at up and gave the same voiceless instruction to Togi. Then he
inched out of the hollow, a worm's progress to that narrow way along the
cliff top--the path which anyone or anything coming up from that sea
gate on the beach would have to pass in order to witness the shoreline
occupied by the half-built outrigger.

So much of his plan was based upon luck and guesses, but those were all
Shann had. And as he worked at the stretching of his snare, the Terran's
heart pounded, and he tensed at every sound out of the night. Having
tested all the anchoring of his net, he tugged at a last knot, and then
crouched to listen not only with his ears, but with all his strength of
mind and body.

Pound of waves, whistle of wind, the sleepy complaint of some bird.... A
regular splashing! One of the fish in the lagoon? Or what he awaited?
The Terran retreated as noiselessly as he had come, heading for the
hollow where he had bedded down.

He reached there breathless, his heart pumping, his mouth dry as if he
had been racing. Taggi stirred and thrust a nose inquiringly against
Shann's arm. But the wolverine made no sound, as if he, too, realized
that some menace lay beyond the rim of the valley. Would that other come
up the path Shann had trapped? Or had he been wrong? Was the enemy
already stalking him from the other beach? The grip of his stunner was
slippery in his damp hand; he hated this waiting.

The canoe ... his work on it had been a careless botching. Better to
have the job done right. Why, it was perfectly clear now how he had been
mistaken! His whole work plan was wrong; he could see the right way of
doing things laid out as clear as a blueprint in his mind. A picture in
his mind!

Shann stood up and both wolverines moved uneasily, though neither made a
sound. A picture in his mind! But this time he wasn't asleep; he wasn't
dreaming a dream--to be used for his own defeat. Only (that other could
not know this) the pressure which had planted the idea of new work to be
done in his mind--an idea one part of him accepted as fact--had not
taken warning from his move. He was supposed to be under control; the
Terran was sure of that. All right, so he would play that part. He must
if he would entice the trapper into his trap.

He holstered his stunner, walked out into the open, paying no heed now
to the patches of light through which he must pass on his way to the
path his own feet had already worn to the boat beach. As he went, Sh