he or Ashe--or Karara and her dolphins--discovered the
proper site, the two Agents could set up their own equipment. Both Ross
and Ashe had had enough drill in the process. All they needed was the
brick of discovery; then they could build their wall. But they must find
some remainder of the past, the smallest trace of ancient ruin upon
which to center their peep-probe. And since landing here the long days
had flowed into weeks with no such discovery made.

Ross crossed the ridge of rock which formed a cocks-comb rise on the
island's spine and descended to the village. As they had been trained,
the Polynesian settlers adapted native products to their own heritage of
building and tools. It was necessary that they live off the land, for
their transport ship had had storage space only for a limited number of
supplies and tools. After it took off to return home they would be
wholly on their own for several years. Their ship, a silvery ball,
rested on a rock ledge, its pilot and crew having lingered to learn the
results of Ashe's search. Four days more and they would have to lift for
home even if the Agents still had only negative results to report.

That disappointment was driving Ashe, the way that six months earlier
his outrage and guilt feelings over the Topaz affair had driven him.
Karara's suggestion carried weight the longer Ross thought about it.
With more swimmers hunting, there was just that much increased chance of
turning up some clue. So far the dolphins had not reported any dangerous
native sea life or any perils except the natural ones any diver always
had at his shoulder under the waves.

There were extra gill-packs, and all of the settlers were good swimmers.
An organized hunt ought to shake the Polynesians out of their present
do-it-tomorrow attitude. As long as they had had definite work before
them--the unloading of the ship, the building of the village, all the
labors incidental to the establishing of this base--they had shown
energy and enthusiasm. It was only during the last couple of weeks that
the languor which appeared part of the atmosphere here had crept up on
them, so that now they were content to live at a slower and lazier pace.
Ross remembered Ashe's comparison made the evening before, likening
Hawaika to a legendary Terran island where the inhabitants lived a
drugged existence, feeding upon the seeds of a native plant. Hawaika was
fast becoming a lotus land for Terrans.

"Through here, the