ne, and certainly he should have
known that extraordinary measures had to be adopted when Hawk Carse
became his prisoner. By rights, he should have killed Friday
immediately, and steered straight for his rendezvous with Ku Sui,
keeping his eye on Carse all the time. He would have had to loaf on
his way to the rendezvous, of course, for it needed but five days to
get there, and he had seven; and he would also have had to pick up his
three marooned men later. But that was what he should have done.

Yet, when one regards the personal angles, it is necessary to divide
Judd's responsibility for succeeding events. He felt like having a
celebration, and certainly he and his men had earned one. He had
captured the man who had stood, more than anyone else, in his and in
Ku Sui's way for years; the man who had quashed any number of their
outlaw schemes, and who had given more trouble to them than all the
forces of law and order on Earth and the patrol ships in space. More,
he had captured him alive, and that meant a much fatter reward from Ku
Sui. He possessed the valuable cargo of phanti horn; he had taken a
brand new ship, alone worth millions, besides being the fastest in
space. Judd was naturally elated; he had two nights and a day to
spare; he felt expansive, and ordered a celebration.

Such decisions--trivial when seen from the eminence of a hundred
years--have directed the tide of history more than once.

There were thirteen men left of Judd's crew, including the three
posted on Iapetus; these three and the six who manned the pirate's own
craft came running to the _Star Devil_ and piled into her open
port-lock. They milled around in the control cabin, shouting in high
spirits, swearing, throwing clumsy jests at the two silent figures on
the deck; and Judd joined with them. There was much loot to be split,
and the Hawk was snared at last! Their chief stilled them for a moment
and said:

"Well, I guess we deserve a little jamboree. I'm breaking out some
alkite and meat; make a big fire outside and dig some barbecue pits.
Go ahead--out of here! But wait: you, Sharkey, and you, Keyger."

These last two men, more husky and alert than most of their fellows,
he detailed for guard duty ever Carse and Friday. They were much cast
down at the job, but he premised them a larger slice of the loot for
recompense, and then stalked out after the other men.

The two guards stuck a brace of ray-guns in their belts and looked
over the