them. We had just
finished doing this when you arrived."

"Died! Three of you died? And you hid them under these mounds?"

"Yes. Of course. There was nothing else we could--"

"You are going to leave them here in the ground!"

"Certainly." Hargraves was wondering if this method of disposing of the
dead violated some tribal taboo of this people. Different races disposed
of their dead in different ways. He did not know the customs of the
inhabitants of this world. "If we have offended against your customs, we
are sorry."

"No. There was no offense." Thulon blanketed his thoughts. Hargraves
could almost feel the blanket slip into place.

"You came in that ship?" Thulon pointed toward the vessel.

"Yes." It was impossible to conceal this fact.

"Ah." Thulon hesitated, seemed to grope through his mind for the exact
shade of expression he wished to convey. Hargraves was aware that the
stranger's eyes probed through him, measured him. "It would interest us
to examine the vessel. Would you permit this?"

"Certainly." Hargraves knew that Red Nielson jerked startled eyes toward
him.

"Jed!" Nielson spoke in protest.

"Shut up!" Hargraves snapped. His body and his mind was a mass of
tightly wound springs but his face was calm and his voice was suave. He
turned to Thulon. "I will be glad to take you through our ship. However,
I do not recommend it."

"No?"

"It might be dangerous, for you and your companions. We have had three
cases of buboes, resulting in three deaths. All of us have had shots of
immunizing serum and we hope we will have no more cases. However, the
germs are unquestionably present in the atmosphere of the ship. Since
you probably have no immunity to the disease, to breathe the tainted air
would almost certainly result in an attack. This disease is fatal in
nine cases out of ten. I therefore suggest you do not enter the ship. In
fact," Hargraves concluded, "I was about to say that it might not be
wise for you and your companions even to come near us, because of the
possibility that you might contract the disease."

* * * * *

Had he gotten the story over it? Was it convincing? Out of the corner of
his eyes he saw Ron Val glance at him. When he had said their companions
had died of buboes, Ron Val had looked as if he thought he was out of
his mind. Now Ron Val understood. "Good going, Jed," his glance seemed
to say.

"Hargraves--" This was Nielson speaking. His fa