are solely touched by
it develop immense blisters and die in pain. The man of Appsala
laughed when this happened to our people and after that raised the
price even higher."

Jason circled one of the boxes, examining it with interest, trailing
Narsisi behind him at the end of the chain. The thing was higher than
his head and almost twice as long. A heavy shaft emerged through
openings on opposite sides, probably the power takeoff for the wheels.
Through an opening in the side he could see inset handles and two
small colored disks, and above this were three funnel-shaped openings
shaped and painted like mouths. By standing on tiptoe Jason looked on
top but there was only a flanged, sooty opening that must be for
attachment of a smokestack. There was only one more opening, a
smallish one in the rear, and no other controls on the garish
container.

"I'm beginning to get the picture, but you will have to tell me how
you work the controls."

"Death before that," Narsisi shouted. "Only my family--"

"Will you shut up!" Jason shouted right back. "Remember? You're not
allowed to browbeat the help anymore. There are no secrets here. Not
only that, but I probably know more about this thing than you do just
by looking at it. Oil, water and fuel go in these three openings, you
poke a light in somewhere, probably in that smoky hole under the
controls, open one of those valves for fuel supply, another one is to
make the engine go slower and faster, and the third is for your water
feed. The disks are indicators of some kind." Narsisi paled and
stepped back. "So keep the trap shut while I talk to your dad."

"It is as you say," Edipon pointed. "The mouths must always be filled
and woebetide if they shall go empty for the powers will halt or
worse. Fire goes in here as you guessed, and when the green finger
comes forward this lever may be turned for motion. The next is for
great speed or going slow. The very last is under the sign of the red
finger, which when it points indicates need, and the handle must be
turned and held until the finger retires. White breath comes from the
opening in back. That is all there is."

"About what I expected," Jason muttered and examined the container
wall, rapping it with his knuckles until it boomed. "They give you the
minimum of controls to run the thing, so you won't learn anything
about the basic principles involved. Without the theory you would
never know what the handles control, or that the