d. "And that's not so good."

"What's so terrible about landing here?" Ora inquired. "I thought we
were expecting to explore this satellite." She looked up from her
ministrations to Detis, who had a nasty scalp wound.

"The people here are dangerous savages," Carr answered gravely. "At
least some of them are; we saw them in the rulden. You'll have to remain
aboard while we look up the ones who projected those rays and do some
bargaining with them."

"What! You expect me to hide in the vessel while you're at work outside?
Not much! I want to see something of Titan while we are here." Her
pretty chin was set in that determined manner she had.

"I tell you it's too risky!" Carr was firm, but he looked at Mado
beseechingly, signaling for his support.

But the Martian only grinned owlishly. He knew as well as did Carr that
Ora would have her way.

"Risky--pooh!" she returned. "I'm not afraid. We have our ray pistols
and the funny torpedoes you brought from Mars. Besides, I don't believe
it's as bad as you think."

Carr shrugged his shoulders. After all, they probably would not
encounter any of the savages here in the forest. Beings of far greater
intelligence were responsible for those rays, that much was certain.
Besides, they'd be three able-bodied men out there to watch over her,
and he'd make sure she didn't get too far away from the ship.

* * * * *

Carr was first to step from the opened manhole to the soft carpet of the
Titanese forest. He found the air cool and crisp, with a tang of ozone
assailing his nostrils. There was a pulsating motion in it that he could
hardly define; it seemed that it massaged his cheeks and raised the
short hairs at the nape of his neck and on his forearms as if they were
electrified. Those vibrations Detis had told them about were actively at
work.

The gravity was even less than on Mars, though slightly greater than
that of Europa. Mado was entirely at ease, and the Europans would not be
bothered by the slight change in their weight. But Carr would have to
take it easy, as he'd done ever since leaving Earth. His muscles were
too powerful for his body on these smaller worlds, though this was a
mighty advantage if he took care not to over-exert.

A melodious whistling note rose high somewhere in the depths of the
forest and trailed off into eery silence. The sky was overcast with gray
clouds and the light was poor, of little more than twilight inte