving the very source of the cats' magical powers? Misto and his unfailing memory might provide some answers, but his feline detective efforts are nearly derailed when Misto's son, Pan, the bold red tomcat, led on by the Greenlaws' exotic treasure and by his taste for adventure, drives a painful wedge between himself and Kit, just when their romance feels so filled with joy. But Kit is busy with other matters, too, as she follows the two housebreakers, one badly injured and the other eager to end his partner's misery, as they make off with more wealth than even they realize. Though the cats know more than the thieves about the unique items stolen, their investigation is still in trouble. Only slowly, and after two sudden murders, do they at last claw their way to the truth, examining more intently the source of the gold and jewels, understanding more clearly, as well, the secrets of the moldering treasury bills--the mystery of their source