nally picked a spot she considered suitable--the
remains of a small harbor--and we anchored. I must say she was
overfussy--one cove is pretty much the same as another these days.
Possibly she was so choosy in order to heighten her importance.

Repetition of the involved etiquette of inspecting the intended victim
and turning on the sprays; only this time the suppressed excitement
anticipating possible success made even the preliminaries interesting.
Miss Francis and her assistants retired for a mysterious conference
immediately after the application and I stayed up late talking with the
captain till he was called away by some duty. It is now nearly two A M--in
a few hours we shall know.

_September 13_: Horribly shaken this morning to find the Grass
unaffected. Even wondered for a moment if it were conceivable that F
would never find the right compound--that nothing could hurt the Grass.
Had I been illadvised in not going more seriously into Burlet's vertical
cities?

F very phlegmatic about it. Says another twelve hours of observation may
be of value. She and A rowed ashore over the runners trailing in the
water and with great difficulty succeeded in hacking off a few runners
of the sprayed Grass. I thought her undertaking this hazard an absurd
piece of bravado--she might just as well have sent someone else.

Disregarding her rudeness in not inviting me, I accompanied her unasked
to her laboratory-cabin. She laid the stolons on an enamelsurfaced table
and busied herself with some apparatus. I could not take my eyes from
these segments of the Grass. They lay on the table, not specimens of
vegetation, but stunned creatures ready to spring to vigorous and
vengeful life when they recovered. It was impossible not to pick one up
and run it through my fingers, feeling again the soft, electric touch.

Miss Francis' preparations were interminable. If she follows such an
elaborate ritual for the mere checking of an unsuccessful experiment no
wonder she is taking years to get anywhere. My attention wandered and I
started to leave the cabin when I noticed my hand still held one of the
specimens.

It was withered and dry.

_100._ _September 17_: The enthusiasm greeting the discovery that F's
reagent mortally affected the Grass was only tempered by the dampening
thought that its action had been incomplete. What good was the lethal
compound if its work were final only when the sprayed parts were
severed?

F seemed to thin