appen to get slapped?"

"I asked for it." Meinora smiled thoughtfully.

"Yes, sir. I know that. But what was the purpose?"

"This continent has never been thoroughly checked, so we're sampling the
culture. We know a lot about them now, but there's a lot we still have
to know. For example, how do they react to various stimuli? And how much
stimulus is necessary to produce a given action? Of course, we can't
check every individual, but we can pick up a sample from each community
we contact and extrapolate from them." Meinora spread his hands.

"So, I presented a minor irritation to that officer, and he
reacted--fast. He didn't just slap me for effect. He was infuriated at
the insult to his authority. Not only that, but his men expected him to
react in just that manner. I noted that, too. He'd have lost face if
he'd acted in any other way. And the men-at-arms were disappointed when
we gave them no further excuse for violence. We really lost face with
them. There, we have an indication that violence is the expected thing
in this particular castle, which is a community of the duchy. Right?"

"Yes." Konar nodded thoughtfully. "They're not only violent themselves,
but they expect violence from others. I see what you mean. You'll sample
the other baronies?"

"Certainly. As many as we contact. They can tell us quite a bit. We----"

A buzzer interrupted him. Meinora snapped a switch and sat forward
alertly.

A needle quivered, rose from its rest, and swung abruptly across the
meter scale. With an audible ping, it slapped against the stop beyond
the maximum reading.

Meinora looked sharply at the detector set, then turned a selector
switch. The needle moved reluctantly away from the pin, but remained
above the red line at center scale. Meinora grimaced, twisted the
selector again, and adjusted another knob, till the needle came to rest
at center.

He examined the dial readings, frowned incredulously, then turned.

"Look at it," he invited. "It's a wonder he hasn't burned that amplifier
out. It's a heavy duty job, I know. But----"

Konar leaned over his chief's shoulder.

"What an overload! We've found it, all right. But what's going on?"

"Let's find out." Meinora flipped a switch. The two men tensed against
the resultant shock and were silent for a time. At last, Konar reached
out to snap the switch off.

"Just raw, crushing force," he said wonderingly. "A ferocious demand,
with no regard for facts, no considera