as a foundation. Upon it he reconstructed the science of E.
The universe and all in it is logical, logical at least to man because
he is part of that universe, of its essence. There can be nothing in the
universe that is wrong, or out of place, except and only as the limited
interpretation of man who sees a force in terms of a threat to the
ascendancy of himself-and-his at the center of things. This is the sole
basis of morality, and prevents man's appreciation of total reality.

He had been trapped in the first concept, and was accepting these
phenomena as a statement of Eminent Authority. But what if this were not
the whole of reality, what then?

Once begun, his mind progressed rapidly through the seven stages of E
science, and in the seventh he found rationality. If there is only one
natural law, and we see it only in seemingly unrelated facets because of
our ignorance, because we cannot apperceive the whole, then this, too,
is no more than another facet.

Perhaps it was this which broke the spell. Perhaps it was the movement
of the colonists. They were moving, withdrawing, walking backward step
by step. Their faces were masks of despair, and in them Cal read the
knowledge that what had just happened to him, his men, his ship, had
previously happened to them.

Slowly they backed away, backed out of the open space, sought the
shelter of a great and spreading tree at the edge of the clearing. There
they paused.

It was a return to ballet, a gravely executed change in the proportions
of the tableau. They stood, a drooped and huddled group, cowering
beneath the tree, in nude dejection, in the suggestion of a wary crouch,
uncertain whether to flee precipitously, or freeze to make themselves as
small and inconspicuous as possible.

In the same grave choreography he turned to look at his crew. And at the
turning, as if on signal, on musical cue, Tom and Frank began the
pantomime of urging Louie to his feet. Louie looked at the two standing
men alternately. With bloodless lips he tried to grin wryly,
apologetically, for what his nervous system was doing to his body
against his will.

The old flash of an expression which seemed to say, "This is just the
kind of dirty trick life always plays on me," came back into his eyes
for an instant, and he tried to grin. But the attempt was a grimace of
terror. He cowered back down at their feet, his courage swamped in funk.

"Let's get him under the tree," Cal said, and wonder