ot in an orphanage or anything like that. But I have some friends
whose kids are growing up--"

"No. I won't go. If you send me, I'll run away. I want to be with you."

"Okay," said Sam. "That's that."

But it wasn't, and he knew it. Even as he went about preparing his
traps, he knew it.

* * * * *

As it turned out, the only animals he caught in his traps were small
ones which tore themselves in two and then scampered off, each half
running in a different direction. For the animal which had made those
noises, no traps were necessary. Later on he heard a noise outside
again, and he went out cautiously, gun in hand. The animal backed away,
but he saw it, then he heard it bark. So did Mark, who had followed him.

Mark's eyes almost popped. It was four years since he had heard the
sound, but he knew at once what it was. "Gosh! A dog! How do you s'pose
he got here?"

"I don't know," said Sam. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"But if we're the first human beings to land here--it ain't possible!"

"I know that. But there he is."

At the sound of their voices, the dog broke into a series of furious
barks, backing away as it did so.

"What kind is he, Pop?"

"He looks like a mongrel to me. A bad-tempered, medium-sized mongrel
with an ugly look about him. Maybe I ought to shoot him and get it over
with."

"Shoot him? Don't do that! I want him as a pet."

"He looks too wild to make much of a pet."

The dog gave one last bark of defiance, turned, and fled in the same
general direction, Sam noticed, as he had run last time.

"Maybe dogs _do_ grow on other planets, Pop."

"Only if men have brought them there."

"Then that means there was a ship here?"

"At some time or other there was a ship. I don't think it was smashed
up, or I'd have seen wreckage when I cruised around before landing. That
dog was either left here by mistake, or deliberately marooned."

"Maybe--maybe he's with somebody who's still here."

"Not likely," said Sam thoughtfully. "He wanders around too freely, and
he seems unused to the presence of human beings. Besides, no men would
be likely to live here long without shelter. And I've seen no sign of
any house or hut."

"Could he belong to a being that wasn't human?"

"No," replied Sam with certainty. "Only human beings have been able to
domesticate dogs. If a dog is here, a human being was once here. That's
definite."

"He _would_ make a good pet," said