d the stable, he jerked down and up on the
loop extension of the trigger-guard, then put the weapon to his shoulder
and pointed it at the cow. It made a flash, and roared louder even than
a hand-blaster, and the cow jerked convulsively and was dead. The man
then indicated by signs that Hradzka was to drag the dead cow out of the
stable, dig a hole, and bury it. This Hradzka did, carefully examining
the wound in the cow's head--the weapon, he decided, was not an
energy-weapon, but a simple solid-missile projector.

By evening, neither the man nor the woman were able to eat,
and both seemed to be suffering intensely. The man used the
communicating-instrument on the wall, probably calling on his friends
for help. Hradzka did what he could to make them comfortable, cooked his
own meal, washed the dishes as he had seen the woman doing, and tidied
up the kitchen.

It was not long before people, men and women whom he had seen on the
road or who had stopped at the farmhouse while he had been there, began
arriving, some carrying baskets of food; and shortly after Hradzka had
eaten, a vehicle like the farmer's, but in better condition and of
better quality, arrived and a young man got out of it and entered the
house, carrying a leather bag. He was apparently some sort of a
scientist; he examined the man and his wife, asked many questions, and
administered drugs. He also took samples for blood-tests and urinalysis.
This, Hradzka considered, was another of the many contradictions he had
encountered among these people--this man behaved like an educated
scientist, and seemingly had nothing in common with the peasant
herb-gatherer on the mountainside.

The fact was that Hradzka was worried. The strange death of the animals,
the blight which had smitten the trees and vegetables around the farm,
and the sickness of the farmer and his woman, all mystified him. He did
not know of any disease which would affect plants and animals and
humans; he wondered if some poisonous gas might not be escaping from the
earth near the farmhouse. However, he had not, himself, been affected.
He also disliked the way in which the doctor and the neighbors seemed to
be talking about him. While he had come to a considerable revision of
his original opinion about the culture-level of these people, it was not
impossible that they might suspect him of having caused the whole thing
by witchcraft; at any moment, they might fall upon him and put him to
death. In