My clothes had vanished along with the helmet.
I don’t know what saved me. Sheer blind panic, I guess. I just let go and dropped to the ground, without thinking about it. It was cutting corners with death, but it seemed only a moment before I was running through the night, the trumpeting falling away behind me.
I headed straight for my tent, but it wasn’t modesty that drove me in that direction. People who’d be shocked by a midget in the buff would be scandalized by a baby in its bath. I didn’t give a hoot for the blushes of somebody’s maiden aunt—only for my sanity.
My tent was as black as pitch, but I didn’t stop to fumble around for the light switch. I knew exactly where my spare trousers were and—an old sweater, a pair of shoes.
In my old clothes I looked as tough as a midget can l
