sary tests for such possible dangers
as lack of oxygen and the presence of infectious organisms. On all
counts, the planet had passed muster. The sun, whiter than Sol, was
almost hot enough to make him forget the chill he carried deep inside
him. Almost, but not quite, especially as the air, though breathable,
was thin and deficient in nitrogen. The countryside was bleak, inspiring
in him the thought that there are two kinds of desolation; the one that
precedes the coming of Man, and the one which he knows only too well how
to create wherever he goes. The desolation here was non-human.

"It--it's like a cemetery, ain't it, Pop?"

Sam looked at his son sharply. Kids of ten were not supposed to know
much about cemeteries. Nor, for that matter, were kids of six, Mark's
age when the funeral had taken place. Sam hadn't let him attend, but
evidently the incident had made a deeper impression on his mind than Sam
had realized. He would always remember a cemetery as the place where his
mother lived. Perhaps he missed Rhoda almost as much as his father did.

"It's different from a cemetery," said Sam. "There's nobody buried here.
Looks like we're the first human beings ever to set foot on this place."

"Do you think we'll find animals to catch, Pop?"

"I don't see signs of any animals."

That was part of Sam's private fiction, that he was looking for strange
animals to be sold to zoos or circuses. Actually he was seeking less to
find anything new than to lose something he carried with him, and
succeeding in neither attempt.

Mark shivered in the sun. "It's kind of lonely," he said.

"More lonely than the ship?"

"It's different. It's bigger, so it's more lonely."

_I'm not so sure_, argued Sam mentally. _In the ship, we have all of
space around us, and nothing's bigger than that. Still, your opinion has
to be respected. You're almost as great an expert on the various kinds
of loneliness as I am. The difference is that you're loneliest when
you're away from people. I'm loneliest in a crowd. That's why I don't
mind this planet so much._

He walked ahead, Mark following almost reluctantly. The ground was rocky
and the shrub-like vegetation sparse and stunted, ranging in color from
greenish gray to brown. It seemed hardly capable of supporting a large
animal population. If there were any animals here at all, they were
probably too small to be impressive, and would be of little interest to
exhibitors.

They walked in sil