the polish rider

theeasiest pathway to the mesa top. His squarish, broad footpads made clicking soundsloud in the evening light as sand underfoot gave way gradually to gravel. For a moment, he paused. He seemed to detect a noise—like metal on rock—ahead of him, instead of rock on rock. The sound wasn't repeated, though, and hequickly resumed his ambling ascent. Up the arroyo, too far up to be seen from below, a pebble trickled loose from thestone wall. The tiny figure, which had accidentally dislodged the pebble, retreatedmouse-like into shadow. Two glowing points of light showed under overlappingfolds of brown cape a meter from the narrowing canyon wall. Only the reaction of the unsuspecting robot indicated the presence of the whiningbeam as it struck him. For a moment Artoo Detoo fluoresced eerily in the dimminglight. There was a single short electronic squeak. Then the tripodal supportunbalanced and the tiny automation toppled over onto its back, the lights on its frontblinking on and off erratically from the effects of the paralyzing beam.