and varying ages. There was no sign of clothing or ornament on any of them. They were naked, filthy, and nondescript; yet each had the mark of that quality that had puzzled them in Al-fin—the deep inner assurance. A few glanced their way, but without any evidence of an unusual degree of interest.

Their attention returned to Al-fin. Streaks of sweat had made gray trails on his grimy face, and he gave off an odor that was sharp and rancid. He sat on the ground and motioned for Wallace and Saxton to do the same.

Wallace hesitated, then spread his hands resignedly. "This is a strange game," he said. "We'll let him make the first moves." He and Saxton sat down together.

Al-fin began speaking, without inflection and with few pauses. Some of the individual words sounded faintly familiar, but the two men could make no sense of what he said.

"I'm afraid we can't understand you," Wallace told him. In an aside to Saxton he said, "He won't understand me either, but I don't think we'd better ignore him."

Saxton nodded. "I guess you are right about his being human," he said. "Some of those words were definitely Earthian."

Al-fin raised his voice in a shout, "Il-ma!"

One of the women in the center of the clearing laughed and came toward them. She was stick-thin, as were Al-fin and most of the others, and very dirty. As she came near she smiled. Her teeth were discolored and rotting. She giggled.

Al-fin indicated her with a sweep of his arm. "Mate?" he inquired.

Wallace felt himself reddening. "Is he offering her to us?" he asked Saxton.

"I think so." Saxton smiled uneasily. "It looks like it's our move now."

"We'll have to risk offending them." Wallace looked at Al-fin and shook his head vigorously. "No mate," he said.

The woman giggled again and walked away. Al-fin seemed to have lost interest. He pulled himself jerkily to his feet and went across the clearing to the fire that the two surveyors had noted earlier. A large clay kettle rested on a flat rock over the fire.

"There's meat in that kettle," Saxton said, whimsically licking his lips. "I hope he passes some around."

"I don't think we should eat any," Wallace cautioned.

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