ds and head, but the
protection of the alien clothing was still effective, and the rest of
his body was not cold. He was simply too tired to wrest himself free and
trust again to the haphazard chance of making shore through the
gathering dusk.

Suddenly a shock jarred his body and strained the arm he had thrust
among the roots, wringing a cry out of him. He swung around and brushed
footing under the water; the tree had caught on a shore snag. Pulling
loose from the roots, he floundered on his hands and knees, falling
afoul of a mass of reeds whose roots were covered with stale-smelling
mud. Like a wounded animal he dragged himself through the ooze to higher
land, coming out upon an open meadow flooded with moonlight.

For a while he lay there, his cold, sore hands under him, plastered with
mud and too tired to move. The sound of a sharp barking aroused him--an
imperative, summoning bark, neither belonging to a wolf nor a hunting
fox. He listened to it dully and then, through the ground upon which he
lay, Ross felt as well as heard the pounding of hoofs.

Hoofs--horses! Horses from over the mountains--horses which might mean
danger. His mind seemed as dull and numb as his hands, and it took quite
a long time for him to fully realize the menace horses might bring.

Getting up, Ross noticed a winged shape sweeping across the disk of the
moon like a silent dart. There was a single despairing squeak out of the
grass about a hundred feet away, and the winged shape arose again with
its prey. Then the barking sound once more--eager, excited barking.

Ross crouched back on his heels and saw a smoky brand of light moving
along the edge of the meadow where the band of trees began. Could it be
a herd guard? Ross knew he had to head back toward the river, but he had
to force himself on the path, for he did not know whether he dared enter
the stream again. But what would happen if they hunted him with the dog?
Confused memories of how water spoiled scent spurred him on.

Having reached the rising bank he had climbed so laboriously before,
Ross miscalculated and tumbled back, rolling down into the mud of the
reed bed. Mechanically he wiped the slime from his face. The tree was
still anchored there; by some freak the current had rammed its rooted
end up on a sand spit.

Above in the meadow the barking sounded very close, and now it was
answered by a second canine belling. Ross wormed his way back through
the reeds to the patch o