y level ground. Low creepers
became more plentiful, interspersed with scrubby thickets of tangled,
spike-armored bushes. Occasionally, small flying things flickered among
the foliage. Once, a shrub puffed out an enormous cloud of tiny spores.

"Be a job to find anything edible here," grunted Ammet, and Kolin
agreed.

Finally, after a longer hike than he had anticipated, they approached
the edge of the deceptively distant forest. Yrtok paused to examine some
purple berries glistening dangerously on a low shrub. Kolin regarded the
trees with misgiving.

"Looks as tough to get through as a tropical jungle," he remarked.

"I think the stuff puts out shoots that grow back into the ground to
root as they spread," said the woman. "Maybe we can find a way through."

In two or three minutes, they reached the abrupt border of the
odd-looking trees.

Except for one thick trunked giant, all of them were about the same
height. They craned their necks to estimate the altitude of the monster,
but the top was hidden by the wide spread of branches. The depths behind
it looked dark and impenetrable.

"We'd better explore along the edge," decided Yrtok. "Ammet, now is the
time to go back and tell the Chief which way we're--_Ammet!_"

Kolin looked over his shoulder. Fifty meters away, Ammet sat beside the
bush with the purple berries, utterly relaxed.

"He must have tasted some!" exclaimed Kolin. "I'll see how he is."

He ran back to the cook and shook him by the shoulder. Ammet's head
lolled loosely to one side. His rather heavy features were vacant,
lending him a doped appearance. Kolin straightened up and beckoned to
Yrtok.

For some reason, he had trouble attracting her attention. Then he
noticed that she was kneeling.

"Hope she didn't eat some stupid thing too!" he grumbled, trotting back.

As he reached her, whatever Yrtok was examining came to life and scooted
into the underbrush with a flash of greenish fur. All Kolin saw was that
it had several legs too many.

He pulled Yrtok to her feet. She pawed at him weakly, eyes as vacant as
Ammet's. When he let go in sudden horror, she folded gently to the
ground. She lay comfortably on her side, twitching one hand as if to
brush something away.

When she began to smile dreamily, Kolin backed away.

* * * * *

The corners of his mouth felt oddly stiff; they had involuntarily drawn
back to expose his clenched teeth. He glanced