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ernal
appearance. The species had taken to the trees and become arbo-
real hunters, developing digited hands, opposable thumbs and a
prehensile tail to aid their pursuit of prey from branch to
branch. Later, when a drying of the climate caused their forest
habitat to shrink, they came down from the trees, increased in
size and evolved in intelligence just as we Earth humans had.
Thus, what I saw on entering the bar was essentially a six-foot-
six cat standing at the main bar, taking a swallow of his drink.
There were some differences, of course. The forehead had moved
forward as it had in humans to accommodate the larger brain and
the paws had become hands with five fingers and a thumb. But
there were few other changes, since the teeth and jaws had not
shrunk as they have with humans. I could tell he was male from
his body size and his age must have been equivalent to the late
teens in humans, judging from the sleekness of his short black
fur and the tautness of his powerful muscles. The jeweled medal-
lion about his neck proclaimed him a member of the other world's
noble class.
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