of they."

"Nine, eh?" Hanlon thought swiftly for a moment. "Do they all produce
the same ores as this one?"

"Will have to find that for you, An-yon. You wait short space of time."

The Greenie grew silent and strained with concentration. Hanlon probed
into the native's mind, wondering if he could follow it. And haltingly
at first, but with growing ability as he learned the pattern, he found
he could ride along on that telepathic beam.

The thoughts were far too swift for him to catch more than an occasional
concept, but he was thrilled to realize he was actually telepathing,
even though at second-hand.

One after another mind he could feel joining in that conference. There
was much hostility and great fear when Geck first tried to explain about
the human who was their friend, and had learned to talk with them. The
Guddus on the other end of that "line" were tremendously skeptical,
afraid, and very, very suspicious of the motives of any human being.

But Geck was eloquent and persuasive. Before long their fears began to
lessen, and later they seemed to accept his assurance that "An-yon" was,
indeed, both friendly and anxious to help them escape their slavery.

"The human An-yon is but one of the most of humans who are kind and just
and ethical," he was surprised to hear Geck telepathing when he got so
he could understand. "It is the few, such as those others who are here,
who are not. These are bad men who come here just to get things for own
selfish ends, and the good men, who are most, will stop them as soon as
they can. An-yon come here just for that, to find out what those bad men
do, and to stop them."

That speech was another shock to Hanlon--he had never told Geck all
that.

The distant natives finally bowed to Geck's importunings, and gave him
the specific information for which he was asking because the friendly
human wanted to know it.

There were two other mines that produced the same uraninite ore as the
one at which Hanlon was stationed. There were three iron mines, and
Hanlon was not too surprised to learn that at each of these mines
smelters had been erected. He learned that humans were used mostly in
the mills, the natives being used only for outside labor because they
could not stand the heat.

"We burn quickly," was the sad, horrified thought.

There were three other mines, but the natives did not know the English
or Greek names for the metals found there. Even after considerable
questi