mself in the midst of the excitement.

* * * * *

A dozen men, with scraggly beards and skimpy rags of clothing, were
setting upon an unclassifiable creature that snarled and fought back. It
was erect and coarsely hairy--Parr saw that much before the enigma gave
up the unequal fight and ran clumsily away into a mass of
bright-flowered scrub. Execrations and a volley of sticks and stones
speeded its flight.

Then the mob was aware of Parr. Every man--they were all male
Terrestrials--turned toward him, with something like respect. One of
them, tall and thin, spoke diffidently:

"You just arrived?"

"I was just booted out, ten minutes ago," Parr informed him. "Why?"

"Because you're our new chief," responded the thin man, bowing. "The
latest comer always commands here."

Parr must have goggled, for the thin one smiled through tawny stubble.
"The latest comer is always highest and wisest," he elaborated. "He is
healthiest. Best. The longer you stay on this asteroid, the lower you
fall."

Parr thought he was being joked with, and scowled. But his informant
smiled the broader. "My name's Sadau--here under sentence for theft of
Martian government property."

"I'm Fitzhugh Parr. They said I was a murderer. It's a lie."

One or two chuckled at that, and the one who called himself Sadau said:
"We all feel unjustly condemned. Meet the others--Jeffords, Wain,
Haldocott...." Each man, as named, bowed to Parr. The final introduction
was of a sallow, frowning lump of a fellow called Shanklin.

"I was boss until you came," volunteered this last man. "Now you take
over." He waved toward a little cluster of grass huts, half hidden among
ferny palms. "This is our capital city. You get the largest house--until
somebody new shows up. Then you step down, like me."

He spoke with ill grace. Parr did not reply at once, but studied these
folk who were putting themselves under his rule. They would not have
been handsome even if shaved and dressed properly. Indeed, two or three
had the coarse, low-browed look of profound degenerates. Back into
Parr's mind came the words of Sadau: "The longer you stay ... the lower
you fall."

"Gentlemen," said Parr at last, "before I accept command or other
office, give me information. Just now you were acting violently. You,
Sadau, started explaining. Go ahead."

Sadau shrugged a lean freckled shoulder, and with a jerk of his head
directed his companions to retire