heavy here on earth that they could
hardly handle it.

Standing on the platform beside the light-ray projector were two men
evidently in charge of it at the moment. They were dressed in black, with
black gloves, although without helmets. I noticed that they had little
pads over their ears, with wires running from them down to a small box at
the waist.

Once I saw one of them look up sharply, as though he had heard something;
and, following the wave of his hand, I saw the tiny black-garbed figure
of a man on the higher ground behind the gully through which we had come.
I reasoned then that this was a lookout stationed there, and that he was
directing the action of the light by some form of wireless telephony.

For perhaps an hour I sat there, with my guard near by watching me. I was
sorry, now that I found myself in the midst of these enemies, that I had
not made a determined effort to escape earlier in the day, when there
would have been only four of them to cope with.

I realized that I didn't know any more now about the power this guard had
over me than I had at the beginning. He certainly looked inoffensive,
sitting there, but the very calmness with which he watched me made me
feel I would be taking a desperate chance in attempting to escape. I
decided then to wait until nightfall and to watch a favorable opportunity
to break away.

Under cover of darkness, if once I could get out of their sight, I was
satisfied they would never catch me. It was my plan to strike back to
Garland. I had noticed carefully the lay of the land coming over, and
believed I could find my way back. Then, with the car or the plane that
was there in the garage, I could get back to Billings.

These thoughts were running through my mind when Tao abruptly presented
himself before me and ordered me to get up. I did so, smiling in as
friendly a fashion as I could manage. He then made me assist in the work
of carrying the heavy pieces of apparatus. Apparently he was determined
that I, as an earth man, should work hard, since the Mercutians were so
heavily handicapped by the gravity of my planet. I concluded that it
would be my best policy to help them all I could--that by so doing they
might relax a little in their watchfulness, and thus enable me to get
away that night.

I signified to Tao my understanding of what he was after, and made them
all see my entire readiness and ability to help. For the rest of the
afternoon I was dragging about