"Come on, wake up," a voice said briskly.

Hal opened his eyes and looked up at a golden-framed face. It was the face that had been speaking, and the pleasingly shaped lips now moved again. "You aren't hurt, you know. Just a little shaken up."

Hal continued to stare at the woman for a moment, then muttered "Umph," and struggled to a sitting posture. It was a great effort in the unaccustomed full earth gravitational field. The woman was an Outlander, no doubt about it. That was evident from her highly spirited tone of voice. But as Hal looked around at the strange picture of undisturbed interurban wilderness, he found that most astonishingly he did not mind it. As a matter of fact, he rather liked her tone of voice. It was all very puzzling.

"What happened?" he muttered heavily, his eyes moving back to the landscape and the small metal boxes which housed the now defunct suspend-field generators.

"There must have been something wrong with your Aircab," she replied. "You crashed. The same way I did a couple days ago." The woman walked over to the generator boxes, picked them up and brought them back to where he was still sitting on the grass. "We'll need these," she explained. "There are emergency supplies inside them."

Hal didn't move. She waited a moment, then said lightly, tossing her golden hair, "Come along now. We're way out in the wilderness, you know, and there aren't any robots to bring us our dinner."

"Wilderness," Hal murmured. "That's right. Well, I guess we'll die here."

"Oh nonsense!" She stamped her foot with impatience. "This would have to happen to me. Of all people to be stranded with in the wilderness, I have to get one of you insipid, gutless Proprietors."

"Oh yes?" Hal said with unconscious anger, lurching to his feet. "Who's insipid and gutless? I'm considerably more civilized than you are." Quick surprise crossed her face as she listened. Hal continued his angry speech. "Why is it that all you savages always think you know how to live better than your superiors? If you are so clever, why aren't you civilized?"

"Well, listen to him. You sound almost human."

She was laughing at him!

"Damn savage," he growled. He turned and strode purposefully away from her across the soft matting of grass.

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