There were now some four or five girls in the circle. ; One wore a sign that said, "I am for sale."

The girl who wore the sign, "I am for sale," danced before us, as she had before others, displaying her Master's proffered merchandise. ; I saw that she wanted to be purchased. that was obvious in the pleading nature of her dance. ; Her Master was perhaps a dealer, and one, as are many, who is harsh with his stock. ; Her dance, thusly, was rather like the "Buy me, Master" behavior of a girl on a chain, the "slaver's necklace," or in the market, the sort of behavior in which she begs purchase. ; A girl on such a chain, or in a market, who is to much passed over has reason for alarm. ; Not only is she likely to be lowered on the chain, perhaps even to "last girl," which is demeaning to her, and a great blow to her vanity, but she is likely to be encouraged to greater efforts by a variety of admonitory devices, in particular, the switch and whip. ; Earth-girl slaves brought to Gor, for example, are often, particularly at first, understandably enough, I suppose, afraid to be sold, and accordingly, naturally enough, I suppose, sometimes attempt, sully in subtle ways, to discourage buyers, thereby hoping to be permitted to cling to the relative security of the slaver's chain. ; Needless to say, this behavior is soon corrected and, in a short time, only to eager now to be off the slaver's chain, they are displaying themselves, and proposing themselves, luscious, eager, ready, begging merchandise, to prospective buyers.

The girl for sale was a short legged brunet, extremely attractive. I considered buying her, but decided against it. This was not the time for buying slaves. I gestured to her to dance on. She whirled away. A tear moved diagonally down her cheek.

She might, of course, not belong to a dealer.

There are many reasons why a master might put his girl, or girls, up for sale, of course. ; He might wish, for example, if he is a breeder, to improve the quality of his pens or kennels, trying out new blood lines, freshening his stock, and such. ; He might wish, casually, merely to try out new slaves, perhaps ridding himself of one to acquire another, who may have caught his eye. ; Perhaps he wants to keep a flow of slaves in his house, lest he grow to attached to one, always a danger. ; Too, of course, economic considerations sometimes become paramount, these sometimes dictating the selling off of chattels, whose value, of course, unlike that of a free woman, constitutes a source of possible income. ; Indeed, there are many reasons for the buying and selling of slaves, as there are for other forms of properties.

I continued to watch the female, the sign about her neck dance. ; No, I said to myself, it would not do to bring her into peril. ; Then I chastised myself for weakness. ; One would not wish to purchase her, of course, because she might constitute encumbrance. ; Still, she was attractive. Even as I considered the matter she received a sign from a fellow, her Master, I suppose, and she tore open her silk, and danced even more plaintively before one fellow and then another. She seemed frightened. ; I suspected she had been warned as to what might befall her ifs he should prove unsuccessful in securing a buyer. ; I saw her glance at her Master. ; His gaze was stern, unpitying, She danced in terror.

I saw that the girl with the sign about her neck had taken a leaf from the book of the blonde, and cunningly, too. ; She, too was now on her knees, advertising her charms, attesting mutely to the joys and delicacies that would be attendant upon her ownership. ; I saw her owner look at her, startled. She, of course, did not see him. I gathered he had never seen her in just this fashion or way before, her silk parted, writhing on her knees, kissing, lifting her hands, her head moving, her hair flung about. ; "I will buy her!" called a fellow. "How much do you want?" inquired another, eagerly. ; her Master rushed into the circle. ; "Close your silk, lascivious slut!" he ordered her. ; Swiftly she clutched the silk about her, startled, confused, kneeling small before him. ; He looked about, angrily. ; He jerked her by one arm to her feet. She struggled to keep her silk closed with the other hand. ; "She is not for sale!" he said. ; He then drew her rapidly from the light, into the darkness outside the circle. ; We heard a tearing of silk. ; There was much laughter.