such time as the crops come in, and they are able to feed
themselves!"

"Are you building this planet for us, or for them?" Farrow demanded.

Renner turned away.

* * * * *

They put out cannisters of food for the natives that night. In the
morning it was gone. Each evening, someone left food for them near their
favorite nest of rocks. The natives took it in the dark, unseen.

Gradually, Captain Renner himself took over the feeding. He seemed to
derive a personal satisfaction from it. Gradually, too, the natives
began coming out into the open to receive it. Before long, they were
waiting for him every evening as he brought them food.

The gathering of the lichen began. They picked it by hand, working
singly or in pairs, searching out the rocks and hidden places where it
grew. From time to time they would catch glimpses of the natives
watching them from a distance. They were careful not to get close.

On one of these occasions, Captain Renner and David were working
together.

"Do they have a language?" Captain Renner asked.

"Yes, sir," David answered. "I have heard them talking among
themselves."

"Do you suppose you can learn it?" Renner asked. "Do you think you could
get near enough to them to listen in?"

"I could try," David offered.

"Then do so," Renner said. "That's an assignment."

Thereafter David went out alone. He found that getting close to the
natives was not too difficult. He tried to keep out of their sight,
while still getting near enough to them to hear their voices. They were
undoubtedly aware of his presence, but, with the feeding, they had lost
their fear of the men, and did not seem to care.

Bit by bit he learned their language, starting from a few key roots and
sounds. It was a job for which he had been trained.

Time passed rapidly, and the work went on. Captain Renner let his beard
grow. It came out white and thick, and he did not bother to trim it. The
others, too, became more careless in their dress, each man following his
own particular whim. There was no longer need for a taut ship.

Farrow threw a dam across the little stream, and, while the water grew
behind it, went on to breaking up the soil with his machines. Beeson
searched for nitrate, and found it. He brought a load of it back, and
this, together with the moss and lichen, was chopped into the soil. In
the end, it was the lichen that was the limiting factor. There was only
so much of