n of a Hundred--shook his
head finally, and turned away. The disguise had held up.

"All these Earth slaves look alike. This one is a particularly poor
specimen. Turn him loose. If he tries to come in again, kill him.

"Get," the guard growled viciously, and sent Hilary sprawling out into
the street to the muttering accompaniment of the seething Earth
crowds. The temper of the people was rapidly reaching the explosion
point.

* * * * *

But Hilary picked himself up, meekly brushed himself off, and melted
unostentatiously into the moving crowd. He desired no undue attention.

Strangely enough, there were no Mercutians in sight. Only the surging,
growling Earthmen. Hilary felt their mysterious disappearance to be
ominous--as though they had been warned by some secret signal.
Something terrible was about to happen. He must get to that certain
passageway he knew, and quickly. If only it were not guarded.

A cry went up about him, a yell of many voices.

"The Mercutians are coming."

Hilary whirled. Down the street, issuing from the terminal, deployed
a full regiment of guards, bowed under the strong pull of the Earth,
but formidable enough. Sun-tubes glinted dangerously. A stentorian
voice reached him. "Clear the streets, you Earth dogs," it roared.
"You're been warned enough. One minute to obey and I'll burn you all
down."

A babel of excited voices went up. The crowds farther down, near the
advancing Mercutians, melted into a wild scramble. Men trampled each
other underfoot in a mad attempt to reach safety before the minute's
expiration.

Where Hilary had paused, there was a milling indecisiveness. Men were
already quietly edging their way toward adjoining buildings, into side
thoroughfares; others were more belligerent.

"Kill the bloody beasts!" a man suddenly screamed near Hilary, drawing
a pistol from beneath his blouse. He waved it frantically in the air.
There was an ugly surge, a low-throated growl. It needed very little
for the mob to get out of hand and hurl itself upon the steadily
approaching Mercutian regiment.

Hilary acted swiftly. He caught the man's pistol arm, thrust it down
sharply out of sight. A quick wrench, and the gun was in his own hand.
The man, wild-eyed, opened his mouth to shout.

"Shut up," Hilary hissed fiercely. "Are you mad? You wouldn't have a
chance. They'd ray us all clean out of existence." He thrust the
pistol back into the man's blouse.