as also a senseless
thing--was the startling fact that each skeleton had a pellet pistol
still firmly clasped in its fleshless hand.

The magazines of all the weapons were either completely discharged or
nearly so. Hence it was obvious that they had been firing at each other.
But why? If it had been a battle between two rival factions--in itself
incredible--Gallifa could have understood to some degree. But these men
were all alone. Each of them had obviously been against all the rest. No
matter how you looked at it, there wasn't any answer.

MacFarland was hard to convince. "Maybe they didn't kill each other," he
insisted. "How do you know those creatures--gnomes, as you call
them--didn't attack the ship?"

"If you had ever been close to a gnome," Gallifa answered wearily,
"you'd have your answer. I can't guess why, but these men killed
themselves, beyond any possible doubt."

"Then they must have gone completely crazy," MacFarland said stubbornly.
"Every last one of them."

Gallifa frowned as he remembered Bradshaw. Crazy? Could it be possible
that the crew of this ship had stumbled on something which had driven
them into insanity? Psychologically, Gallifa couldn't discount an idea
simply because it seemed impossible. A newly established colony was a
fragile thing.

"While we are here," Gallifa said, "let's take a closer look at that
colony of gnomes. I think I noticed something from the air which doesn't
jibe with our first impression of them."

The three men climbed a little hillock, and Gallifa carefully studied
the area in front of him. He finally shook his head in bafflement.

"This is an unbelievably screwy planet. These creatures apparently
haven't reached any stage of development higher than the herd instinct,
and yet they are farming. It doesn't make any kind of sense. The species
is completely out of character."

MacFarland looked at the virgin growth below him, and shook his head.
"That's a farm?" he asked sarcastically.

Gallifa grinned. "You would have to be a biologist to catch on," he
explained. "See that yellowish bush? The one with the purple blossoms?
Now look at the area directly in front of us. Not a single bush. If you
will look carefully you will find several types of plant life which are
growing freely everywhere except in the area I showed you. The gnomes
are allowing only the plants they want to grow in the area.

"Perhaps they aren't exactly _farming_," he elaborated. "That is, th