ne house to the next; surely he was
a Beaker trader!

His unease grew stronger with every moment he watched, but it was the
oddness he sensed in that town which bothered him and not any warning
that he, himself, was in danger. He had gotten to his knees to see
better when out of nowhere a rope sang through the air, settling about
his chest with a vicious jerk which not only drove the air from his
lungs but pinioned his arms tight to his body.

CHAPTER 10

Having been cuffed and battered into submission more quickly than would
have been possible three weeks earlier, Murdock now stood sullenly
surveying the man who, though he dressed like a Beaker trader, persisted
in using a language Ross did not know.

"We do not play as children here." At last the man spoke words Ross
could understand. "You will answer me or else others shall ask the
questions, and less gently. I say to you now--who are you and from where
do you come?"

For a moment Ross glowered across the table at him, his inbred
antagonism to authority aroused by that contemptuous demand, but then
common sense cautioned. His initial introduction to this village had
left him bruised and with one of his headaches. There was no reason to
let them beat him until he was in no shape to make a break for freedom
when and if there was an opportunity.

"I am Rossa of the traders," he returned, eying the man with a carefully
measured stare. "I came into this land in search of my kinsmen who were
taken by raiders in the night."

The man, who sat on a stool by the table, smiled slowly. Again he spoke
in the strange tongue, and Ross merely stared stolidly back. His words
were short and explosive sounding, and the man's smile faded; his
annoyance grew as he continued to speak.

One of Ross's two guards ventured to interrupt, using the Beaker
language. "From where did you come?" He was a quiet-faced, slender man,
not like his companion, who had roped Murdock from behind and was of the
bully breed, able to subdue Ross's wildcat resistance in a very short
struggle.

"I came to this land from the south," Ross answered, "after the manner
of my people. This is a new land with furs and the golden tears of the
sun to be gathered and bartered. The traders move in peace, and their
hands are raised against no man. Yet in the darkness there came those
who would slay without profit, for what reason I have no knowing."

The quiet man continued the questioning and Ross answe