uching him, stepped off the concrete
road. His leg sank into the earth up to the mid-calf. He pulled it out
as quickly as he could.

The boy was looking at the fast retreating rear of the sports car.

"Gee," he said. "I sure didn't see them coming." Then he caught sight of
the deep hole alongside the road, and he stared at it. "Gosh, you sure
made a footprint there," he said wonderingly.

"The ground was soft," Hall said. "C-come along."

But instead of following, the boy walked over to the edge of the road
and stared into the hole. He tentatively stamped on the earth around it.
"This ground isn't soft," he said. "It's hard as a rock." He turned and
looked at Hall with big eyes.

Hall came close to the boy and took hold of his jacket. "D-don't pay any
attention to it, son. I just stepped into a soft spot."

The boy tried to pull away. "I know who you are," he said. "I heard
about you on the teledepth."

Suddenly, in the way of children, panic engulfed him and he flung his
basket away and threw himself back and forth, trying to tear free. "Let
me go," he screamed. "Let me go. Let me go."

"Just l-listen to me, son," Hall pleaded. "Just listen to me. I won't
hurt you."

But the boy was beyond reasoning. Terror stricken, he screamed at the
top of his voice, using all his little strength to escape.

"If you p-promise to l-listen to me, I'll let you go," Hall said.

"I promise," the boy sobbed, still struggling.

But the moment Hall let go of his coat, he tore away and ran as fast as
he could over the adjacent field.

"W-wait--don't run away," Hall shouted. "I won't hurt you. Stay where
you are. I couldn't follow you anyway. I'd sink to my hips."

The logic of the last sentence appealed to the frightened lad. He
hesitated and then stopped and turned around, a hundred feet or so from
the highway.

"L-listen," said Hall earnestly. "The teledepths are wr-wrong. They
d-didn't tell you the t-truth about us. I d-don't want to hurt anyone.
All I n-need is a few hours. D-don't tell anyone for j-just a few hours
and it'll be all right." He paused because he didn't know what to say
next.

The boy, now that he seemed secure from danger had recovered his wits.
He plucked a blade of grass from the ground and chewed on an end of it,
looking for all the world like a grownup farmer thoughtfully considering
his fields. "Well, I guess you could have hurt me plenty, but you
didn't," he said. "That's something."

"Just a f